Largemouth Bass & Gold Gourami

[Candy_Land]

I am so devastated.
Currently as I type this..my bass is struggling to swallow my Gold Gourami, Brutus.
These two have been tank mates for the past 8 months, at one time the bass was smaller than Brutus.
Here recently, I've noticed that the bass had starting to act aggressively towards Brutus. At that moment, I should have relocated Brutus to another tank.
I know that Brutus is dead. I am now very worried about my bass (pissed off at him too). I'm sharing this horrific story, because I don't want anyone else to have to go through this. If anyone has any ideas on how I can save my bass, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[piranhaman00]

I guess you learn with experience. A largemouth bass has its name for a reason....

 

[fisheatfish]

Probably not a good idea to pull the gourami out forcefully but if you can still see the gourami in the bass’ mouth, you can use a scissor and cut up Brutus to pieces (sorry) to help him go down easier or removed piece by piece.

Any pics?

 

[duanes]

Bass, cichlids, morays and many other fish, have two sets of jaws (a bit like Alien).
The obvious ones, and another set in the throat (called pharyngeal teeth) to help slowly grind up large items, those that take time to break down and digest. It may take a week for the bass to process the gourami. Without arms and hands, they are very convenient, and also allow a fish to process one meal, and catch another if available with the outer jaws.
You may do more damage by trying to pull the gourami out.

 

[duanes]

One other thing, as others have said, some fish do not belong together, one of the best ways to tell is looking at the mouth, big mouths mean big bites, and eaters of other fish, usually much bigger than you expect, especially as the big mouthed fish grows.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

If your bass hasn't swallowed the gourami by now(or nearly so)
You can try to gently remove the gourami by hand, when doing this push the dorsal spikes of the gourami back, if there is much bleeding pour a little Mountain Dew on the bleeding.

 

[Candy_Land]

I should have updated this story months ago...
So I was able to separate the two.
Unfortunately, the bass did not survive. Thank you everyone for your replies. I do have a picture if the incident..I will post soon.

 

[Rogozhin75]

I should have updated this story months ago...
So I was able to separate the two.
Unfortunately, the bass did not survive. Thank you everyone for your replies. I do have a picture if the incident..I will post soon.

I'd like the see the picture as I'm thinking of doing a local wild tank (I fish quite a bit too and largemouth can swallow damn near anything).