Can I Have Three Honey Gouramis In A 30 Litre Tank?

[west-megaman]

Very soon I plan to start a 30 litre heavily planted low-tech tank.

This is the stock I'm planning to keep:

3 Honey Gouramis (1x male, 2x female)
6 Cherry barbs
5 amano shrimp
15 MTS
2/3 zebra nerite snails.

But can I keep 3 Honey gouramis in a 30 litre tank?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Jayhawk]

That's 7ish to 8 gallons, right?

I think you'd be way overstocked. The cherry barbs would be fine, or the trio of honey gouramis might be OK if the tank is long enough (otherwise there could be aggression).

15 MTS = way too many snails in the long run for that small a tank. I'd either go with the nerites or about 5 MTSs (you'll have more soon enough). Try not to overfeed as a tank that small will be quickly overwhelmed with MTSs.

Just my $.02.

Eric

 

[west-megaman]

That's 7ish to 8 gallons, right?

I think you'd be way overstocked. The cherry barbs would be fine, or the trio of honey gouramis might be OK if the tank is long enough (otherwise there could be aggression).

15 MTS = way too many snails in the long run for that small a tank. I'd either go with the nerites or about 5 MTSs (you'll have more soon enough). Try not to overfeed as a tank that small will be quickly overwhelmed with MTSs.

Just my $.02.

Eric

Thanks for the advice Eric.

I too was wondering if 15 MTS was too much. I'll probably go with 5 instead then. The reason why I want to go with both nerites and MTS is that MTS should keep the substrate clean while the nerites should keep the glass spotless. I'm sure 5 MTS and 2 nerites will be ok?

The tank is 34 cm in length. So I'm hoping thats good enough considering Honey Gouramis grow to about 5/6cm

 

[Curiosity101]

Hmm, I wouldn't get three if I were you, I'd stick to two. In that length of tank it's not as if you're really going to miss the extra fish but I think you'll find your honeys are happier for it not being there.

Also please be aware that nerites are super efficient algae eaters and so need to be fed alongside their general grazing. All sorts of veg is suitable, aswell as algae wafer.

 

[west-megaman]

Hmm, I wouldn't get three if I were you, I'd stick to two. In that length of tank it's not as if you're really going to miss the extra fish but I think you'll find your honeys are happier for it not being there.

Also please be aware that nerites are super efficient algae eaters and so need to be fed alongside their general grazing. All sorts of veg is suitable, aswell as algae wafer.

I was thinking about a pair but what if the male chases the female too much? (I'm after the natural cloration, no colour morphes)

But I'll be happy with a pair if things stay fine.

As for the nerites, I have plenty of Algae Wafers (and veges lol) so thats all good. Btw, I have a question: Do zebra nerites have a shortened lifespan in Freshwater? If so, by how much?

Thanks for all the help

 

[Curiosity101]

I've found keeping a single male to a single female to be fine. The males aren't overly pushy to be honest and certainly don't need a second female to draw their attention. I just think with 3 in there you're likely to find one fish ends up being bullied, not sure which... but I could definitely see one of the trio not being very happy.

And I'm not sure about the snail thing...not heard anything about shortened lifespans though.

 

[west-megaman]

Ah, thanks alot. It's settled then, I'm going to have a pair of Honey Gouramis then

 

[Twinklecaz]

Hi

I got 2 natural honeys just over a month ago. They were supposed to be 2 females but I found out about a week-2weeks later I had a male and female as one built a bubble nest. Anyway, I just wanted to say they're fine. He does chase her occasionally and I'd had one incident where I found her hiding behind the filter but that's it. Mostly he chases he for about 3 seconds and gets bored. She doesn't seem bothered atall. Though I find they're not the livliest of fish anyway so it's hard to tell

 

[west-megaman]

Hi

I got 2 natural honeys just over a month ago. They were supposed to be 2 females but I found out about a week-2weeks later I had a male and female as one built a bubble nest. Anyway, I just wanted to say they're fine. He does chase her occasionally and I'd had one incident where I found her hiding behind the filter but that's it. Mostly he chases he for about 3 seconds and gets bored. She doesn't seem bothered atall. Though I find they're not the livliest of fish anyway so it's hard to tell

But shouldn't natural coloured Honeys be easy to sex? After all, the males do have more vibrant colours while females are a bit dull.

Or maybe they were both dull in the shop (nasty fish conditions lol)

 

[Essjay]

The pics Twinklecaz posted a couple of weeks ago were of the yellow variety not the natural coloured honeys
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/333025-helllllp/

The wild coloured ones are much easier to sex. But if there's a choice of female, go with one which has a definite stripe from nose to tail. A few years ago, I bought a trio, one tan and two beige fish. I got up one morning about two weeks later to find two tan and one beige fish in my tank. The beige ones with a stripe are much more likely to be female rather than a male in disguise.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Waaa na UH! Are they yellow? Wow their colours are crap then! lol. The photos I've seen of yellow ones have been bright yellow but mine are quite dull. My female is mostly what I'd call brown

 

[west-megaman]

The pics Twinklecaz posted a couple of weeks ago were of the yellow variety not the natural coloured honeys
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/333025-helllllp/

The wild coloured ones are much easier to sex. But if there's a choice of female, go with one which has a definite stripe from nose to tail. A few years ago, I bought a trio, one tan and two beige fish. I got up one morning about two weeks later to find two tan and one beige fish in my tank. The beige ones with a stripe are much more likely to be female rather than a male in disguise.

Thanks for the advice. This should come in handy when I come to buying a pair of Honey Gourami's as I know that fish dealers are not at all reliable when sexing a fish!

 

[Essjay]

Waaa na UH! Are they yellow? Wow their colours are crap then! lol. The photos I've seen of yellow ones have been bright yellow but mine are quite dull. My female is mostly what I'd call brown

In the photos in that thread, neither of the fish look like a wild coloured male - those are golden tan, with a yellow top fin and a black bit to their bottom fin, quite a deep colour. The pics in posts #3 and #4 here show the wild coloured male.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/34959-gourami-honey/
Wild coloured females are a light brownish silver often with a dark brown stripe from nose to tail.
The ones in your pics looked very pale yellow with a bit of darker yellow on their fins. I've seen honeys the same colour as the ones in your pic labelled as yellow honeys in my local maidenhead aquatics. A few years ago, I also saw some cream coloured honeys in one shop, but I haven't seen any since.
Having said that, I do know that tank lights can make fish look a different colour in photos than in real life, and I appologise if your fish really do look wild coloured in the flesh.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Ha no don't worry, I had no idea what they are I'm glad for the information. I think someone else told me they were natural so I got it from there. I really want a red one too but I'd need to be sure she was female.

 

[Curiosity101]

I've found honeys quite easy to sex just by going by the fin shapes. Males are pointy, females are rounded.