Hi there. I just joined and have a few questions. This seems like a nice forum. 
I've been keeping a 30g guppy tank for a while now and am really enjoying the hobby. I had originally purchased 2 dwarf gouramis with them to help keep the guppy fry population from exploding and overloading my tank, which has worked very well so far. The gourmais seem to get along just fine with the adult guppies, while eating enough of the fry that they don't overpopulate. However I have one small "problem"...I've discovered I totally love gouramis!
I was thinking about possibly trying to breed some, however I'm not sure how viable this is with my current setup. Do gouramis breed in peaceful community tanks or would the other fish disturb the nest and eggs? I'm open to getting a smaller breeding tank to separate the breeding pair/egg/fry I wish to keep if necessary.
I believe my current pair are both males since I don't think my lfs sold any females, although I'm not 100% certain, as one has very vivid orange stripes, while the other is a much paler blue. The pale one has also had a somewhat rounder belly, which I keep reading is a female trait, but again I didn't think they sold females at that store, so that's odd. I need to check on their fin shapes when I get home (at work at the moment) as I'm reading that's the best way to identify the sexes? If it turns out they're both males, would one additional female be alright with them, or would she be too overwhelmed with two males? Would 2 males with two females be alright? Neither of my current pair are aggressive (to each other or the other fish) at all thankfully, despite what I've read on here about some dwarfs.
I was also considering the possibility of just leaving my dwarf pair as-is and breeding sparkling gouramis instead, although I have not owned these before (and not even sure if I can find them locally). But would they be compatible with my current community tank? I know larger species of gouramis are not compatible with dwarfs (or guppies) but wasn't sure about the sparklers.
Thanks for any advice you can offer! My fish breeding and keeping experience is still fairly limited, as I've dealt mostly with guppies, which are pretty comparatively simple.
I've been keeping a 30g guppy tank for a while now and am really enjoying the hobby. I had originally purchased 2 dwarf gouramis with them to help keep the guppy fry population from exploding and overloading my tank, which has worked very well so far. The gourmais seem to get along just fine with the adult guppies, while eating enough of the fry that they don't overpopulate. However I have one small "problem"...I've discovered I totally love gouramis!
I was thinking about possibly trying to breed some, however I'm not sure how viable this is with my current setup. Do gouramis breed in peaceful community tanks or would the other fish disturb the nest and eggs? I'm open to getting a smaller breeding tank to separate the breeding pair/egg/fry I wish to keep if necessary.
I believe my current pair are both males since I don't think my lfs sold any females, although I'm not 100% certain, as one has very vivid orange stripes, while the other is a much paler blue. The pale one has also had a somewhat rounder belly, which I keep reading is a female trait, but again I didn't think they sold females at that store, so that's odd. I need to check on their fin shapes when I get home (at work at the moment) as I'm reading that's the best way to identify the sexes? If it turns out they're both males, would one additional female be alright with them, or would she be too overwhelmed with two males? Would 2 males with two females be alright? Neither of my current pair are aggressive (to each other or the other fish) at all thankfully, despite what I've read on here about some dwarfs.
I was also considering the possibility of just leaving my dwarf pair as-is and breeding sparkling gouramis instead, although I have not owned these before (and not even sure if I can find them locally). But would they be compatible with my current community tank? I know larger species of gouramis are not compatible with dwarfs (or guppies) but wasn't sure about the sparklers.
Thanks for any advice you can offer! My fish breeding and keeping experience is still fairly limited, as I've dealt mostly with guppies, which are pretty comparatively simple.
