Giant Gourami

[andyroo]

Does anyone know about giant gourami (Osphronemus sp), and in particular the red-fin variety?
I see they're omnivorous, but how to they do in a planted tank?
Do they eat live plants or just fruit and veg?
A

[Hokum]

Don't giant gourami get HUGE... IE you need at least 500Gal if i remember correctly?

[andyroo]

Yup. Reds apparently max out at about 40-50cm. I'm not worried though; I've got 4500Gal to play with...

[Hokum]

Ok, just wanted to make sure as i didn't know how big your tank was.

[Oldfish]

I did keep six RFGG in a 700 gallon tank.They are a buitiful fish and not as aggressive as the grey variety.While my tank was not planted I did feed the RRGG whole heads of romain lettuce which they would quickly eat down to just a knub.I would guess they would love to be in a planted tank and would eat every last sprig.

[andyroo]

damn.... i've got $300 worth of these fellas on-order for a lilly-pond. It didn't even dawn on me to ask this (vital!!!!) question. It's not mentioned in any of the posted species-outlines.

Suggestions for alternative (species) would be appreciated: big, smart/interactive, colourful, not particularly predatory, lazy, surface-oriented... and plant-friendly. No oscars, sorry.
A

[arny]

how about koi carp?
they are interactive, get big, are very colourful, are fairly lazy and i think they are plant friendly (at least mine are. they are in a pond with lillies.). not so sure about surface-oriented though but i do see mine a lot as the pond is so deep and clear. they also love their dinner time. mine eat pretty much any scraps from the table; ham, chicken, cooked veg and of coarse their own pellets as well. and the predatory thing im not sure about last year i stuck some smaller gold fish in with my 2 foot koi and they are still there (but every fish is different. i also have frogs that breed in the pond and their numbers dont seem to have dropped but im sure they eat some of the eggs and tadpoles but enough survive.
i just love my koi. (can you tell?)

[andyroo]

Carp are temperate. This system originally had koi, but it was way too warm for them in the summertime. And they have a reputation for eating plants as well. I also have an innate and entirely irrational dislike for them.

[Oldfish]

I was going to say long fin koi

[arny]

oh i hadnt realised they were temperate i guess thats why they do well in my pond in england.

[starsplitter7]

How about arowana? Large, pretty, surface dweller, and I don't know if it is a plant eater. I thought a predator. But I do not know these fish well.

[andyroo]

Great minds think alike, apparently: Arowana (South American) are already on the programme. So are clown and Y. modesta (loaches) and panaque (royal/mango) for the bottom.

[starsplitter7]

Please show pictures when you have your pond filled out. I bet it will be spectacular.