Assesment of a roughly 10 year old tank…
Hi Hank, Thanks for filling me in on your experience with Dwarf Gouramis and Black Tetras as well. Having more experience you would know better, or at least have observed these fish to be aggressive. All’s I can say is that I’ve never seen them to be so in my tanks. I’ve never worked with more than one male in a breeding set up(no need to), but even in community tanks, I’ve always seen them behave peacefully, although again with only one male present. Perhaps the behavior varies with each individual, as does in Angels. Or, maybe its the all-male population thing lately that we both brought up. The Blue (3-Spot) Gourami, or any of its variants, is a bad actor though, while I’ve found the Pearl Gourami a real charmer — I especially like that one both for is appearance and its behavior.
Now as for Black Tets, I’ve had them for years in average size(30 gallons, for instance) community tanks with various other Tetra species depending on the particular set up. Not disagreeing with what you’ve observed, after all this is what you’ve seen them to be, but I’ve had Black Tets with Head & Tail Lights, Tet Von Rio (Flame Tetras), Lemon Tetras, Glow Light Tetras, Neons, Serpaes and other guys like Rasboras (heteromopha), Rosey Barbs and Cherry Barbs to name a few and I can say I’ve never ever had a problem with them in my tanks. By the way, I seem to recall reading lately that Serpae’s are bad news (hope I’m wrong on what I thought I read), but if this seems to be the case lately, again I’ve never had a problem with this fish 50 years ago.
Now if you’re looking at real bad actors, you don’t have to go much further than the Blind Cave Tetra — a real nasty sort. Don’t see them around much anymore though. Most people have learned about the Tiger Barb, but there are still some beginners who get sucked in by its nice appearance. Too bad, but its reputation precedes it. Good talking with you, and thanks again for adding to this. Shows that fish can behave in various ways. Ray
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
