giant goramis

[indrajitmasuda]

I have kept fish since i was a kid. Now  in retirement i still diligently pursue the hobby. Presently I have Mystery Snails and Goramis including the Blue, Golden and Dwarfs. I just dont keep fish as a decoration or for good 'Chi' as many do but rather to study in minutest detail their behaviour relationships mating habits and to rear their young if they succesfully reproduce in my modest tanks.
Recently I added another species of gorami, the Giant gorami or common gorami. A single Albino giant just a 3 inch juvenile. He was beautiful with white body and red eyes and a  cute pout. I learnt  that eventually in 4 years he would grow about 12 inches or so. However i was surprised to see him double in size within 3 weeks and in another month triple in size!!



He seemed more intelligent than any fish i had kept and had a voracious appetite. He responded to my daily tracing my finger on the tank glass whenever i was about to feed the fish and later when i put my finger in the tank would come up and give it what i felt like a kiss. Later i realised that he mistook the finger for food beacause on one occasion he tried to bite and i felt an uncomfortable pinch. Then i would drive him off so he realised that i was not food but the provider of food in the shape of a finger. he understood and later would just 'kiss' my finger before the food was given. This was wonderful because he had begun to behave like a real pet. 

Then i learnt from the internet about varied diet for these Giants. He readily accepted and gulped down shreds of apple banana cauliflower boiled potatoes  peas  and even tomatoes besides the fish food. Now i daily feed him a varied diet of solid fruit and vegetables only after i receive the sweet soft kiss on my finger!!

The internet says that Giant Goramis can become so tame that they may even allow you to pet and stroke them. That too i am sure will happen. I can see now from his intelligent eyes that he knows when i approach the tank  and eagerly waits to be fed. It is becoming a mutual love affair.
 I onder if other fish lovers have had similar experiences with these Giant Goramis and if so id love to hear about it on this board.  

[littlegoldsnail]

Aw, they sound adorable!

I’m an avid fishkeeper. I’ve never had gouramis, but they are on my list. I’ve kept fancy goldfish, guppies, betta, shrimp and snails. So far my favorite fish is the ranchu goldfish, those things are so cute and super friendly. My little ranchu was all wiggles and smiles. Sadly I had to rehome him when we moved, but he went to a good home. Sadly, I don’t think I’d ever have room for a Giant gourami (needing like 250 gallons and all), but I am looking into some sparklers or honey gouramis.

You should post pictures! I would love to see your gouramis. 😊

[indrajitmasuda]

Dear littlegoldsnail
at last three pics of Bob the juvenile Giant Gorami for you and all those who wish to see - you will notice that on the glass there is a juvenie golden mystery snail in one of the pics.
Indrajitmasuda

[littlegoldsnail]

He’s gorgeous! 😀 if I ever had the space, I would be tempted to get on myself.

[indrajitmasuda]

don't worry about space - he will need that kind of a tank in 4 years time - presently he is only 7 inches long and will be happy in a tank that is2 feet by 1 and half - which probably you have - later when he is much larger you would have enjoyed him for years as a real pet which other fish cannot compare. take the step to a good experience and pick up a juvenile about 3 inches long bit insist on an albino.

[littlegoldsnail]

Yeah, I’m not so sure I'd feel comfortable keeping a 7 inch fish in a 20 gallon (me personally), it would be a lot of work to keep the nitrates down in a tank that small. I would probably start with a 75 or something, then upgrade him to a 250 once he got a little older so I wouldn’t have to stress about him having enough space as much. Which, currently, I don’t have space for either of those tanks, all I’ve got right now is a 10 gallon, and I think the biggest I could fit in my room would be a 29 gallon. Maybe someday though! You never know.

[indrajitmasuda]

Sure that day will come. When i was 8 years to 14 years old at boarding school the craft teacher encouraged kids to buy small aquariums 9'' by 6'' which he made in the crafts school and provided baby paradise fish gold fish which he bread in a small pond in his garden golden guppies and betta which he bred in cement tanks in his backyard. these we were allowed to keep in the windows next to our beds in the dorm. he also took us to the countryside on nature tours and we caught local fish from lakes carrying them to school on our bikes. these were spotted barbs red barbs zebra fish danioes and catfish. it was such fun. likewise when the school arranged trips to distant places we would search rocky pools from which rivers had receded in summer and to our delight found them to be like aquariums full of fish of several varieties which we caught and carried back in our tour buses. i will never forget this enthusiastic crafts teacher.

[indrajitmasuda]

Bob was finally alone in the tank. i had removed the 4 year old blue marble gorami as i suspected that Bob had torn all his fins to shreds. i placed him with the two dwarf goramis who are smaller and peaceful as saints except when they are chasing each other presumably in love play. then i noticed that the golden gorami whom Bob tolerated better because she was female was hiding behind the filter kind of stationary and petrified and not attracted by food droppings. Bob must have been responsible so i moved her with the blue gorami. Now Bob was alone in the tank still with his ever increasing voracious appetite now eating papaya pieces from my fingers. I thought he must be lonely so i bought another but smaller juvenile giant albino gorami for company. at first there was peaceful examination of each other. then Bob turned into a real monster. he not only chased her but opened his mouth wide like when feeding and began to bite her. After a while she gave up and lay at the bottom of the tank sideways. I noticed that she had blood out of one of the bites and decided that the companionship experiment was a disaster and that by morning she would be dead. He was standing guard over her daring her to move. I fished her out and laced her with the smaller goramis . she lay in a faint at the bottom of the other tank but began to recover and feed. I decided to return her soon to the the shop. Mission a total; failure. clearly Bob wanted the tank to his own property and sorry no intrusions except your fingers with food. Ive decided to buy one more aquarium for the Paradise fish im expecting any day now. About Bobs future i have no idea expet to continue feeding him platefulls of apple, cucumber, cauliflower, boiled potatoes, papaya, carrots and fish food.

[littlegoldsnail]

Yeah, as giant gouramis grow, they can get pretty aggressive and are usually kept alone.

[indrajitmasuda]

its growing larger by the day and tamer. He loves my fingers the food providers and snaps at food from between them if i put a lone finger ha comes and gives it a wet kiss. i suspect these giants have teeth because sometimes as he pullls the food from between them he grasps my finger by mistake and it hurts.

[indrajitmasuda]

alas i think Bob the giant gorami is dying. Its tragic to see one with a voracious appetite refusing to touch any food despite coming up for air. Also i find him lying at the bottom of the tank sideways. When cleaning his tank i think i made the mistake of putting him temporarily in another tank with many fish including goramis and angel fish. i think he contracted an itch from some fish and since had been twiching and jerking and rubbing his sides on rocks. there also seems to be a pale pink pathch on the middle of his body. Very sad to see ones favourite pet who had learnt to respond by touching my fingers with his mouth become sick. he is still chasing his sole companion a kissing gorami about but that is the only activity. Any tips how i might save his life

[littlegoldsnail]

Water changes, keep doing lots of water changes and get a test kit ASAP. The primary cause of fish disease is a weakened immune system from stress from bad water quality. I’m willing to bet the fact that he’s in such a small tank for a giant gourami is making the nitrates and ammonia soar sky high. I would really recommend getting him into a larger tank. Make sure you move the filter media to the tank with him to preserve your healthy bacteria. Giant gouramis really do need a 75 gallon as babies and need to be moved up to a 250 as they grow bigger. He could be stunted already, and possibly sick from poor water quality. This is the reason I prefer not to keep large fish in small tanks, it’s just to hard to manage the water quality well enough to keep the fish healthy.

I’m terribly sorry about Bob, watching a pet get sick can be really tough.

Just remember, good water quality is the best cure. The bigger the tank, the better. The more water changes the better. Always use dechlorinator. I would really recommend Seachem Prime, it temporarily binds to ammonia and nitrates, helping keep fish safe between water changes.

If it’s ick, then try slowly raising the tank temperature to about 84° and maybe try adding a small dosage of aquarium salt. But good water quality is the best thing. The primary reason fish get sick is because they are stressed and the water quality is poor.

I can’t stress enough on the importance of keeping big fish in BIG tanks. Giant gouramis need LOTS of space. Keeping a big fish in a small tank causes pre-mature death, no way around it, that’s why I never keep large fish in small tanks.

[indrajitmasuda]

i just found that my tank with the giant gorami is actually350 gallons and the one i acquired recently is 680 gallons. so no worries about space. ive also researched the internet and am now adding plenty of methylene blue and flavine bpc with loads of rock salt as prescribed per gallon!! He now seems to be doing fine though refuses to touch food or my finger!! the water has turned first blue then green but he doesnt mind. i hope the salt therapy is not too severe but better than to let him die. internet docs say he should revive and be ok in about 10 days.earlier he stopped using one of his fins except rarely but now he is using both freely to come up for a gasp of air.ha does knowingly look at my finger when i insert in the tank - memories of happier days and abundant food lol. he remains alert with large eyes moving in every direction. he has incidentally killed his only companion the kissing gorami and is happily alone in 'hospital'. its sad to see what the fungi have done to him- frayed tail fin and movement fins though the lower part is still splendid. the red patches remain but i expect them to go when the fungi gets killed. it was a virulent strain foor sure. thanks for your sympathy and support

BOB in hospital tank recovering:

[indrajitmasuda]

the medicines are also excellent for any stress.

[indrajitmasuda]

pray that he recovers. He's one intelligent friendly fish that know of and a splendid pet like a canine.

[littlegoldsnail]

That is good news. And also remember, like I mentioned previously, water quality is very important when fish are sick, so as many water changes as you can along with the methylene blue is good.

I hope he gets better, I will be praying for you both.

[indrajitmasuda]

Prayers answered - great relief! Bob appears to have revovered 95% though the dorsal fin is frayed and eaten at the tip and he very occasionally twitches his head in a wierd way. he came up for food when he recognised my finger without sulking under the filter. and as before gulped a quarter of a tomato cut into his special bits. Then he topped this with dried shrimps kind of munching them and his flat belly finally began to swell as before. Then he had another head twitch and lost all interest and sulked under the filter. But the medicines had done most of the job and he survived and revived enough to have regained part of his voracious appetite. I'll be posting a pic of him swimming around happily as before. He sulks and doesnt trust the fingers as he probably thinks that they were somehow responsible for his earlier condition. So he comes now to the fingers holding food but does not touch it with his mouth, so i just let the morsals drop and he grabs them as they sink. For abundant caution i sent half of yesterdays dose into the water hoping that will kill the bloody fungi. im also going to drop some rock salt to help heal the wounds that i cant see. I hope all this doesnt actually kill Bob but i cant risk a second fungi onslaught. more prayers needed.lol

Incidentally something real interesting is happening in the adjecent tank. This tank houses two long surviving Goramis who over the years have doubled in size. They have been with me forat least 3 years. The rest of the first batch died over the years. One is a gorgeous blue marble Gorami a male and the other is a golden gorami female. for company there are two flame coloured dwarf goramis who keep chasing each other. i imagine from their strong colouring that both are males. for almost a year all i saw was the blue chasing and bullying the golden yet it always seemed as if this was not true antagonism because she never got really hurt. Today while feeding Bob i noticed that they were wrestling in a queer way. The blue would keep pushing the hind side of the golden and then she would reciprocate boldly without fear by pushing his hind side and fins. Meanwhile an amazing transformation had begun in the blue. He had turned blue black with the yellow spots standing out. i realised then that i was witnissing mating foreplay plus best colours to attract the mate. Goldens belly was also swollen i suspect not with food but with eggs. this wrestling and kissing the hind side went on for a long time with golden being equally aggressive in the foreplay. Then she suddenly dug her mouth into his middleand kept doing that till he finally embraced her and turned her turtle. Then they both swooned and sank to the tank floor then revived and commenced the ritual again. This was exactly the same pattern as Paradise fish and Bettas. The Paradise males also become a resplendant colour before mating. I had now witnessed a rare event in goramis. Not surprising as they are all Anabantids. The Paradise fish are also sometimes classed as Goramis. The only difference was that the blue had failed to make a bubble nest to deposit any fertilized egg. And the Golden despite the embrace and swooning act common to all goramis and Bettas failed in turn to release her eggs which with the Paradise and Bettas i had witnissed clearly dropping out of her belly and being retrieved by the male and placed in his bubble nest. I think my blue has become aroused in old age as he is at least 4 years old and may not be able to perform all the satges of reproduction. Perhaps now that he has actuallt mated the rest may follow in the days to come.

[indrajitmasuda]

Celebrating his recovery:
the water is green with medicines but he has got back his appetite and feeds from my fingers. I took some pics to share and some videos but am unable to send them as the site you recommened rejected them for being to long or something about format. anyway here is Bob alive and kicking for all to see.


BOB finally recovered

[indrajitmasuda]

The gorgeous blue marble
gorami male and his golden female together in foreplay

ibb.co/PgKMVbm

in love


ibb.co/nPJBHpH

[indrajitmasuda]

sorry it appears the tank calculations were right for litres wrong for gallons (my maths hmm) so the giant gorami is in a 22 gallon tank alone and the angels are in the 44 gallon tanks.

[littlegoldsnail]

I would definitely get the giant gourami into at least a 75 gallon (283 liters) ASAP then. It would really help him and benefit his health. The medication will help temporarily, but he is just going to keep getting sick again and again if he stays in a small tank.

Good luck, I hope he does okay!

Also, if you do get him a new tank, then I would really recommend a good bacteria supplement to help the tank get established. Tetra safe start, fluval bio-booster, Seachem stability, are all good supplements to add to support healthy bacteria in the tank. It’s mostly important in new tanks though.

[indrajitmasuda]

thanks but i have no space to keep any more tanks. as i said i have the 22 gallon the 44 gallon and one smaller than both where a pair of blue and golden gorami are happily falling in love. the giant gorami for now has totally recovered his appetite and love for my providing finger. at least he is the lone occupant and as far as i can see appears healthy and happy or his appetite would not have returned. i dont really know what more i can do. later i may have to release him in a pond as goramis inhabit Indian waters.

[indrajitmasuda]

An update on dear Bob - hes growing by the day - just loves tomato and his belly swells with them. then i put in my finger to indicate more is coming but first i want that kiss on the finger. now he knows - no kiss no goodies - so he comes up and there is a kiss but sometimes when he is very hungry he grabs the finger in his mouth - i can feel tiny teeth!! Then as reward he gets a whole lot of dry shrimps and he grabs the big pieces first twists them in his mouth munches away and then comes up for some air - then again to grabbing and munching till all the floating shrimp are devowered - now his belly is unbelievable. I have also tried to progress from friendly finger to a friendly face with two eyes. Yes he has now begun to recognise me with shy eye to eye contact - but im not pushing my luck because if too much too soon and he shys away and hides under the filter.

Bob today happily fed

ibb.co/NsnnKpS

Bob kissing my finger

ibb.co/d7HPGGd

Stroking Bobs head

ibb.co/9hkvcyf

[indrajitmasuda]

look at that belly and he still wants more and more gluttonous fish if there was one lol

[littlegoldsnail]

Most fish (because of wild instincts) will literally eat till they kill themselves if food is always available. It’s effective in the wild when they find food, they eat it all, so they can last many days without it, but if they have food all the time, they will keep eating and eating because they are afraid it will go away. That is why it is common for domestic fish to over-eat and have digestive problems because food is always available.

I would recommend cutting back the feeding a little bit. Maybe fast him every once in a while so his stomach can empty all the way before the next feeding. Excessive eating is really bad for a fish’s digestive track and being bloated all the time is not good.

I’m glad he has an appetite though! He looks better.

I would still really recommend at least a 75 gallon or pond as soon as available. If a fish gets stunted, sometimes there is no coming back.

Good luck! I hope he does well.