Dwarf Gourami Compatability

[walker001]

Hi guys, I am looking for view points on keeping Dwarf Gourami with Neon and Black skirt Tetras. Everything I have read says they like things more laid back and placid. The black skirts do flit around the tank alot. Do you think this would cause undue stress on them? Tank is 30 gallon, med planted, med-high light. Still looking for some surface plants.
On a side note on that, the plants most of the women have in my office that grow in water vases with no substrate. I got a clipping from one and although submerged in my tank, in the past 2 weeks, it has grown a bit, and its root structure has spread out and grown more trendils. The big leaves are kinda nice for fish to get out of the light a little. But I still want something more natural.

 

[sylvia]

Just what is in your tank and how many and what sex of dwarfs are you considering? What size tank? IMO, it's best to stick with a single male or a trio (1 male, 2 females). Mixing males or keeping pairs is not realy reccomended (though you can keep single-sex groups if you realy want to). Because of this gourami's fragile nature, a mature, not fully-stocked tank is essential. Don't over-crowd them or you'll get aggression. I always say 10 gallons per male dwarf gourami minnimum to give them room to set up a territory away from other gouramies. The neons would be fine with them but black skirts can be nippers and can cause some problems for gouramies by nipping off their ventral 'feelers'. These do grow back but, not only is the ordeal obviously stressful, if they become infected, you can end up with deaths. A hardier species would be better for your tank, IMO, but dwarf(s) could also work - depending on tank size and current inhabitants.

 

[pokagon55]

I have a 46 gal. tank with two male gourami's one red and one blue. Also have guppy's. serpea tetra's,red eye tetra's, danio's,platies and a three inch pleco. The gourami's are doing ok. some chasing but over all good. I was going to get the three spot but they were to aggressive. I read that the dwarf was more peaceful so that is what I went for.