pink kissers eating plants

Was just curious as to people experience with kissing gouramis in planted tanks(Internet says they'll eat all plants). Had one a couple years ago that came along with a tank I bought and I've really been wanting another one. They are by far my favorite species I've kept. The one I had, had not bothered my water sprite or lilly that I know of but I wasn't sure if that particular one I had was just chill with plants. The one I had was also very chill with other fish. It had lived with 3-spots, black skirt tetras, mollies and i think even a betta at one time. If I got another one it would have to go in with the angelfish. The angel tank has java moss/java fern/anubias and some hygro but I could move the hygro to another tank.

IDK what do you think? Anyone else have personal experience?

I used to have my 46G planted with a kissing gourami, 4 opaline gourami, and one 4" giant gourami, none of them ever touched the plants, didn't even uproot em. I wouldn't put them in with tetras again, or a betta, tiny meals n nice fins to chomp when it gets bigger.

A kissing gourami would make a great addition to an angel tank though I think

I guess I used to keep swordtails and mini bosemani with mine. forgot about that. They tend to be alot more timid around bigger fish, but get a complex around tiny ones.

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Thanks, yeah everywhere on the internet it said these guys were plant eaters and I wasn't sure if mine was just special. Well I'm happy to hear that as they are gorgeous fish. Would love to fine one in the wild green coloration but I've personally never seen anything but pinks.

I didn't know there was a wild green color! That's really cool! Have you looked on the internet for em?

And now that I think about it how big are your angels? After I got rid of my gouramis I put 5 angels in the tank and damn if they weren't VICIOUS little things. I think angels would scare a kissing gourami regardless of size.

I have 2 Gouramis in with my 6 baby angels and for now they are fine. But I will also be moving my fish around as they get bigger.

@lars on- no I haven't cruised the internet for the wild coloration, I'm a little frugal with money so I avoid shipping when I can. The angels are only silver dollar size right now and they were mingling with a bunch of platys fine before I moved the platys out a few days ago. The juvi kissers that are sold around me are bigger then the angels at this time. I want to get two kissers but I'm not sure if I should. Just want everyone to be happy and to get it right the first time. I have a hard time parting with fish once I get them. I was going to get rid of one of the angels after they were given to me but...you get the point.

Angels have never been a fish that truly interested me but I must say they sure are curious little buggers. Had to remove everything from their tank to catch the platys because the angels kept swimming into the net. And if they're not giving me a hard time they're at the front of the aquarium staring at me when I'm in the kitchen.

@czeiszler-what species of gourami do you have?

Blue Gouramis. They are bigger than the babies and the guy that had them before me had them in with siamese algae eaters and bunch of others. They like my castle in my 55 gallon. When I seperate the angels The gouramis will be going into my project planted tank which I start next month.

Its worth a try. I'd only get one gourami for the time being. Otherwise it might get A. Picked on by the angels or B. Tormented by another kissing. They tend to just get blinders when its 2+ in a tank, just lip lock n attack each other.

I've been looking at green wild kissing gouramis for sale, and the ones I've found will ship, BUT, they EXCLUDE WA state. And all I've found so far shows that green kissings are illegal to own in WA. ):

Hmm, that seems odd. Pink kissers are just a color mutation of the green. Have you found a site where it lists the wild coloring as illegal.

Here's a video of them, such beautiful fish.

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I haven't found any specific site so far, just two forums mentioning it and two sites not shipping to WA. Shame cause they only run around 5$

On the forums they were saying if you write the fish and wildlife department they'll send you a list of all prohibited species

If you get that list you should definetly upload it here... or create a new thread with it on top.... would be cool information to have on hand for sure.

Lars - missed reading your posts, good to see ya around more often!

I certainly will try to figure out where I can get a hold of fish and wildlife. It still makes no sense to me that they would be segregated by color when both colors have the same scientific name. That would be like saying veiltail bettas are legal but crowntails are not. But yeah I'll definitely try to track that info down.

Ok so found the website. There was no email address that I could find and all the numbers listed appear for emergencies and complaints only so I typed up a letter and put it in the mail. Hopefully we'll hear from them soon. I asked for a list of illegal species to own in the state of WA and I also asked if the green variant of the kissing gourami is illegal to own hear also. Sandnuka if you want, if they send me a list I can send it to you so that you can put it on a sticky.

i was under the impression that the "kissing gourami" get huge and thus arent viable for many community tanks. plus the lip locking is from aggression . just my two cents

Very very valid point. Species have been taken off the list though. I'm pretty sure one member here wrote a letter and kept a couple species of stingray off that list. It also might be because the green is considered a 'wild' type that they could survive our waters or some type of habitat around here, but its so damn cold I doubt it. Lol

@Anthraxx: kissing are great community fish if you can pair em up right. And the biggest kissing gourami I've ever seen was 5", mine tapped out around 4". I had a yellow gourami that grew to 6"

@antraxx-In the wild kissing Gouramis can potentially reach up to 12 inches but it is very unlikely in captivity. You'd be lucky if it got to 6 inches.

@lars-I thought about that point too that the green variant would have a better chance surviving then a pink variant however there's a lot of neutral/drab colored species of fish that are legal in WA. If the kissing Gourami had a chance of being very prolific in our waters, which is doubtful considering they are not a cold water fish, I would imagine the pink variant would be outlawed also. I sure am excited to find out.

So the fish and wildlife people sent me this, can't believe I missed it as I looked on their site. The green variant of the pink kissers is not illegal.

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My freind had a Blue Gourami that ended up being 16" and they told him at the store that it probaly won't get past 4"-5" so you never know what will happen.

Your friend probably had a giant gourami, blue AKA 3-spot gouramis will not get that big. Giant gouramis are often mislabeled as being a smaller fish, just as pacus are.