Dwarf Gourami And Freshwater Shrimp

[xautomaticflowersx]

I have a heavily planted, fully cycled mature tank with no current inhabitants (I'm still 'feeding' the tank to maintain the bacteria). I'm interested in getting some peaceful, colourful fish to put in there that will be happy living with some freshwater shrimp such as cherry shrimp or tiger shrimp. My first thought was a pair of rams, but on asking around in the cichlid section I think they are too unpredictable to be trusted with shrimp! Somebody on another forum also warned me that my carpet of Lilaeopsis brasiliensis might be disturbed by the rams. Since my plants are thriving I see little point in adding a fish that will proceed to uproot them!
My next thought was a pair of dwarf gourami since they are similarly beautiful, but perhaps less disruptive. What do you think about keeping a pair of dwarf gourami with some shrimp? Do you think there would be any aggression or would the shrimp be left alone? I'm not really interested in breeding the gourami so fry aren't my number one concern. There are lots of hiding places and dense vegetation which both shrimp and dwarf gourami should find to their liking. I'd just like to make sure they'd get along OK together since shrimp aren't the cheapest tank inhabitants!

 

[sylvia]

Dwarf gouramies are usualy ok with shrimp as long as the shrimp are fully grown. Younger shrimp will probably become an expensive snack though. You should also know that it would be best to keep a trio (1 male, 2 females) rather than a pair so as to devide the male's attention between the two girls so no single female is stressed by constant chasing. The size of your tank (which you did not mention) is important in determining whether 3 dwarf gouramies would be ok together but also important in determining whether they'd leave the shrimp alone. If the shrimp are constantly under their noses (so to speak), they won't ignore them. Also be aware that dwarf gouramies are very prone to disease so need a mature, healthy tank. Regardless, you should add them only once the shrmp are fully grown. If you'd like a hardier (and slightly smaller - to 1.5") species that's just as colorful, honey gouramies (colisa chuna/sota) would fit perfectly as a trio. Sparkling gouramies are another great, shrimp-friendly option or, if you're not too new to fish and confident in your abilities, licorice gouramies are beautiful little fish that should not bother shrimp (but research these very thoroughly first as they are very specific in their requirements and very fragile).

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Thanks ever so much for the advice! I will look into the species you mentioned for future reference. I think I am going to get some dwarf rainbows instead of the gourami now after researching a little more... I made this post before I had made up my mind! Thanks all the same though... the information you gave me was still useful

 

[sylvia]

I'm glad that was of some use to you Dwarf/neon/praecox rainbows are a lovely little fish - great choice if you decide to go for them

 

[trevo878]

Hey,

It sounds like you have put a lot of care and effort into maintaining the plants in your tank. It also looks as though you want to stay clear of any fish that would harm them, which is part of the reason you chose not to get the rams. So, my advice to you is to be aware of gouramies and plants. From my expieriences, dwarf, honey, and other small gouramies are very good with plants. However, the larger gouramies, such as, the kissing gourami literally destroyed my tank! lol.

If your tank is 30 gallons tall or larger, this is what I would do... a pair of angels, a pair of shrimp, a pair of small gouramies, and five or six cories. All of these fish are very peaceful and will provide an active look to your aquarium. And, more importantly, they won't bother your plants!

Hope that helps!
Trevo

 

[sylvia]

If a pair of angels were to start breeding and you had a pair (shouldn't be kept as pairs though) of small, peaceful gouramies in the tank, you'd have serious issues. Angels and gouramies occupy the same levels in the tank and angels get quite territorial when breeding. As gouramies are also territorial, they tend to clash and the smaller gouramies cannot deal with this aggression. In the case of the more common small gourami - the dwarf - they become very prone to disease if even slightly stressed and this kind of clash would most deffinately result in stress. The angels would also eat the shrimp.