15 Gallon Community, + 1 Dwarf Gourami

[Channti]

I've got a 15 gallon(long) community:
7 panda corys
1 dalmation molly, female (sterile)
5 neon tetras (debating on adding more if I can find some healthy ones)
1 "Red Flame" Dwarf Gourami, male.

The tank is in my living room at home (I'm at university right now), and my mother fell in love with the Dwarf Gourami (who was supposed to be the centerpiece in the tank). She's been asking if I could add more Dwarf Gouramis to the tank, but I've told her not to buy anything without my permission. To be honest, I don't know if I can add more gouramis to this tank. I will be upgrading to a 50 gallon within the next three months (if that matters at all). Would I be able to add more Dwarf Gouramis to that tank?

 

[MrNiceGuy]

I've got a 15 gallon(long) community:
7 panda corys
1 dalmation molly, female (sterile)
5 neon tetras (debating on adding more if I can find some healthy ones)
1 "Red Flame" Dwarf Gourami, male.

The tank is in my living room at home (I'm at university right now), and my mother fell in love with the Dwarf Gourami (who was supposed to be the centerpiece in the tank). She's been asking if I could add more Dwarf Gouramis to the tank, but I've told her not to buy anything without my permission. To be honest, I don't know if I can add more gouramis to this tank. I will be upgrading to a 50 gallon within the next three months (if that matters at all). Would I be able to add more Dwarf Gouramis to that tank?

in 15 gallons you should probably stick to 1 dwarf. if you add another one, the guy you have now will probably dominate the other leaving it miserable and stressed (constantly hiding). if you were to get a 50 gallon you could definitely add more.

 

[Channti]

I've got a 15 gallon(long) community:
7 panda corys
1 dalmation molly, female (sterile)
5 neon tetras (debating on adding more if I can find some healthy ones)
1 "Red Flame" Dwarf Gourami, male.

The tank is in my living room at home (I'm at university right now), and my mother fell in love with the Dwarf Gourami (who was supposed to be the centerpiece in the tank). She's been asking if I could add more Dwarf Gouramis to the tank, but I've told her not to buy anything without my permission. To be honest, I don't know if I can add more gouramis to this tank. I will be upgrading to a 50 gallon within the next three months (if that matters at all). Would I be able to add more Dwarf Gouramis to that tank?

in 15 gallons you should probably stick to 1 dwarf. if you add another one, the guy you have now will probably dominate the other leaving it miserable and stressed (constantly hiding). if you were to get a 50 gallon you could definitely add more.

I understand that the males are territorial and would fight in such close quarters. Would the addition of females be possible? What is their colouration/body shape like in comparison to the males?

 

[MrNiceGuy]

I've got a 15 gallon(long) community:
7 panda corys
1 dalmation molly, female (sterile)
5 neon tetras (debating on adding more if I can find some healthy ones)
1 "Red Flame" Dwarf Gourami, male.

The tank is in my living room at home (I'm at university right now), and my mother fell in love with the Dwarf Gourami (who was supposed to be the centerpiece in the tank). She's been asking if I could add more Dwarf Gouramis to the tank, but I've told her not to buy anything without my permission. To be honest, I don't know if I can add more gouramis to this tank. I will be upgrading to a 50 gallon within the next three months (if that matters at all). Would I be able to add more Dwarf Gouramis to that tank?

in 15 gallons you should probably stick to 1 dwarf. if you add another one, the guy you have now will probably dominate the other leaving it miserable and stressed (constantly hiding). if you were to get a 50 gallon you could definitely add more.

I understand that the males are territorial and would fight in such close quarters. Would the addition of females be possible? What is their colouration/body shape like in comparison to the males?

thats a male to the left with a female on the right. females are generally silver, lacking the red and blue of the males. for this reason most pet stores only sell males. to be honest, i don't know of any pet stores in my area that carry females.

even with a female though, the male will constantly chase her leaving her hiding and miserable in such a small tank... at least, thats my understanding. you might want to stick with the one.

 

[Channti]

I've become friends with the managers of my LFS (Insert long story here about how I convinced them to order in Panda Corys and they sold out two days after their shipment). As it's a small store in a very small town, they mostly just stock your basic livebearers, corys, fancy gold fish, bettas, gourami, some tetras (never the ones I want though), angels and oscars. The manager there has offered on many occasions to order in fish for me.

I wasn't sure if the Male would actively pursue the female all the time, but if that is the case, I'll leave Flamer in the tank alone (Bad name... but it was decided on by my 10 year old brother).... Maybe I could interest my mother in some Rummy-nose tetras or something....

Thanks!

 

[Biulu]

Keep a good eye on your molly; for some reason mollies don't like gouramis. They might start nipping.

 

[Channti]

Keep a good eye on your molly; for some reason mollies don't like gouramis. They might start nipping.

Thanks for the concern. When I selected the Gourami, I picked one slightly larger than the molly for the following reasons:
1) The molly is very territorial. I believe she's going blind too. She has attacked all new additions to the tank who have been smaller than her.
2) If the Gourami was the smaller than her, she'd attack it.
3) If the Gourami was much larger than her, she'd attack it.
One which was about the same size, but slightly larger, presents a fish that is "equal" and would be more intimidating for her to challenge. (or at least this was my hope)

The two (thus far) have gotten along fine. She shares the surface with him during meal times, and they seem to have successfully established territorial boundaries in the tank. My brothers are watching for any nipping or hostility between the two, but from their current behaviour, I would think they'll be fine. The molly is getting on the older-end of the age-scale too and I expect she'll die within the next 6 months or so. The tank is fairly well planted with silk plants with plenty of hiding spaces too, so *fingers crossed* everything will be fine.

 

[Biulu]

Ok, good luck with it!