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Hi guys!
I've heard conflicting views on the temperament of snakeskin gouramis. Most say that they are gentle giants, relatively quiet and can live with smaller fish but some say the males can be aggressive. I'm interested in getting a pair to live with some pearl gouramis and a small schooling fish, perhaps a rasbora of some sort....? Any opinions?

Thanks in advance!!

In my experience, they're pretty well-behaved. However, I'm not sure how wise it is to try to mix gourami species -- that usually leads to not good things, even though these two species are peaceful. I've never seen a snakeskin go after a smaller fish, although to be fair I've never had one with something the size of a neon. Some of the larger rasboras should be alright, anything like a harlequin or bigger.

Out of curiosity, how big is this tank? It's going to take a big tank (at least 90 gallons, 125 is better) to house a pair of full-grown snakeskins.

Snakeskins are pretty regular gourami's behaviourally speaking. Across the board it sort of works in percentages, they do have a species average, but they are all individuals.

About 80% will be quite calm, with a touch of territoriality with multiple males, and half of those will get competetive with other gourami species periodically.Expect the odd nip and bite during the years, but usually nothing too serious.

About another 10%- 15% will be brusque quite regularly with just about any fish they have to share space with, especially other gouramis, deaths from stress and combat will be rare but not unheard of. Then the remaining 5- 10% will probably be in the realms of abnormal behaviour, either being so flaky as to drop dead at slight shock s and e to waning, or totally hyperterritorial, and possibly psychotically violent. This sort of behaviour being at a large percentage generally reflects the high fry survival rate in captivity. Most such fish in nature with those tendancies tend to be killed and dont get to pass their genes on. Even some quite small wild caught fish are mentally completely unable to handle captivity, and may freak out from the first day of captivity to the last, and anything can be expected of them, but the most usual result is waning and death.

Others will have some specialist learned behavior and a particular taste for cagemates they can fit in their mouth. Some ( in almost all fish species) will learn to fin-nip even if not especially known for the tendancy, especially if housed with an irresistable potential victim, congo tetras for example are a prime target.

With gouramis eating other fish, its the size of the mouth that counts, and obviously to be completely safe , you dont house them with fish that they can swallow whole. Most gouramis have fairly light bite power, and their jaw structure doesnt usually allow them to crush shells, or crunch bones, even if occassionally they are able to pick at a shrimp till it dies.Cant blame a gourami for helping itself to a fish one tenth of its own size though, most any fish will do that. Even plecs and typically vegetarian fish like pacus and dollars will gnaw on small helpless fish if they can get them.

You cant align a specific fish behaviour to a species. You just go on averages for the species. Most people have no real temperament problems with this species of gourami, as long as you dont mix them with too many other gouramis.Best thing you can do is observe them doing their thing at the shop over a couple of days or for a few hours, and just pick a confidant calm one.

Most people when asked will give you an individual review of the fish they own personally, and not on the species as a whole. Thankfully though its been a commonly kept species for many years so the average temperament is well known. So instead, take the overview approach, expect averages, and watch specimens before you buy. Helps if they are sexually mature at the time of purchase if you want some fairly consistant behaviour. Those raging hormones can completely change a fish's personality at the onset of maturity.

(forrest gump moment, - life is like a box of chocolates ...lol)

Some people have aros, piranhas, and catfish that wont kill small fish, others have guppie males that try to take out bigger fish (rather ineffectively lol) , and a lot of the cichlids are suicidally brave, and others that are seriously territorial on average not bothering any cagemate whatsoever. The odds of getting such fish are tiny, but if you want to be safe and make sure you arent surprised by an angry fish, then observe them for such behaviours as much as possible before purchase. No-ones say so on how they think a fish behaves will save you from an aggressive specimen. Only behavioural observation can do that.

Fishkeeping sites all over the world are littered with comments like "my puffers dont eat other fish" often followed by naive comments like "I think they are a good fish for everyone , they work in community", all the way throught to "I have killer rams" or "you told me platies are peaceful, one of mine just chewed the tail off another and bullied it to death!". Basically the net is full of such pointless reprisals, all but for the lack of one point of view. That would be , fish are individuals. You roll with averages, if it doesnt work out, thats just the infinite variety of life, sometimes cagespace , decor, and compatable species are the issue, sometimes theyre not. They all have their own little brains, but somehow people people expect fish to all act like stormtroopers following the species description of an 18th century scientist , to the letter.

Nothing replaces individual observation.

Most snakeskins are peaceful toward other fish and in a large enough tank will get along with a few of their own kind. However mixing gouramis is just asking for trouble. Each gourami species is going to see the other as an increased threat toward their own species. Your odds of having arguments increases greatly. While pearls and snakeskins are some of the more peaceful ones I personally would not attempt keeping multiples of each in anything short of a 90-110g tank especially considering the snakeskins size.

Your better off just increasing the pearls or if you really want to mix labyrinth fish looking into something much smaller than the pearls like sparkling or croaking gouramis since the pearls probably won't see them as threats and these guys usually stick to picking on their own species or similar sized gouramis. A pair of honey gouramis might also be an option since they are still amongst some of the more peaceful but due to size take up less space and require less territory so are less likely to have disputes with the other gouramis. Still your gambling. They may get along and they may not.

i had only one snakskin in my career and she was a larger 6 inch female. VERY peaceful and very passive. They are great fishes, and really they shold be fine in your set-up.