dwarf gouramis

[rsz]

firstly, in my tank i have zebra danios, glowlight tetras and corys. i've been told that dwarf gouramis go well with these.

on a few of the websites they say that dwarf gouramis chase off other fish though. is that very common?

also, would a get a male and a female, or a male and 2 females, or just a male, or 2 males, or 1 female, or what?? fanofish said s/he has 3 males, anyone got any other 'happy combinations'?!

anything else i should know about them either ? are they ok with flake food?

thanks in advance

 

[MAM]

now, don't take my word as gold, but from my research i've found if you have two or more males, they need a bigger tank because they can be territorial (though some here have weird ones that are totally passive, luck of the draw i guess) and more space will allow them to each have a territory. if others know better, please correct me. not sure if you'll be able to find a female easily or not where you live, around here all the lfs tend to just carry male dwarf gouramis. from what i've read, they'd go with those fish okay, just be sure he has room to have his own space, plants, somewhere to hide, etc. i'm setting up a tank just for a dwarf gourami and some cory cats so he can have a big territory almost all to himself. i can't wait. they're just really neat fish, especially with those feelers, that fun to see them when theyre reaching out to things.

 

[gadazobe]

Best combination IMO is 1 male to 1 female. It's not so good to have more than 1 male in a small tank coz they are very territorial.

 

[rsz]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!! now i'm all confused!! in this forum you've been saying to get a male and a female, but in the chit chat forum, they've said to get 2 males cos the male would bully the female. someone enlighten me... please??

 

[MAM]

what size tank were you thinking of having? this can help people to help you. also, do a seach online for dwarf gouramis, there are a number of great sites out there that can give you more to go on..................

 

[rsz]

25 gal. and i've looked online, just wondered what people here said cos some websites dont give all the info you want

 

[Inchworm]

Hello rsz

Unfortunatly, some gouramis (by no means ALL gouramis) seem to get a bit aggressive with other fish. This is an exception to the rule, and I hope you don' t worry too much about it. It would be a shame to avoid gouramis because of it. At present, I have a pair of adult three spot gouramis and 2 female pearls in a 20 gallon tank with glowlight tetras and corys. They ignore these fish.

Gouramis are "cousins" of the bettas and paradise fish and compared to them are quite mild mannered.

Gouramis seldom bother other fish; it is other gouramis that are their concern. They are territorial and like to have an area of their own in the tank. Your tank is large enough that it should not be a problem, especially if you have plants to divide up the area into what the gouramis see as territories. Usually, the males will defend their areas by chasing the other males (and females) away; they do not fight to the death like the bettas. Their agression is mostly intimidation; little actual contact is made.

If you get a male and female combination, one of each is ok. It seems that some of the livebearers need extra females in the tank to divide up the male's attentions, but the egglaying gouramis do not.

If you are thinking about getting dwarf gouramis, you may not have a choice of sex because, except for the regular "dwarf gourami" most lfs only sell the males. This fish is striped blue and red and is a lovely little fish.

I suggest you observe some of these fish for yourself the next time you go to your lfs.

As to food, they are omnivorius. They will eat flakes, algae, and bloodworms or tubiflex(either live, frozen or dried.) They do best, of course, when they get a bit of each.

 

[Inchworm]

Hello again. rsz

This link has a nice picture of a dwarf gourami. This is the original one--the one that you can get both male and female of. It also shows pearl and gold gouramis. But the gold is more like the blue three spot or opalines in disposition-- a bit more aggressive than the others. You probably would do best to avoid it, at least as a beginner who is concerned about having a peaceful tank.

http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/gourami.html

 

[rsz]

thanks for all that inchworm

since my lfs will only stock male dwarf gouramis, should i just get 1?? what about pearl gouramis, are they alright with my fish?? should i get a pair of them instead??

 

[guppymonkey]

I want to get a dwarf gourami but I know that a lot of gouramis can be really aggressive to other fish, not just even other gouramis. Does it differ on an individual fish basis? How big of a territory do they take up as their own?

 

[FanOFish]

I have a two different dwarf gouramis in with several tetras and if anything i find them a bit too shy...one is picked on by a silly little molly on occasion but won't ever fight back....i don't think you need to worry about them being too agressive.

 

[Inchworm]

since my lfs will only stock male dwarf gouramis, should i just get 1?? what about pearl gouramis, are they alright with my fish?? should i get a pair of them instead??

Pearl gouramis are very beautiful fish, rsz.

If you like them and have room give them a try. It is usually the blue gouramis (not dwarf) and their color variations that seem to cause problems. I don't recall anyone posting here about a pearl gourami causing a problem.