Gourami car and other semi agressive fish

[TheSoggyBagel]

Hi! I'm relatively new to the fish keeping hobby, and I'm considering starting a semi agressive tank (I've successfully had a community tank for a few months now). I would really like to have Gourami's in the tank, but so far I've been kind of confused about the information I've been getting? How big of a tank do they need and what tank mates can be with them?? Could I fit 1 gourami and a school of other fish in a 20 gallon? What kind of special care do semi aggressive fish need? I know I probably sound stupid, but I've gotten a lot of unclear answers around these topics. Thank you for any help!

 

[Byron]

There are many species of gourami, varying in size from an inch to a foot or more. As for aggressiveness, all male gourami of every species are territorial, but the degree to which they aggressively establish and maintain their respective territory varies according to species. And it may include non--gourami species as well as others of their own species, or other gourami species. For example, male pygmy sparkling gourami seldome do each other harm if there is a group of six or seven in a tank of 3-feet length; but a male Blue Gourami might well kill every gourami of its species no matter the tank size, or it may not.

A 20gh could house some of the smallest gourami species, like the pygmy sparkling gourami, licorice gourami, eyespot gourami, honey gourami. Depending upon your water parameters, as these are soft water fish and all but the Honey need soft to very soft water.

The number of the gourami species depends upon the species, and obviously tank size. As for non-gourami fish in the tank, this is usually possible, again depending upon the species of gourami. Being sedate fish themselves, they need similar tankmates; most rasbora species suit this criteria, and some of the tetras. Catfish are usually not problematical, depending.

Byron.

 

[TheSoggyBagel]

Wow! Thanks! So i guess I really just need to pick a certain type of Gourami and base my tank around that. Do you have any suggestions for a beginner Gourami? Or are all of them relatively similar?

 

[Byron]

What tank size are you intending? A 20 gallon was mentioned in post # 1 but you also asked about tank sizes for other gourami.