# Red Tail Giant Gourami WELCOME HOME ;)



## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

just brought home my red tail giant gourami  shes about 7 inch long and still young. i will try put up pics soon :2thumb::2thumb::2thumb::2thumb::2thumb::2thumb:


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## Keir64 (Oct 12, 2009)

Awesome! How big will she get?


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

the guy at the shop knows what hes doing but he said she will only get about 10 inch but i recon she will get bigger than that.


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## Keir64 (Oct 12, 2009)

Nice! Hope all goes well for you


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

thanks, :no1:


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

hedgehog738 said:


> the guy at the shop knows what hes doing but he said she will only get about 10 inch but i recon she will get bigger than that.


lol what????

try about 1-2ft DEFINITLEY bigger than 1ft anyway.
kinda similar to pacu.


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

OK,Liz..here you go.photos of my giant gourami - MonsterFishKeepers.com

hes still a baby. piggy is his name. hes kinda the masvot of that site lol


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## AZUK (Jul 9, 2007)

I had two Osphronemus a few years back, they weight 22 lb and 25 lb and could eat a whole iceberg lettuce in one mouth full. Got to have been my all time favorite fish with bags of personality and will soon learn to recognise you.


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

:banghead: Why oh why do shops still sell these monster sized fish...? :bash:


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

HalcyonInverts said:


> :banghead: Why oh why do shops still sell these monster sized fish...? :bash:


indeedy...and then say things like 'they only get 10"!!!'

they do that in the american petsmarts lol pacu that only grow to 10"....must say i did tell them i was intrigued at this rare inbred pacu that only gets 10"


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

ChloEllie said:


> indeedy...and then say things like 'they only get 10"!!!'
> 
> they do that in the american petsmarts lol pacu that only grow to 10"....must say i did tell them i was intrigued at this rare inbred pacu that only gets 10"


Yup, i work at a public aquarium and get at least a pacu a week offered to us, and regular Pangasius, giant gourami, and armoured plecs as well. If you cant house an animal for its entire lifetime, it shouldnt be sold. Things like pacu can only be housed in public aquarium sized tanks, and this just isnt possible for the majority of pet shop customers. ARGH bane of my life!


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

HalcyonInverts said:


> Yup, i work at a public aquarium and get at least a pacu a week offered to us, and regular Pangasius, giant gourami, and armoured plecs as well. If you cant house an animal for its entire lifetime, it shouldnt be sold. Things like pacu can only be housed in public aquarium sized tanks, and this just isnt possible for the majority of pet shop customers. ARGH bane of my life!


yep, i can imagine.
at my local aquarium most of their tanks are just oscars, common plecs, parrot fish.
one tank with RTCs, pacus and a TSN....u know they r all unloved fish. so sad.


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## Bafutbeagle (Aug 8, 2007)

I had a Red Tailed Giant Gourami for a couple of years and went up to 14"" long and was still growing, I sold it to a bloke who had his own heated pond as it was too big for my 5 x 2 x 2.5 tank!

Hope you have plans for a massive tank too, will needmassive filtration I had 2 Fluval FX5s running on this talk and still had to do massive water changes to keep his tank crystal clear.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

they have some pretty big tanks at my LFS and they said they would take anything back (including red tail giant gourami) appart from tiger oscars because they get offerd way too may. so im ok. : victory:


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

could i give it a raisin- if thats how you spell it, or what other treats could i give it, i know they like banana but we dont have any atm.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

do they have teeth? if i put my finger in and it bit be would it hurt?


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

to the top please


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> the guy at the shop knows what hes doing but he said she will only get about 10 inch but i recon she will get bigger than that.


what species is it? If it's an osphronemus, then the guy at the shop does not know what he's doing



ChloEllie said:


> lol what????
> 
> try about 1-2ft DEFINITLEY bigger than 1ft anyway.
> kinda similar to pacu.


1-2 foot? and the rest . They will comfortably clear two foot, I believe 3 foot is an acceptable maximum in tanks but 30" is about average




hedgehog738 said:


> they have some pretty big tanks at my LFS and they said they would take anything back (including red tail giant gourami) appart from tiger oscars because they get offerd way too may. so im ok. : victory:



that's an appalling attitude to have. These are living animals. Would you buy a dog as a puppy and then take it back once it got bigger? No you probably wouldn't because that would be cruel, so why's it ok to do it to a fish? If you intend to look after it properly you're gonna need a big tank. 6x3x3 would be ok but bigger is better. Food wise get it eating decent pellets as a basic diet, either high quality cichlid pellets like Hikari cihlid gold, or a good koi food, nishikoi would be a good start. Then you want to be adding lots or fresh fruit and veg, banana, strawberry, raspberry, orange, mango, basically anything fairly soft. You want to make sure the fish is eating each bit though, don't just chuck it all in at once. Veg wise basically look at tortoise foods, kale, rocket, watercress etc. Again make sure it's all eaten. If you can, get a seperate tank and start growing plants, stuff like cabomba is great because it's fast growing and gouramis seem to love it.

Filtration-wise you need to big. Don't bother looking at standard aquarium external filters, no point because they are so expensive. Either look at the big filters, the ones that are essentially buckets with pumps screwed on (so the fluval FX5 or some of the bigger eheims). They are expensive though. The cheaper option is to use a pond filter. A small pond filter will easily cope with a big tank and will be cheaper than an aquarium filter to buy.

Don't be tempted to add fish in with it. Most giant gouramis go through a nasty teenage faze where they get very territorial. Stuff like catfish will be fine just avoid anything too small. You can add stuff once you have a big enough tank and the gourami has settled down again.


Please don't think I'm having a go. It's mostly the shops fault they should have given you proper, correct advice. But you do need to accept some of the blame as well. Giant gouramis easily make it into the tank buster group. These fish should be researched before you think about buying one. They live a long time, there was one where I used to work that was donated when the shop first opened when she was fully grown (so at least 5-6 years then) that was 44 years ago and she died 2 years ago. Do the math, that made her give or take 47 years old. That's very old even for these fish but it's possible.

So yeah, either start saving for a new tank and the gear to look after this fish properly, or re-home it as soon as possible. It's much easier to move a 7 inch fish then a 15 inch one.


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## Natonstan (Aug 9, 2008)

mike515 said:


> what species is it? If it's an osphronemus, then the guy at the shop does not know what he's doing
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It really gets to me when people treat fish as trash. They should be treated like any other living animal, just because you can't pet it or take it out doesn't mean its any less of an animal.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Natonstan said:


> It really gets to me when people treat fish as trash. They should be treated like any other living animal, just because you can't pet it or take it out doesn't mean its any less of an animal.


exactly. Half my fish have got a damn site more personality then any little lap dog I've ever met (im not a fan of 'toy dog' breeds ).

My red tail cat thinks he's a dolphin lol. If you slap the water, he comes up and rests his chin on the ledge and opens his mouth.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

Natonstan said:


> It really gets to me when people treat fish as trash. They should be treated like any other living animal, just because you can't pet it or take it out doesn't mean its any less of an animal.


are you aiming that at me?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> are you aiming that at me?



no, it was a comment about how a lot of people don't see fish in the same way as other animals. That they are more of a disposable item, not a living thing that needs care like any other. This was because of me bringing up your comment saying 'if it gets too big ill take it back'.

Not saying you would deliberately be cruel to any animal but the point like I said earlier, you wouldn't do it to a dog or cat, so why is it ok to do it to a fish?


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mike515 said:


> no, it was a comment about how a lot of people don't see fish in the same way as other animals. That they are more of a disposable item, not a living thing that needs care like any other. This was because of me bringing up your comment saying 'if it gets too big ill take it back'.
> 
> Not saying you would deliberately be cruel to any animal but the point like I said earlier, you wouldn't do it to a dog or cat, so why is it ok to do it to a fish?


if someone bought a puppy but it ended up too big or too strong, you would find it a new home.


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## ditzychick (Aug 21, 2009)

hedgehog738 said:


> if someone bought a puppy but it ended up too big or too strong, you would find it a new home.


I think the point is you would RESEARCH first to make sure that would not happen. It would be in that case irresponsible to get th "dog" in the first place.

Gonna be a gorgeous fish though :2thumb:


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> if someone bought a puppy but it ended up too big or too strong, you would find it a new home.



That wouldn't be a problem if people did their research before buying any animal.

the point was, you wouldn't buy a puppy with the attitude of keeping it until it got too big, you'd buy one that wouldn't get too big.

Should be the same for fish, you buy one that you can keep properly for their whole life, not one that you can keep for a bit then get rid of once you're done with it.


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## ditzychick (Aug 21, 2009)

mike515 said:


> That wouldn't be a problem if people did their research before buying any animal.
> 
> the point was, you wouldn't buy a puppy with the attitude of keeping it until it got too big, you'd buy one that wouldn't get too big.
> 
> Should be the same for fish, you buy one that you can keep properly for their whole life, not one that you can keep for a bit then get rid of once you're done with it.


 

My point exactly, no body goes on about all the fish that need rehoming, granted its probably not as bad as the dog/cat/small animal situation. But i suppose its easier with fish, if you dont want it anymore, flush it!!! (note before i get it in the neck, i do not condone this)
I have rehomed a lot of fish myself, and if need be upgrade the tanks. But for anything i go out and buy, i always research. The joys of mobile internet. Nowadays its so much easier there is no excuse not to, and never just look at one site for info always find as many as possible as they sometimes contradict each other, that way you shouldn't end up with a 3ft fish and nowhere to put it later.


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## ditzychick (Aug 21, 2009)

p.s not ranting just trying to help


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mike515 said:


> what species is it? If it's an osphronemus, then the guy at the shop does not know what he's doing.


 i think it may be, but im new to giant gouramis so im not sue exactly what it is


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## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

hedgehog738 said:


> i think it may be, but im new to giant gouramis so im not sue exactly what it is


red tail giant gourami is osphronemus laticlavis


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

did you research the fish at all ? i very much doubt it, its going to out grow your tank very quickly...........is it being kept with the fire eel ?


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

18 inches is a good size for red tailed osphrenemus (laticlavus),27 would be absolute maximum in a very old fish.

I challenge any one on here to even find me an 18 inch sl one.

Makes me laugh when people scream at people to do their research but don`t research there own answers.

Comparing fish to dogs is ridiculous any one who thinks their fish have formed an emotional bond towards them lives in cloud cuckoo land.

Whether its right to buy a fish you might not be able to home at full size is a moot point .

The overexcitable and extreme reactions on this forum do nothing .


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

There's one at Swallow Aq thats at least 24" 
If the worst come to the worst, I've eaten these (not at the local chip shop btw) and they taste pretty good - much like Cod.

Farm Giant Gourami and save the seas..now there's an idea.


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

Graylord said:


> 18 inches is a good size for red tailed osphrenemus (laticlavus),27 would be absolute maximum in a very old fish.
> 
> I challenge any one on here to even find me an 18 inch sl one.
> 
> ...


A moot point? thats a ridiculously callous attitude. When you buy an animal you buy it for life. You dont buy an animal knowing you cannot keep it. That just makes the animal more like a fashion accessory.

People with this 'throw away' attitude for large fish irratate me. Im sick of being contacted by irresponsible owners who have grown tired of thier fish or run out of space. 

If you cant keep it forever, dont buy it


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mask-of-sanity said:


> did you research the fish at all ? i very much doubt it, its going to out grow your tank very quickly...........is it being kept with the fire eel ?



yes, why?


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> yes, why?


are the gourami, fire eel and the clown loaches your getting all going into your new tank ? you have a 200l so approx 43 gallon tank, how long do you think thats going to last them....its a new tank set up that you got for christmas yet your adding more and more fish....your filter wont be mature enough to cope with the waste why not leave it now for a few weeks before adding the clown loaches, they have no scales so are vunrable(sp) and need perfect water conditions or your going to end up with them dead


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

hedgehog738 said:


> yes, why?


if the previous post is correct, and you are keeping this dude in a 200L tank permenantly, id give up now and take the fish back before you get too attached to it. A medium/full grown red tail giant should have at least a 400L tank as they are fairly active swimmers. A small tank is going to cause problems with space and fluctuating water quality unless you seriously over-spec the filtration.

Think long and hard about whether you are really going to buy a 400L or preferably bigger tank in the future and if not, take him back now, whilst he is still easy to rehome. Ive taken in similar sized pacu recently and each of them has a 1000L tank and that isnt really enough. Trust me, a 20" full grown Giant gourami isnt easy to rehome as all the rehoming centers and aquariums get full real fast.

Sorry, not trying to p*ss on your bonfire, but it seems that this is just going to be another case of impulse buying from a pet shop, not being told the correct info about the fish when purchased, and it will all end in tears. Hope you prove me wrong however!


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mask-of-sanity said:


> are the gourami, fire eel and the clown loaches your getting all going into your new tank ? you have a 200l so approx 43 gallon tank, how long do you think thats going to last them....its a new tank set up that you got for christmas yet your adding more and more fish....your filter wont be mature enough to cope with the waste why not leave it now for a few weeks before adding the clown loaches, they have no scales so are vunrable(sp) and need perfect water conditions or your going to end up with them dead


 no, i have a 240L, in it at the moment are just the gourami and a pleco. i have bought the fire eel but my lfc are keeping it for me until my tank has matured.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> no, i have a 240L, in it at the moment are just the gourami and a pleco. i have bought the fire eel but my lfc are keeping it for me until my tank has matured.


i stand corrected, but thats only 40l's more but still not going to be big enough tbh, please reconceder your choice of fish, there is a huge variety of fish that will be great in your size tank


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mask-of-sanity said:


> i stand corrected, but thats only 40l's more but still not going to be big enough tbh, please reconceder your choice of fish, there is a huge variety of fish that will be great in your size tank


well i know that fire eel will be ok in my tank (if my reaserch is right, as most of it has been wrong)
how much do you think a young red tail giant gourami should be sold for? (approx 6-7inch) I JUST WONDERING NOT SELLING.


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

hedgehog738 said:


> no, i have a 240L, in it at the moment are just the gourami and a pleco. i have bought the fire eel but my lfc are keeping it for me until my tank has matured.


So you're keeping a giant gourami, fire eel, clown loach (saw another one of your threads) and pleco (im assuming it's one of the larger species) in a 240L tank? i dont understand why some people dont just buy fish that are suited to their size of tanks, there are hundreds of small tropical species that would of been perfect for your tank, but instead you have bought species which will be cramped and unconfortable in a small tank, and if you are going to upgrade the tank soon, fair enough but wouldnt it of been easier to get the larger tank first, then get the larger fish?


Dan


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

dan51 said:


> So you're keeping a giant gourami, fire eel, clown loach (saw another one of your threads) and pleco (im assuming it's one of the larger species) in a 240L tank? i dont understand why some people dont just buy fish that are suited to their size of tanks, there are hundreds of small tropical species that would of been perfect for your tank, but instead you have bought species which will be cramped and unconfortable in a small tank, and if you are going to upgrade the tank soon, fair enough but wouldnt it of been easier to get the larger tank first, then get the larger fish?
> 
> 
> Dan


no, i said i was getting some clownloach today but i didnt get some and after a rethink i am now not getting some.
i have been keeping fish for 7 years now and i only wanted help on the giant gourami.
i know most of you are trying to help but im ok. i have done research on all of the fish i have/getting, and if the research is has told me wrong and i buy something that will grow too large then its just a mistake. everyone makes them.


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

hedgehog738 said:


> i know most of you are trying to help but im ok. i have done research on all of the fish i have/getting, and if the research is has told me wrong and i buy something that will grow too large then its just a mistake. everyone makes them.


no worries, better to find an error sooner rather than later...


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

how much would a young red tail giant gourami normaly cost? mine was only £20, isnt that a bit cheap for a giant gourami?????????


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

i would say £20 is a fair price, the larger they get, the more they increase in price


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

dan51 said:


> i would say £20 is a fair price, the larger they get, the more they increase in price


ok thanks


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

pictures of her :flrt:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/fish-keeping/436683-red-tail-giant-gourami-pic.html


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Graylord said:


> 18 inches is a good size for red tailed osphrenemus (laticlavus),27 would be absolute maximum in a very old fish.
> 
> I challenge any one on here to even find me an 18 inch sl one.
> 
> ...



Emotional bond aside it's still not right. How is it a moot point? It's one of the biggest problems in fish keeping. How many red tail cats, arowana, shovelnose cats etc end up being dumped somewhere because someone bought a fish intending to get rid of it when they're done with it? There's loads, speak to anyone who works in the aquatics trade or at an aquarium etc, most will have been offered fish like pacu so many times they just can't be bothered anymore.


Red tail gourami will clear 18" easily. I used to work with a group of giants, 4 red tails and a 'normal' O. gorami. The red tails were all a good 20", one being just shy of 24". The largest was the O.gorami at a good 28/29".


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mike515 said:


> Emotional bond aside it's still not right. How is it a moot point? It's one of the biggest problems in fish keeping. How many red tail cats, arowana, shovelnose cats etc end up being dumped somewhere because someone bought a fish intending to get rid of it when they're done with it? There's loads, speak to anyone who works in the aquatics trade or at an aquarium etc, most will have been offered fish like pacu so many times they just can't be bothered anymore.
> 
> 
> Red tail gourami will clear 18" easily. I used to work with a group of giants, 4 red tails and a 'normal' O. gorami. The red tails were all a good 20", one being just shy of 24". The largest was the O.gorami at a good 28/29".



big fish, little fish, cardboard box


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

one of my young congo tetras has magicly vanished
:whistling2::whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> big fish, little fish, cardboard box





hedgehog738 said:


> one of my young congo tetras has magicly vanished
> :whistling2::whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


you dont deserve fish with that attitude :bash:


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

hedgehog738 said:


> one of my young congo tetras has magicly vanished
> :whistling2::whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:





mask-of-sanity said:


> you dont deserve fish with that attitude :bash:


completly agree!! :censor: i thought from the previous posts that you relised the gourami was far too large for the tank and was going to move it on, then to say that it ate one of your congo tetras and not give a damn is disgusting!


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

i gave up on this thread long ago. I said i hoped id be proved wrong. Looks like i was proved right. Shame... :devil:


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

dan51 said:


> completly agree!! :censor: i thought from the previous posts that you relised the gourami was far too large for the tank and was going to move it on, then to say that it ate one of your congo tetras and not give a damn is disgusting!


 did i say it got eaten? no, i have got 10 of them and they move pretty quick, they are normally in a shoal but one of them was just off for a swim on its own, so i counted 9.
i wouldnt spend £20 on tetras if they were going to get eaten.
And on another thread i have put that i have another tank incase my gourami is aggressive towards them, but it isnt.
so obviously i do "give a damn."


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> did i say it got eaten? no, i have got 10 of them and they move pretty quick, they are normally in a shoal but one of them was just off for a swim on its own, so i counted 9.
> i wouldnt spend £20 on tetras if they were going to get eaten.
> And on another thread i have put that i have another tank incase my gourami is aggressive towards them, but it isnt.
> so obviously i do "give a damn."


but they are still in the tank with it, your asking for trouble no doubt you will wake one morning and they will all be gone, on another note why keep putting new fish in a tank thats only been up a couple of weeks, that really shows good fish keeping does it ? i dont think so


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

i bought, stuff that lets you put fish in sooner, and i have had my water tested.

And this was from my other thread incase you didnt see it.

i got 10 young congo tetras to go in the tank but i knew there was a possibility that they would easilly get eaten or chased but my gourami doesnt bother them at all. it gets right close to my plecos and just waches them. some times she lightly nudges my large (7inch) pleco and it nudges her back  its well funny to watch, they just keep nudging each other, but they arnt hurting each other, i thinks she does it when my pleco is asleep to wake him up. she a right character  dont worry, if my congo tetras were getting bullied i could of put them in my other tank anyway. i wont let the get eaten.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

mask-of-sanity said:


> but they are still in the tank with it, your asking for trouble no doubt you will wake one morning and they will all be gone, on another note why keep putting new fish in a tank thats only been up a couple of weeks, that really shows good fish keeping does it ? i dont think so


i only have 2 plecos a gourami and congo tetras. thats not exactly over filling it.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> i only have 2 plecos a gourami and congo tetras. thats not exactly over filling it.


i did not say its over filling it, but your filter needs time to cope with the waste the fish produce, hence its best to stock every couple of weeks or so and slowly not throw fish in every few days ......so you will watch the congo's overnight and all day then just in case you need to get them out quick


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

iv had them in for a few days now, they are fine. But dont worry i have the other tank waiting for them just incase.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

i have dicided to move them into my other tank, just to be on the safe side. but ill move them back when they get a bit bigger.


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

dan51 said:


> i would say £20 is a fair price, the larger they get, the more they increase in price


lol by 18" u wont b able to give it away!


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## ChloEllie (Jul 18, 2009)

hedgehog738 said:


> i bought, stuff that lets you put fish in sooner, and i have had my water tested.
> 
> And this was from my other thread incase you didnt see it.
> 
> i got 10 young congo tetras to go in the tank but i knew there was a possibility that they would easilly get eaten or chased but my gourami doesnt bother them at all. it gets right close to my plecos and just waches them. some times she lightly nudges my large (7inch) pleco and it nudges her back  its well funny to watch, they just keep nudging each other, but they arnt hurting each other, i thinks she does it when my pleco is asleep to wake him up. she a right character  dont worry, if my congo tetras were getting bullied i could of put them in my other tank anyway. i wont let the get eaten.


u got a common plec? if thats the case awww its still a baby!!
my lovely old common "mate" pegged at the rip old size of 26".....and he was still growing.
as for u wont let them get eaten....i had a FH 2.5", wiped out his whole tank in one night. a female fh, 3 raphaels, 1 panaque, 2fronts, 2 parrots and 3 plecs. everything was around the 10" mark when he killed the lot.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

ChloEllie said:


> u got a common plec? if thats the case awww its still a baby!!
> my lovely old common "mate" pegged at the rip old size of 26".....and he was still growing.
> as for u wont let them get eaten....i had a FH 2.5", wiped out his whole tank in one night. a female fh, 3 raphaels, 1 panaque, 2fronts, 2 parrots and 3 plecs. everything was around the 10" mark when he killed the lot.


 i said lare pleco because i have a smaller one. (2-3")


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## TYPHOON (Dec 3, 2009)

Jesus, they are taking you apart on this thread HedgeHog! Think I will stick to P.Ms from now on:blush:


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

TYPHOON said:


> Jesus, they are taking you apart on this thread HedgeHog! Think I will stick to P.Ms from now on:blush:


To be fair they have put a fish that's far too big for most keepers into a tank that's far too small and then put fish in with it that it would probably see as lunch. These types of fish are hard to move on due to their size so anyone buying one needs to plan on having it for life.

It's understandable that people are expressing their concern. I guess what we want to hear is that it's either been taken back or they're already making preparations for a tank large enough to house it with suitably sized tank mates (if any).

I'm sure hedgehog gets the message by now though


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## ditzychick (Aug 21, 2009)

Reading your sig you have severums and a fire eel as well as the gourami and plecs in your big tank, is this right???


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

All i know is, that Gourami needs a hell of a lot bigger tank:devil: You said on the other forum it has difficulty turning around:whistling2: So you must realise its not fair to keep it there?

I've just looked at a number of care sheets and they all say minimum 340 - 410 litres for a fish upto 15". Even a 210L tank is only suitable for one of these fish upto 8".

It also says to have loads of plants, floating cover and places for the gourami to hide. Your pictures show none of this is available?


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## ditzychick (Aug 21, 2009)

andy007 said:


> All i know is, that Gourami needs a hell of a lot bigger tank:devil: You said on the other forum it has difficulty turning around:whistling2: So you must realise its not fair to keep it there?
> 
> *I've just looked at a number of care sheets and they all say minimum 340 - 410 litres for a fish upto 15". Even a 210L tank is only suitable for one of these fish upto 8".*
> 
> It also says to have loads of plants, floating cover and places for the gourami to hide. Your pictures show none of this is available?


 
Thats just for the one fish let alone the fire eel, approx 3ft adult length, two plecs say min 15-20" each. The op is going to need a seriously large tank and immense fitration to keep all these guys at their adult life. All of which have a long lifespan to.


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

ditzychick said:


> Thats just for the one fish let alone the fire eel, approx 3ft adult length, two plecs say min 15-20" each. The op is going to need a seriously large tank and immense fitration to keep all these guys at their adult life. All of which have a long lifespan to.


Did you not read? he can give them back to his LFS whenever he wants... LOL (feeeel the sarcasm!). 

This thread pains me to read.


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

I know, lets all go and buy animals we know we cant keep. After all, it must be beneficial for the animal to shipped around, right?


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

andy007 said:


> All i know is, that Gourami needs a hell of a lot bigger tank:devil: You said on the other forum it has difficulty turning around:whistling2: So you must realise its not fair to keep it there?
> 
> I've just looked at a number of care sheets and they all say minimum 340 - 410 litres for a fish upto 15". Even a 210L tank is only suitable for one of these fish upto 8".
> 
> It also says to have loads of plants, floating cover and places for the gourami to hide. Your pictures show none of this is available?


ok i dont think i ever said it had dificulty turning around. i have got plants ready to put in.

YouTube - pleco, giant gourami and severums feeding

see for yourself.



andy007 said:


> I know, lets all go and buy animals we know we cant keep. After all, it must be beneficial for the animal to shipped around, right?


i made one mistake and now everyone is having a go at me. i did my reaserch and it told me wrong. i cant help that.


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## tigerpaws (Feb 21, 2009)

It has to be said This Thread Is Useless Without Pictures


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

HalcyonInverts said:


> This thread pains me to read.


Ditto!


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

tigerpaws said:


> It has to be said This Thread Is Useless Without Pictures



http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/fish-keeping/436683-red-tail-giant-gourami-pic.html


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## kiz (Dec 6, 2008)

hedgehog738 said:


> i did my reaserch and it told me wrong. i cant help that.


 If you thoroughly research from a variety of sources, it is very difficult not to notice that if 9 times out of ten the sources are saying they will reach 18"+ and you get one saying it reaches 10"s then don't get it. I currently have 3 common giant gouramis in a 600 gallon heated pond all been rescued from people who think it will grow to the size of the tank or if it gets too big they can fob it off on someone else. Not being being funny but if you really do thoroughly research it is very difficult to make a mistake.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

the place where i got the fish, i am doing work experience ther in february for a week . so when i am there i can talk to them about it and see what they say. he told me it was only going to get a few inch bigger about 8" long.


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