GIANT gouramis

BIGgourami

Polypterus
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Jan 31, 2007
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Cichlas;680748; said:
Oscars are a dodgy thing to add into the mix really. They can be so unpredictable, especially if they decide to take on a tank mate by working as a team. I have seen this happen many times to the detriment of the tank mate.
yeah upon minor retrospect of the question... forget the oscars (still like the discus idea though) do you think i could get two GG's in a 300, with AMAZING filtration? and what kind/amount of filter/s would you recommend?
also plants/decor? yes/no? this should probably go in another thread, but idunna.
 

KNH

Redtail Catfish
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Jun 12, 2005
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I currently have a gold GG that is ~9-10". He displays aggression towards my tinfoils and bala but is too slow to catch them. He/she absolutely hates my 12" aro which may force me to make a decision to get rid of one of them. They seem to have a dislike for silver fish. ( I used to have a rtgg that acted the same way). All that being said, I really like GG and am thinking about adding another one to see how that changes the dynamics of the tank.
KNH
 

BIGgourami

Polypterus
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Jan 31, 2007
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ok.

thinking this.

2 GG if they mesh behaviors.
300 gallons of water
Xp5 and a 25 sump
and a dozen or two of neons (dithers/possible feeder/colorizers)

whatdya think?
 

Cohazard

Arapaima
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Jul 13, 2005
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Two dozen neons wouldn't last long hehheh

I'm keeping oscars with my RTGG with no problems so far. They're all juvies around 6", but still, no aggression... they're very similar.

Last time I had an RTGG, it did get a lil cranky around the 8-9" mark, but not the the point of damaging the oscars I had with it. The oscars never attacked the gourami either.
 

BIGgourami

Polypterus
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Jan 31, 2007
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cool. cool.im really looking forward to this as soon as i can get about 5k together for this awesome tank/stand/canopy and all the gear kit that i found at my LFS.
do you keep yours with plants? i assume no with the O's
 

Cohazard

Arapaima
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Jul 13, 2005
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I do keep mine with plants actually.

Nothing fancy, just aponogeton bulbs from walmart, but they're growing well.

The RTGG (I've only had the new one for about a week) is starting to eat the aponogeton natans, but leaves the java fern, anubias, dwarf lilies and other apono's alone.
 

lilith

Feeder Fish
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May 15, 2007
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I have not found anything my gg wont eat. She even pulls up and nips at fake plants I have in the tank. And I keep mine with regular gouramis and shes pretty good to them except when they get in her way to get the food. I tried putting dome zebra dainios in with her figuring they were fast enough to get away...big mistake...10 danios and 10$ and 1hr.....the fish, the money, and the time gone....I really think any fish smaller than 4 inches long and 2.5 inches wide wouldnt stand a chanse in the tank with her.
 

BIGgourami

Polypterus
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Jan 31, 2007
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well if it's the one in your avatar then she's still pretty small. she's still got the pointed mouth and is (usually) more agressinve than an adult but yes, i wna't intending to put him/her with anything much smaller than him/her.
im starting to think of maybe a pair of cons or FMs.
if anybody has any suggestions PLEASE post them
 

lilith

Feeder Fish
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May 15, 2007
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The one in my avatar is about 12 inches, not done growing yet. I hope she mellows out some so that I can put some plants with her.
 

santoury

Fire Eel
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Dec 8, 2006
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Hey guys
I have had some... well, more specifically, one in the past, and two current.

First one I rescued as a 2 inch baby - leucistic - absolute sweetheart, and got along with everybody. Started out in a community tank, then into a cichlid tank, then in my oscar tank, and eventually summered in a pond, and wintered with an oscar - they were best buddies. It was a girl, and she would eat anything and everything. Back in the day when I still used filter floss (Remember that stuff?) she would bring her head out of the water into the filter, and pull the floss out and eat it. Never caused problems. She was perfectly compatible with everything else. She would eat guppies, however.

My 2 present ones are a gray one and a leucistic one. The leucistic is very mellow, while the gray one is crazy. Both are about 4 inches. The gray one is a total glassbanger - Right now he is in a quaratine tank (As is the leucistic) as both are recent purchases - and he has mellowed out a lot - so maybe it was just a hungry response at the store (Although the leucistic, kept in another tank, was very shy there.)
I could not ask for better fish - they are wonderful, have great personalities, and are right up there with Oscars - and they do make great tankmates.

They DO bully one another, (From what I have seen at stores) so I have not attempted keeping two together. (These were juvies.) But other than that, they are just big fish that are happy go lucky.

And no, I don't think you will EVER be able to keep any plants with them. As youngsters they aren't so bad but when they hit that 8 to 15 inch mark, they will eat anything they can rip apart, and that is pretty much everything that you put in there. (this does not include fish)
 
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