Dead Gourami - Page 2

Loman · 02-10-2007, 12:13 PM

nutz4oscars,
It is very hard to determine what is good information and what is dated or in some cases flat out wrong Aqueria is still relatively young/inexperienced in an extremely complex space in terms of understanding the full ecosystem which is contained within a single tank.

That said a place like this is IMO an excellent opportunity to hear others opinions including the opportunity to seek clarifications etc. and then reach your own opinion regarding the advice given. IN terms of the 1 inch per gallon rule I am of the opinion that it is not all that useful. I say that for a several reasons. First people never really do a good job knowing the length of the fish or anticipating the length of the full grown fish so it gets a bit muddled in determining the length of the fish. To make it more confusing not all fish produce the same level of wastes so a dirty species of fish compared to a cleaner species alters the balance - you can put more clean fish in a tank than dirty fish and end up with the same bio-load. And lastly you can successfully keep higher bio-load if you do things to compensate appropriately - take a look at the LFS feeder tank next time they get a shipment in. There are so many variable that effect the bio-load and the factor you are really concerned with is the toxicity of the water so measurements seem to be a better course to me. But like I said it is my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

JJAmazon · 02-10-2007, 03:02 PM

Since BioLoad seems to be the topic of conversation the last day or so on this forum, I think that there is definitely more truth in what Loman is saying than any other method could provide - If the fish are not aggravated and stressed, if the fish are able to carry out the daily activities (freeswim, suckermouth, etc...) that they would normally do, and the bioload can handle the by-products of those fish, then chances are you have a healthy and functional environment set up inside your tank.

Tommy Gun · 02-10-2007, 08:53 PM

I think you are sitting in front of the most up-to-date source of information available right now!!!! The internet is by far the best place to find accurate information. The only problem is trying to figure out what site is legit and what ones are a farce (there are a lot of these). My suggestion is to do a google or yahoo search using scientific names as much as possible since they tend to lead to more accurate sites or even educational sites such as those created by colleges. The other advantage is that you can search for any topic rather than being at the mercy of what articles are being published this month versus last month.

msemanuel · 02-13-2007, 08:59 AM

Just found this thread, thought I would mention, betta's and gourami's should not be housed together. Just like you should not put 2 male betta in the same tank, the same goes for bettas and gourami. Others may have had a different experience, but from my experience and research I have done since, I think it is safer not to put them together.

Loman · 02-13-2007, 11:58 AM

msemanuel,
I can not recall keeping goraumis and Betas at the same time but I I am also not finding any mention of the incompatability of these fish. Can you point us towad some research or at least summerise it a bit here?

msemanuel · 02-13-2007, 12:11 PM

I haven't been able to find where I found it and I may be wrong, ( I will keep trying, I know I read it somewhere) but from what I recall they are both anabantoids. I do know my paradise gourami did really well until I introduced the betta then my gourami got beaten up pretty well, then died, because of the betta. I also made the mistake at first of putting 2 male paradise gourami's in the same tank, they fought so much I had to move 1 to a different tank.
I will keep trying to find the information I can't remember if I read it in a book or on the web, I will go through my books today.

Loman · 02-13-2007, 12:20 PM

I found a mention that said they were near eachother scientificlly but I was not able to find a discussion of keeping them apart or the Paradise in groups of one. Always looking to find out something new hough. I will try to keep poking around too

msemanuel · 02-13-2007, 12:45 PM

Honestly I know I read it somewhere, though I am not sure where. It may be that it was just my fish that all happened to be extremely aggressive when together.
I did find this site about paradise gouramis.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/parad.htm

"Two males especially will fight, though usually not as viciously as two male bettas. Female paradise fish can also fight with each other and males. Some say that their paradise fish do or do not get along with various other fish"

Also it may just be the paradise and not other varieties of gouramis.

Loman · 02-13-2007, 02:38 PM

I found this

Quote:

Young Paradise fish may be kept together, but like Bettas, males will fierce fight to the death if kept together. A male may also mistake fish such as gouramis or Bettas as its own, and attack it viciously.

As I read it the paradise male will fight with other paradise males and will attack a male beta. So goes to validate that the Beta is a lot more peaceful than expected and other fish pick on it. Probably does not matter but seems like worth noting.