Gourami ate my danio!

#1
I have a cichlid tank with my big blue male gourami. He's about 4" inlcuding his tail. He is one mean bastard. He was one of the first fish I ever kept, and killed my other girl gourami before when he was smaller. Now he likes to pick fights with my male kenyi! The kenyi usually wins, but my blue doesn't show much of any damage. And he keeps trying! He patrols the upper half of my tank, chasing the zebras when they get him mad. I caught him the other day with one of my zebra danios more than half way in his mouth! He saw me and spit it out and took off, but it was pretty dead and chewed up. I figured my kenyis might catch a couple danios, but I didn't think my Gourami would eat one. It would be easier without him, but he's such a cool fish. I'd like to breed him, he is a really good example of a blue. Anyone else have anything similar happen?
 

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420Loach

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May 26, 2003
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#2
well, i have two gold gouramis(of which i was told one was male and the other female) and one kept bullying the other, ramming him into the side of the tank and nipping at his tail and fins. it got so bad that i put the mean one in with my cichlids, now he CANT pick on anything. hes left alone by the cichlids so i left him in there, but the other is traumatized because it still likes to hide behind things, and recently took up residence in the clown loaches castle, but he is very peaceful and doesnt bother any of the other fish. blue and gold gouramis are mean as they come sometimes. in my case the first male i released into the tank took an objection to me releasing another male in the tank(once again, i thought one was female, and had no idea about releasing them at the same time)

the mean male would often pick fights and lose with my kenyis, but like your blue, he kept trying. now the mean one seems to have an attitude adjustment, but as long as the cichlids dont bother him hes staying in that tank. ive come to like him again because hes less scared of me then my Jack Dempsey or Convict are, and hes even learned to go to the other side of the tank, where i drop in his food seperately(otherwise hed get nothing to eat, so im impressed by that)

im not sure of the specs on breeding gouramis, but it might be a good idea if hes a great specimen, you'd need another tank, but if ya got the cash, try it out, look for a good female. the first thing id do though, is learn the specifications of breeding gourami so you know what to expect and decide if you want to do it or not. good luck if ya do*thumbsups
 

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Angelfish

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Apr 14, 2003
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#5
Although kenyi's are agressive, I do think you could succsesfully keep two in a 29 gal. (although they would be much happier in a 55) as they grow to about 5". However the fish that you have matched with them are probably not the best choice, the danios are likely to get eaten by the Kenyis, but it would seem you know this already
Originally posted by Brockway
I figured my kenyis might catch a couple danios
Save some lives and try to get them outta there :)

Also if your interested in breeding your blue, I suggest setting up a 20 gal. and putting him in there as well as the female from your 10 gal. as she is going to get too big for that tank.

Good luck with it =)
 

#6
I would have rather gotten a 55 too, but it won't fit in my dorm here. The blue and the male kenyi appear to have worked out the pecking order, and they hardly ever fight now (boy kenyi is obviously dominant), although the blue gourami does seem to mess with the females every now and then... The danios are doing fine, although it looks like my big blue female kenyi is chasing them as we speak. The convicts are now in a breeder net thingy in the 29, the boy looked a little rough, but the female looked alright. On a side note, those things are a b*tch to catch, at least the females are.
 

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kenyan

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Mar 13, 2017
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#11
I have a cichlid tank with my big blue male gourami. He's about 4" inlcuding his tail. He is one mean bastard. He was one of the first fish I ever kept, and killed my other girl gourami before when he was smaller. Now he likes to pick fights with my male kenyi! The kenyi usually wins, but my blue doesn't show much of any damage. And he keeps trying! He patrols the upper half of my tank, chasing the zebras when they get him mad. I caught him the other day with one of my zebra danios more than half way in his mouth! He saw me and spit it out and took off, but it was pretty dead and chewed up. I figured my kenyis might catch a couple danios, but I didn't think my Gourami would eat one. It would be easier without him, but he's such a cool fish. I'd like to breed him, he is a really good example of a blue. Anyone else have anything similar happen?
I had two zebra danios cycling my 10g and my gf had a pair of blue gorramis and a pair of kissing together but the male blue would beat all of them up. I was looking for an aggressive fish for my tank and I when I saw how he was acting with the others I got interested. At first I thought they were pretty girly lol but when I put him in my 10g after like a day he would just chase the danios down full speed. Now one of my danios is missing n I just don't want to believe that this little mouth blue gourami ate it. I have a 10g so I looked in every spot I couldn't find a dead body or nothing...he still chasing the other one down but the danio is pretty fast.... but yeah idk what to think lol