Opaline Gouramis and female bettas

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi everyone.

My hubby has a juvenile opaline gourami in his 10g tank. He finally agress with me that the fish is going to be too big for his tank. We don't have anywhere else to put him except possibly my 20G tank. Right now that is home to my 7 females and 5 rummynose tetras.

I know males and gourami's shouldn't be kept together, but what about putting the gourami in with the females? Our other solution is to buy a bigger tank, which I don't mind. I am going to try to get a big tank given to me by my dad when I see him this summer, so that is a viable option.

 

[Kiarra]

I'm not sure about Opaline Gouramis, but I keep my two Croaking Gouramis in a tank with female Bettas. I think there's 6 female Bettas in there with them right now, but I'm not sure....

It's worth trying, I think, and, if it doesn't work, you can separate them very easily. My Bettas and Gouramis, though, get along with no trouble at all. There has never been an issue between them.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Ok, thanks. I think I will try it and see what happens. I am going to bag him up now and acclimate him to the other tank as there is about a 4 degree difference in temp.

 

[Kiarra]

Just stay on hand in case anything goes wrong. It might, and it might not. But be there just in case.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I am going to be home all day in my office, so I will be there all day. I am hoping nothing will happen, he is larger then the girls, which may or may not discourage fighting. Some of my girls are quite docile, but one or two have pretty strong personalities to put it nicely. These are the ones I am most worried about.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Well, I tried it. My girls disappeared. The gourami took over the entire top of the tank. All my girls were hiding and they all had extreme stress bars. Needless to say, the gourami has been reintroduced to his old home. He will stay there until I can get a larger tank, either later this month or in July.

On a lighter note, as soon as the gourami was rehomed, my girls appeared, their stress bars are gone and they are back to their old selves. When I moved the gourami I made sure the tanks were the same temperature to prevent some stress should he have to be moved back. I am glad I did. He is back to claiming the entire top area of the 10g, which is fine as he ignores the fish in there. He is still quite small, so I am hoping I have some time before he needs a bigger tank.

 

[Kiarra]

Ah, well, it was worth a try. Glad there's no lasting damage from the whole adventure.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

No real damage that I can see. I think one of my girls may have been nipped a bit, but I added some salt to combat that. My next venture will be to add more females to the tank. I am going to completely remove all the girls that are there and rearrange the tank, then I will introduce them with the new girls. I haven't tried this before as I got all my girls at the same time. I will make sure to have another tank or two if there are any problems.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Males can be a bit dominant, compared to female opaline gouramis. If your fish was female it could have possibly worked.

ALso, introducing him into the new aquarium, of course he wants to find and claim himself new territory, even if that means beating or surpressing female bettas. Doh...

It will be good once you introduce him into a larger tank with an increase in volume, and i believe it was Phatom_Thief who created a great fish profile on this species that may help you to set up an environment for your opaline that is less likely to stress your other tank inhabitants.

miagi

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I wouldn't have minded him claiming territory, but I didn't like how he was treating the other fish. I suppose I could have left it, but I am not comfortable watching my girls stress needlessly.

I have a three spot gourami in my 55g who gets on very well with my rainbows and my angels. When I get a bigger tank I will probably stock along those same lines. I really enjoy rainbows, tetras and the like. I am not going to stock the bigger tank with very many if any top dwellers. I am already planning it in my head. I am pretty sure my dad is going to give me one or both of his tanks when I go see him this summer, so hopefully I will be starting a fishless cycle and adding new fish by August.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Thats god then! Hope all goes well.

One quick note though, if you have already established media, from you existing tanks, buy the same filter for your new tank and half the media out so your new tanks are instantly cycled! No need to do a fishless cycle when you have already established tanks!