Dwarf Gourami Questions.

[The Equillibrium]

Hey guys, I'm new here but have been into fish for about 3 years. Ive done some betta breeding too. Some people may know me from glbs...ill stay anonymous for now.

I have 3 regular dwarf gouramis and 2 powder blue dwatf gouramis in my 46 gallon bow community. They are with 14 neons, 5 otos, 4 fancy guppys(3 female, 1 male), and some sterile mickey mouse platys(8-10?). The tank is cycled, and the fish are all good. 200watt heater, fleouescant light, magnum pro H.O.T system w/ bio wheel filter(pretty good looking to me).

My question is, where can I get some female dwarf gouramis in the dearborn michigan area? Anyone live around here? Online is $25+ for shipping!

Will the females be ok with the 5 males in the 46? What would the ratio need to be?

Thanks

 

[sylvia]

To be honest, you don't have room for more fish - certainly not for the number of females you'd need. You'd want about 2 females to every male but could get away with 3 for every 2 if necesary. If I were you, I'd find homes for the platies (except maybe a trio - BTW, what do you mean they are sterile? Why?) and also get rid of a couple of the dwarf gouramies. Then you could fit in all the females you need.

 

[The Equillibrium]

What I mean bysterile is, unable to breed.

From what I know, livebearers like platies will breed indefinitly if there is a male and female present. These have been exposed to platies of the opposite sex for about 3 months since they last had any fry. They no longer breed from wha I believe is an inability to breed due to heavy inbreeding. Many have lost all color but an orange hue. They have been in established tanks since their birth in an estblished tank. I wanted to get rid of them, but can't find a good home. They are all perfectly healthy though.

I wish I had a biggrer tank. I had a good feeling that I couldnt fit all the females needed. Usually there is a high female to male ratio in fish.

I am currently working on trying to slowly switch my fake plants to live plants.

Thanks for the words