Gold gourami to 55 gallon

[Briarmoor]

I am setting up a 55 gallon tank to move my Gold gourami into. I think it may be a male, but I a haven't been at this long and don't know how to tell for sure.

I am thinking I will try the fishless cycle people are talking about and see how it works. This will give me time to decide what else to add to the tank.

There seems to be different advice on how to keep more than one gourami. If this Gold is a male, do I get another Gold one, or would an Opaline be okay? I like them too. Does it matter the sex of the Opaline in a tank this size? I don't want any breeding going on, just to enjoy them. Although they might not breed in a community tank, have no idea. If I got an Opaline, regardless of sex, could I also have a Pearl or Pearl pair? What would be best? Would one of each work? I want the option with the least arguing between them.

I am thinking of Green Moss barbs, perhaps 7 since supposedly this makes them less nippy and more of them for each to pick on. How pleasant. Can't figure out these icons or I'd use one here.

I also like Black Phantom tetras. In this size tank, could I expect these species to work out together if there were plenty of plants and territories?

What kind of bottom dwellers for algea and cleaning that can take care of themselves with these fish?

If I did a fishless cycle, should I add these all at one time or put in the less dominant fish first to get established, then add the others?

Pam in TN

 

[sylvia]

Hi

Lots of questions there

Anyway...

Gold gouramies and opalines are the same species - that is they are both just color morphs of the three-spot gourami - trichogaster trichopterus. This species is unfortunately very territorial and, though different color morphs are not as aggressive towards each other as those of the same color (I'm not sure why - just an observation I've made), it is still not adviseable to keep mroe than one male in the same tank.

Is there any chance you could post a picture of your fish (from the side) so that I, or someone else could sex it diffinitively? Also, how big is it right now?

You could add both pearls and an opaline but, with the opaline at least, I would get a female to decrease aggression.

If the gold you have turns out to be male, I would get 2 females rather than just one - so maybe get one female opaline and one female blue (another color morph) to go with the gold you already have (of it's male). if you did end up with 3 three-spot individuals, however, you may want to consdier skipping the pearls so as not to cause territoriality issues.

Pearls (trichogaster leeri) are quite peaceful fish and can easily be bullied. I would suggest you get a trio - one male, 2 females - and get fish that are larger or at least the same size, as the gold and opaline. Also, when you are adding your fish to the tank, put the pearls in first. Later add both the gold and opaline at the same time. You could also go for a pair or even just a single one but they are such beautiful fish it seems a shame, when you have a big enough tank, to miss out on the opportunity to get several (pearls are my favourite fish... so excuse me for being so biased).

By green moss barbs do you mean green tigers? Tiger barbs don't make the best tankmates for pearl gouramies in particular as pearls develop lovely, long fins which make them prone to being nipped. You can still try it but add the barbs to the tank last and make sure they do not harass the pearls (or other gouramies) and that they aren't forcing the gouramies into hiding (which can often happen with these, sometimes shy, fish).

Black phantom tetras are lovely fish and a nice-sized school of them would make a lvoely addition. They also have long fins that might be targeted by the barbs but they are less at risk, IMO, and should be fine. They are, in fact, my favourite tetra and deffinately worth it.

Most bottom-dwelling fish would be fine with all these fish. I would go for a school of (4-6) cories and either a siamese algae eater and/or a bristlenose plec to help with algae.

Just make shure you do NOT get a CHINESE algae eater or a GOLD algae eater or a SUCKING LOACH. These are all the same species and make terrible tankmates for gouramies (terrible fish with any tankmates for that matter). They also get to 10" and are terrible algae eaters as they mature.

About fishless cycling the tank - if you already have a tank set up and cycled (which by the sounds of it you do), you don't need to cycle your new tank. Just run your old filter (along with the new) in the new tank with all your current fish in there also (to supply ammonia) and add any gravel/ornaments you can as well. Once parameters are stable (which should happen instantly), you can wait about a week and then take out the old filter (return it to its tank). At this time, also remove the fish and, on the same day, get the first of your new fish.

Then treat the tank like you would a newly cycled tank, adding fish, a couple at a time, once every week or so and keep testing regularly to ensure parameters remain stable.

I would add the corydoras catfish (if you go for a hardy type such as bronze, albino, blackfin or peppered) first. Then, if you go with pearl gouramies, put those in next. Put in the plecostomus catfish (if you get one) about now. Next you'll want to add the tetras and after that the gold and opaline (or ny other three-spot gouramies) all at once. Lastly, put in the algae eater (siamese - if you decide to get one) and let it decide on a territory before adding a school of tiger barbs a couple of weeks later (4 first and 3 the week after).

I should tell you at this point that I think getting any more than 4 gouramies for this tank is slightly over-doing it so you will need to make a few descisions and choose between a group of pearls or a group of three-spots or go for a combination of the two. IMO, sticking to the one gold (if it is female) and then adding 3 pearls would work great. If the fish you already have is male, however, I would add 2 more female three-spots (each of a different color) and leave it at that.

Hopefuly I have now answered your questions. Let me know if I missed something and sorry for not making sense half the time (I usualy don't ).

 

[Briarmoor]

Is there any chance you could post a picture of your fish (from the side) so that I, or someone else could sex it diffinitively? Also, how big is it right now?

I have no idea if I am doing this quote thing right, but here goes. I will try to take a digital pic of the Gold gourami. How do I send it here or should I send it privately so as not to mess up the board?

You could add both pearls and an opaline but, with the opaline at least, I would get a female to decrease aggression.

If the Gold is a male, and I have a suspicion that it is, I will just go with the opaline and a blue female. Is there any chance of them breeding in a community tank? Are there things I can do to avoid that problem? The pearls will have to wait.

By green moss barbs do you mean green tigers? Tiger barbs don't make the best tankmates for pearl gouramies in particular as pearls develop lovely, long fins which make them prone to being nipped.

Yes, moss green tiger barbs. I guess I could skip them if they would be more problems than their pretty color is worth or maybe start a second tank later of just them or something that would get on with them better.

Black phantom tetras are lovely fish and a nice-sized school of them would make a lvoely addition. They also have long fins that might be targeted by the barbs but they are less at risk, IMO, and should be fine. They are, in fact, my favourite tetra and deffinately worth it.

If I skipped the barbs in favor of the tetras, any thoughts on a good lower tank fish to take their place?

About fishless cycling the tank - if you already have a tank set up and cycled (which by the sounds of it you do), you don't need to cycle your new tank. Just run your old filter (along with the new) in the new tank with all your current fish in there also (to supply ammonia) and add any gravel/ornaments you can as well.

Well, my little 10 gallon is hardly established just being 2 weeks old. I am having rises in both nitrite and nitrate right now, so not sure it would be the best thing? Also had Ich in the tank, would I introduce that into the big tank if I used those filters? I am leaving the neons in the little tank too, so couldn't take the filter away, but could use the pad from it. I see where you are going with this, just want to make sure I would be doing the right thing.

I so appreciate your help in getting me started!

Pam in TN

 

[sylvia]

Hello again

To be honest, I'm not sure how you post a pic Maybe someone else could explain. Otherwise, upload it onto boomspeed.com (easy to set up a free acount there) and post the link in this thread so people can see it.

When it comes to breeding, yes three-spots will readily spawn even in a community but there is no way that the fry will survive as they are absolutely tiny and need special foods, get eaten and get sucked up by filtration. The only problem realy is that when three-spots breed, they do so by laying eggs into a 'bubblenest' which the male builds first. He can become quite aggressive and territorial at this time as he guards the nest and later the eggs/fry in the nest. If you have a strong current near the water's surface though, he won't be able to make a nest in the first place. If he does build a nest and the aggression gets out of hand, just destroy the nest yourself. It won't have any ill effect on the fish.

If you aren't going to get the pearls, a group of at least 7 tiger barbs should be ok. However, if you do go with the tetras, there are several fish you could choose to fill up the lower levels. If what you are after is a schooling fish, I would suggest going for one of the less nippy barb species such as the checker barb (to 2") or the golden barb (to 4") or the rosy barb (to 3"). In each case, go for a group of at least 6. Another option would be the cherry barb but these are not realy schooling fish so you may want to get a pair of them and a school of some other kin of barb to go with them. Other bottom-dwelling fish you can take into consideration are dwarf cichlids such as apistos, rams (I love bolivians) and kribs (pulcher/kribensis). You would be best off with just one pair of rams OR kribs OR a trio of apistos. Keep in mind that these are territorial fish so don't put several pairs in together. Most will breed readily but don't worry about this.

Obviously there are several other bottom-dwelling fish such as catfish (cory cats are nice, small plecs such as bristlenose or rubbernose, otocinclus cats, upside down catfish, smaller peckoltias, various farlowellas etc), loaches (the smaller ones, not clowns, such as yo-yo, gold zebra, chain, polka dot, khulies are great etc), some sharks (red tail black shark, flying fox, siamese algae eater, false siamese algae eater, rainbow/red-finned shark, albino RTBSs and albino rainbows etc). With the sharks, only get a single one as they don't tolerate fish that are the same species or that even look similar.

Regardless of exactly what you choose, research it first to ensure it will be compatible with your other fish and, especialy, research its size. Many ichlids, catfish, loaches and sharks get way to big for your average tank. Oh and never trust your LFS...

As your other tank isn't yet cycled, you are probably best off sticking to the original plan and doing a fishless cycle on the new tank. To speed it up, however, do consider borrowing used filter media/gravel right from one of your LFS's tanks. Make sure the tank you take it from is a healthy one. This can also be employed to speed up the cycle in your 10 gallon of course.

 

[netobeto]

http/www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/hurley-gold.jpg
female left and male right

 

[sylvia]

Are they yours BTW netobeto? The rainbowfish in the background is my favourite species

 

[netobeto]

yeah why?

 

[sylvia]

They look very nice, that's all What other fish do you have in there then? Sorry I'm kind of hijacking the thread. But it is relevant right? You ARE looking for fish that are compatible with gold gouramies after all...

 

[netobeto]

no i am not looking for fish that are compatible with gold gouramis, i have 2 opiline gouramis,6 tiger barbs,1 raimbowfish,1raimbow shark,4 albinos cory cats,2 upside-down catfish,1 common pleco.

 

[sylvia]

Oh no sorry I didn't mean YOU were looking for fish compatible with gold gouramies - I meant Briarmoor is .

 

[netobeto]

sorry about that

 

[sylvia]

Just thought of something I should add Briarmoor, if you try to sex younger gouramies, it can be a lot more difficult to differenciate between a male and female than when you look at and can compare two, apparently mature, fish like those in netobeto's picture (BTW, how old are those 2 fish now?).

edited to correct Netobeto's name from Metobeto... oops

So how old are those fishies then? Just curious as they look quite mature in the pic.

 

[netobeto]

its netobeto sylvia

 

[Briarmoor]

http/www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/hurley-gold.jpg
female left and male right

Thanks for the link! I think we have a GIRL! So now can I add the Pearls too? What about a tank of just girl gouramis? No breeding, less "testosterone"?

Pam in TN

 

[Briarmoor]

no i am not looking for fish that are compatible with gold gouramis, i have 2 opiline gouramis,6 tiger barbs,1 raimbowfish,1raimbow shark,4 albinos cory cats,2 upside-down catfish,1 common pleco.

How are your barbs doing with your gouramis? I wanted to add some and have not made up my mind yet. Now that I am almost 100% certain that my Gold is female (looks just like yours, no kidding) I may have more options in the gourami department. What do you think, Sylvia? Could I do 2 Pearls (2 females?) and still have an Opaline to go with the Gold? Or even a Blue and Opaline. Will the females be okay together and without any males at all? I am saying 2 Pearls since they are really different than the color variety of 3-spot.

Pam in TN