3 Honeys Or 1 Pearl?

[Birdie]

I have an as-yet unstocked 20 US gallon tank. Lots of plants, rocks, wood - so lots of hiding places. I'm considering quite a few stocking options, but keep coming back to gouramis - *so* beautiful. I am torn between honeys or a pearl.

In the Pearl's favour - I think the water would suit him better. I live in a fairly hard-water area, and the pH is 7.4 from the tap, and 7.5-7.6 in a (cycled) tank. (I should also note that the nitrates from the tap are 20 ) However, both in terms of tank size (32" long) and stocking-levels, I do not have room for 3 Pearls, so would have to keep a male on his own. I know he'd be OK with that - but I'm guessing he'd be a bit happier ( and look prettier) with a couple of females.

Size-wise I think I could have 3 Honey Gourami as they are so tiny? But the water parameters might not suit them so well. Would they flourish in hard water (dH 17-21 from the tap) or merely "manage". Are those parameters too far outside their norm?

So - 1 Pearl or 3 Honeys - which option do you think would be happier, given my tank?

I was also considering (amongst other options) some dwarf neon rainbow fish as part of my community - but would they be too lively for either Gourami? (actually, I'm wonderng if my tank is long enough for the m praecox anyway ....)

Thank you for reading

 

[sylvia]

The praecox rainbows would be fine in your tank but don't make the best tankmates for either of those gouramies. Perhaps consider threadfins instead? These enjoy similar water parameters to gouramies as well as what you have (so not too much current, heavy-ish planting etc and the pH/hardness your tap has to offer). They do best in a mixed-sex shoal where the males will display to each other with their long fins. They are beautiful and peaceful but also active and entertaining to watch.

I'd go for honeys. The pH/hardness of your water shouldn't afect them as long as they were not wild caught (which they never are nowadays). The reason I say this is because pearls are rather social by gourami standards and while a male would be fine on his own, he'd be much happier with some company.

Just to make another suggestion though - have you considered banded gouramies (Colisa fasciata) or thick-lipped gouramies (Colisa labiosa)? These would also be suited to your tank. The former grows to 4" so is only just smaller than pearls while the latter grows to around 3.5". You could either keep a single male of one or the other or a trio of the thick-lipped gouramies. In either case, they'd be better suited to life with praecox rainbows as well since they are not as small as honeys but also don't have the fragile pearl's fins (which could be nipped by neon rainbows). They'd work equaly well with threadfins too.

 

[Birdie]

Thank you, Sylvia - I went for the Honeys, and they are settling into my tank as I type (along with some Cory cats)

I had a look at the threadfins in the lfs, too, and they are indeed very lovely - so now instead of my short-list of small shoal-y fish getting shorter it is *longer* Seeing how tiny the Honeys are in the flesh, I can quite see that they might be a bit overwhelmed by M. praecox whizzing about. I'm also quite tempted to carry on with the theme of "titchy" and go for Endlers. Not that Threadfins are exactly giants either

Thank you again

 

[Biulu]

For me the community tank creator was of great help. Based on your tank size and filter medium it allows you to experiment with putting different fish together (virtually), and it advises you of stocking levels and incompatibilities between fish species. You can find the community tank creator at:


url="http/www.thinkfish.co.uk/community.html"]community tank creator[/url]

good luck![

 

[Birdie]

Thank you for that link - what a fun thing Is it accurate? It seems to let me put lots more fish in there than I have been led to believe would be wise.......I wonder if it is over-liberal, or whether I just have a penchant for teeny little fish with a pathetically low bio-load .....

Thank you

 

[sylvia]

It can be highly inaccurate - as are all such calculators. However, it's fun to play around with and a reasonable guide. It's important to research any species you are considering though.