Do giant gouramis tolerate tank mates?

Question

Right now, I have 2 fish tanks in my home and it is very difficult for me to maintain both at the same time. I have attached images of both fish tanks and fish living in them.

In the first fish tank I have a single giant gourami.

First tank picture:

In the second fish tank I have:

1. Kissing gourami
2. Milky white koi carp
3. Sliver shark
4. Blue gourami
5. Twin fin
6. Sea angel
7. Hypostomus plecostomus

Second tank picture:

I have heard that giant gourami can kill the other fish like oscar and arowana.

My question is, can the giant gourami live with all these fish in a single tank, or do I have to keep it alone?

If I put them in a single tank, what kind of filtration is required?

Answer 1

Going by your pictures, no, you can't combine these fish. Please don't take this the wrong way: these tanks are much too small for the animals in them, and have inadequate filtration. Giant gouramis get huge, bigger than some cats and dogs -- you're looking at a fish that needs several hundred gallons of water.

The other tank already has too many huge, incompatible fish, so the behavior of the giant gourami is not really relevant. I think your silver shark is what I know as a Bala shark, which will grow to be over a foot long. I've seen plecos easily reach two feet in length. The koi will reach, at minimum, a foot long.

I know this is not the answer you're asking for, but I really don't think your fish are going to do well like this. People say fish only grow to the size of their tank, but what actually happens is they just don't survive long enough to reach their full size in those conditions. The fact that you're already having trouble keeping up with maintenance is a warning sign.

Answer 2

I wouldn't recommend keeping the giant gourami with any of the fish you have in your second tank. Many of your other fish will likely get eaten by the gourami. Also, some of the fish currently housed together in the second tank are not actually compatible long-term.

Koi should not be kept at tropical temperatures. Keeping them at temperatures warm enough for all the other fish in that tank speeds up their metabolism, strains their system, and dramatically decreases their life expectancy.

Your silver sharks will likely get large enough to be a threat to many of the other fish in that tank.

Your pleco may eventually start trying to eat the slime coat off of other fish in the tank. This will leave them prone to infection and disease.

The giant gourami may eventually exceed two feet in length and need a huge tank even if it is kept alone. Any other fish in the tank would have to be large enough not to be eaten and either robust/armoured enough or agile enough not to be injured by the gourami. And adding more large fish may mean increasing the required tank dimensions even more! For a large full-grown specimen, you'll already be looking at a tank with dimensions of approximately 6' x 2' x 2' (183 x 61 x 61 cm) - around 180 US gallons (680 liters)!

You may be able to get away with a more modestly sized tank (of 100 or 125 gallons / 380 to 470 liters) if your particular gourami only grows to the 18" (46 cm) that seems to be more typical for captive specimens, but there's no guarantee that will be the case.

The pleco (if it's a "common" pleco) also has the potential to reach 18-24" (46-61 cm) in length. As does the koi. The sharks will likely be in the range of 12-14" (30-36 cm) when full-grown.

You'd actually be best off having three or four separate tanks for all the fish you have listed. If that is not practical for you at this time, it might be best to look into re-homing some of the fish. There may be another fish enthusiast in your area who would be thrilled to adopt some of yours or there may be a pet store that would be willing to take them on.

Answer 3

You can have giant gourami with any fish like oscar, koi carp, angel, giant gouramis, etc. but you have to keep the fish together from the beginning - in other words, no later than when giant gourami is as small as 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.0 cm) in length.

I have three, one and a half foot giant gourami with 10 oscars and koi carp in a 5 foot (150 cm) long tank.

The only problem ism if you add new fish (giant gourami) then immediately it will be killed by the other fish.

Answer 4

you can keep them with each other but in one condition your tank is too small you have to need a 20-30 gallon tank with hidings and rocks fore fishes which thought nessary to hide fist you should observe fishes that they are not fighting if they are not so you can keep them which each other secondly in big tank filteration you can consult aqarium shopkeeper or other wise you could place a high power aquarium filter. :)