Gourami And Crawfish?

[Raveston]

So my question is easy looking but could be very complex, hence why I am asking, and hoping it to be just a silly fear.

How would crawfish do in a tank that has a couple gouramis? Namely, gold and opaline. Advice, comments? I have not bought the crawfish nor do I know where to at the moment.

 

[Rex740]

Would you happen to know the species of crayfish?

 

[AstonN24vantage]

probably not well, as gouramis are slow with big fins and crays are very aggressive, depending on their species.

 

[raptorrex]

probably not well, as gouramis are slow with big fins and crays are very aggressive, depending on their species.

really Crawfish "fast and Aggressive"? i take it you dont/have not kept crayfish?

as to the OP's question. the main problem here is the Crawfish is a temperate critter, gourami are tropical. which means however safe they are, they cant be kept together. to date there are only two "tropical" Cary/Crawfish. they are the Australian Redclaw and the Mexican dwarf cray. all others, though some can stand the temperature for short periods, need unheated temperate environments.

 

[Carlovel1]

So my question is easy looking but could be very complex, hence why I am asking, and hoping it to be just a silly fear.

How would crawfish do in a tank that has a couple gouramis? Namely, gold and opaline. Advice, comments? I have not bought the crawfish nor do I know where to at the moment.

Tank size?

 

[AstonN24vantage]

probably not well, as gouramis are slow with big fins and crays are very aggressive, depending on their species.

really Crawfish "fast and Aggressive"? i take it you dont/have not kept crayfish?

as to the OP's question. the main problem here is the Crawfish is a temperate critter, gourami are tropical. which means however safe they are, they cant be kept together. to date there are only two "tropical" Cary/Crawfish. they are the Australian Redclaw and the Mexican dwarf cray. all others, though some can stand the temperature for short periods, need unheated temperate environments.

i didnt say crayfish are fast, but they can still get slow fish. as a matter of fact, i have kept crayfish.

 

[Lyra0727]

When I was younger I had a crawfish with a couple gouramis and a few other fish. He ate all the fish EXCEPT the gouramis and they were the same kind as yours. From my expirence with them as long as their big enough the crawfish doesnt really bother them. But I could have gotten lucky back then.

 

[Raveston]

Thanks for all the replies, life is hectic don't get to check the forums much these days =(

Okay, I was mainly concerned with one eating the other, no idea if the gouramis are prone to flipping the little buggers and picking the meat out of the soft area or not, or something like that.

Temperature-wise, I see how I shouldn't do it.

The tank is a 55 gal, planted with rock hiding places.

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks for all the replies, life is hectic don't get to check the forums much these days =(

Okay, I was mainly concerned with one eating the other, no idea if the gouramis are prone to flipping the little buggers and picking the meat out of the soft area or not, or something like that.

Temperature-wise, I see how I shouldn't do it.

The tank is a 55 gal, planted with rock hiding places.

neither will attack the other. only cray/crawfish, taught (starved till they eat feeders) hunt. their diet should be rotting veg, though meat/protein is needed, worms, snails or fresh cooked chicken (very low in fat) will surface. interestingly, cray have similar dietary requirements to a common pleco. now those with experience will confirm common plecos are perfectly capable of killing and eating fish, even so they are not billed as killers! the same should go for Crayfish. sadly the ignorances of, many, keepers. forces their stock into un-natural acts and conditions.

its a common misconception that cray/crawfish are dangerous hunter killers, nothing could be further from the truth. however keeping them in the wrong environment is, far worse. cooler water has higher O2 content. so keeping a temperate cray in a tropical environment is very detrimental. another vital problem is bacterial infection. crays are prone to this, and it is made worse by higher temperatures.

the gourami will defend is area, so you will see the odd stand off's. but thats about how far it would go, unless of course the cray is suffering from the wrong environment. if so all bets are off. a stressed critter will act in the most un-natural ways.