Gold gourami to 55 gallon

[Briarmoor]

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. Other bottom-dwelling fish you can take into consideration are dwarf cichlids such as apistos, rams (I love bolivians) and kribs (pulcher/kribensis).

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.

I like the looks of several of those. What about the rainbow fish (other than they are about $10 a pop)? Where do they swim? I cannot seem to find as much info on them as other fish. When I am sure I am not killing everything I might try some of them instead of something else *if* they are compatible. Netobeto, how does your lone rainbow do with the gouramis? I ruled out a Red Tail shark, just read too many scary things to try one yet. Maybe another tank someday. And I don't think I am prepared yet for Cichlids.

Pam in TN

 

[netobeto]

about your all females gouramies are excelent because if they are all females there wont be any fighting unless you got a real small tank. and my lone raimbow fish is alright never had any disease and about raimbow sharks are alright unless you got something smaller than a 55 gallon tank and about the tiger barbs they dont nip at all because i got them in a group of 6 thats why.

 

[sylvia]

Yeah I agree that getting all females (blue, gold and opaline three-spots and a couple of pearls) should be fine. Actualy you would be safe with one male and one female pearl if you like - instead of two females that is. Pearls aren't as aggressive as three-spots so this combination should be absolutely fine (plus mature male pearls are stunning!). With gouramies, however, you should still be aware that individuals can vary greatly in character so do be prepaired to remove any overly-aggressive fish if necessary. It probably won't be but just as a precaution - be ready and watch your fish closely.

Rainbowfish are great but they get rather large for smaller tanks (well most of them do) and are generaly shy unless kept in a large group (they are schooling fish and should be in a group of at least 6). I would reccomend either boesmani (m. boesmani) or turquoise (melanotaenia lacustris - the fish in that pic) rainbows but keep in mind that they get to 4" so watch you won't be over-stocking with 6 in the tank plus 4-5 gouramies and any other fish. They swim at pretty much all levels. Some rainbows will nibble at plants but this isn't usualy a problem. Also consider neon/blue dwarf rainbowfish and thread-fin rainbows if you want something bright and interesting but smaller (2-3").

Reading your post, why are you 'not perpaired for cichlids'? are you concerned about aggression? Not all cichlids are very aggressive you know. In fact, keyholes (for example) are shy, placid fish and can be kept in communities without problems occuring at all. The only time they show real territoriality (and even then it would be comparative to the territoriality of a breeding gourami) is when they are spawning. Simialrly, rams are often kept in communities and, though you would want to stick to just one pair for the time being, they are peaceful towards other, non-cichlid species. Also, they stay small at 2-3" only. Though german/blue/gold/dutch rams are rather fragile, the less picky bolivian rams are hardy and adaptable. Realy, the cichlids that are very aggressive are those from african rift lakes such as mbuna/malawian cichlids or the large, aggressive neotropical fish like jack dempseyes, oscars or even the smaller convicts (which are real terrors!). Also, keep in mind that the ever-so-popular angelfish is a cichlid and the fragile discus is as well. I'm not trying to persuade you to get cichlids BTW - I'm not actualy that big of a cichlid fan (though I do love keyholes ) - just letting you know that, possibly, some of these fish are still available to you and suited to your tank so don't rule them out just yet (unless you don't like them of course but that's down to your own personal prefferences).

I'm also wondering whether when you asked how the 'rainbow' is doing whether you meant the turquoise rainbowfish or a rainbow shark. Netobeto's answer reffered to the shark. I'd like to add that you shouldn't realy keep a lone rainbowfish though - they do like to be in schools. Rainbow SHARKS, on the other hand, should be kept alone and are only slightly less agressive than an RTBS. They do fine in most tanks though (both species do), provided there are no similar fish and provided the tank isn't over-crowded and at least 30 gallons.

 

[Briarmoor]

Sylvia, you are a wealth of knowledge and I do appreciate all your help.

Referring to the cichlids, it is all I have read about how big some of them get, how rough they can be on substrate and plants, and how aggressive and/or territorial some of them can be. That said, I do like to watch them at the LFS and chain stores. Often I am finding the chain stores have them over crowded, so there is an opportunity to see more of the behaviors come out (sad for the low guys however).

Today at Petsmart, I was watching some oscars, all were smaller but one. I wondered why they were plastered to the right front corner, all of them, but the big guy. I watched for awhile and soon got my answer. If one of the little guys moved from the corner, the big one slowly arced around to "herd" him back (actually probably away from "his" territory which at this point was all of the tank but the little area the rest of the community was living in!). They remind me too much of my dogs (Australian Cattle Dogs) which can be more territorial themselves and don't always get along with each other.

I went to the manager today at Walmart and complained about their tank of Oscars, some rather big, and about 6 or more of them in there. If that was not enough, there were at least 10 tinfoil barbs in there freaking out and afraid for their lives. There was no where for anyone to get away from anyone else. One oscar was as close to the filter as it could get, another to an intake tube. The tinfoils were darting and zipping everytime an oscar moved toward them. Really ticked me off to say the least. I have never bought fish from Walmart and never will. Their test kits are way cheaper than anywhere else, but maybe I'll pay the extra money and avoid them altogether.

Anyway, nothing against cichlids, just not sure I am ready for their unique traits. They don't seem like "beginner" fish to me, just like my ACDs are not beginner dogs for most people.

I did see some lovely neon rainbow fish at the LFS and may decide to do those rather than green tiger barbs. Do all tigers swim around and look down (mostly at other fish) a lot? It is very distracting and I noticed this at Petsmart and Petco today. I will buy my fish from the LFS from now on, but I think I can learn a lot about behavior watching them anywhere.

Pam in TN

 

[sylvia]

Lol, yes I can see why you'd be worried about cichlids - but smaller neotropicals such as bolivian rams and keyholes are perfectly safe with plants and don't realy dig either. They are territorial but only as much as a three-spot gourami is. Regardless, there are always future tanks to try them out in.

It's a great shame wallmart treats their fish so terribly. Good for you not buying any fish from there!

Anyway, the neon rainbows would look great. Would be a wonderful choice to replace the tigers. I'm not sure what you mean by the tigers 'looking down' though... do you mean they were swimming in a 'head down' position? If this tilt was significant, it could be a sign that they were unhealthy or the water quality was lacking.

 

[Briarmoor]

Anyway, the neon rainbows would look great. Would be a wonderful choice to replace the tigers. I'm not sure what you mean by the tigers 'looking down' though... do you mean they were swimming in a 'head down' position? If this tilt was significant, it could be a sign that they were unhealthy or the water quality was lacking.

I am seriously going to keep the smaller rainbows in mind, especially since I am understanding that I can keep a pair? Or is this misinformation?

The barbs were backing up swimming as the watched some pictus cats below them. Maybe the cats were where they normally would swim and they weren't comfortable with them below? It wasn't all the time and they didn't seem sick at all. But the tiger barbs were bunched together to the left of the tank and the cats to the right. Of course too many fish in one tank, but offered a look at behaviors. The barbs would move backwards away from the cats and angle their heads down. Kinda weird looking.

Pam in TN

 

[sylvia]

Hmm... do you mean keeping the neon rainbowfish as a pair? I wouldn't do it. It isn't natural for them as they are schooling fish and they will be shy and weary of their tankmates if kept as a pair alone. Oh and I wanted to add before that all rainbowfish will generaly look dull in your LFS but color up impressively very soon. You may want to look them up on google images to see how lovely they are once they have settled down .

With the tiger barbs it sounds like they were just a little frightened of the cats and rightly so! The way you descrobed them backing up and looking down is just that sort of behaviour. I was worried what you meant was that they were swimming around in an unsteady head-dwon position which usualy is a sign of stress and bad water quality which can mean the fish are also sick.

 

[Briarmoor]

Hmm... do you mean keeping the neon rainbowfish as a pair? I wouldn't do it. It isn't natural for them as they are schooling fish and they will be shy and weary of their tankmates if kept as a pair alone.

Thanks, I won't pair them. But do you recommend a certain male/female ratio, and how many total fish?

A friend just gave me a 20 gallon and I might do barbs in it and have a "peaceful" tank of gouramis, black phantoms, and rainbows for the 55. I better either get a raise or win the lotto if I am going to keep spending money on fishy stuff.

I got the digital hooked up and will take a pic of the gold gourami to make sure it is definitely female before making any more plans on future gouramis. I will fiddle with the buttons on the list and figure out how.

Pam in TN

 

[sylvia]

MTS is going to eat us all out of our houses and dig deep holes in our bank accounts - that's the curse of fishkeeping (but great fun too )...

You may find sexing the rainbowfish difficult. Adult males generaly have a different shape and are very brightly colored but these differences aren't usualy obvious under the stressed environment in most LFSs and with younger individuals. The ratio won't realy matter much anyway though so don't worry about that. Also, many LFSs only stock males because those are the ones that develop the brightest coloration and are in most demand (though this applies less to the neon dwarfs).

edit: I forgot to mention that the number you get should be at least 6 but any upper limmits are to not over-stock. I would say 6 is a good number though so you still have space for all the other fish and any extra additions. You could probably go up to 8 but keep up with water changes/maintainance and testing if you plan to add a lot more tankmates.

 

[Ethos]

I might be alittle slow on the take here but......

I have 1 gold goruami, 1 opaline, and 1 peal. All in a 10G. Now of course this summer I am going to move them into my 55G, but right now they seem fine. There all about 4 inches, maybe alittle more. The intresting thing is that my Gold chases my opaline, and leaves my pearl alone.........I dont know why, but oh well.
I can tell even right now they're begging for more space, 1but they'll just have to wait.

 

[Briarmoor]

edit: I forgot to mention that the number you get should be at least 6 but any upper limmits are to not over-stock. I would say 6 is a good number though so you still have space for all the other fish and any extra additions. You could probably go up to 8 but keep up with water changes/maintainance and testing if you plan to add a lot more tankmates.

Okay, so 6 neon rainbow fish, 1 gold gourami, 1 opaline gourami, 2 pearls (if the gold is really a female), school of black phantom tetras (number?), corys (how many?) and 1 bristlenose Pleco. How does this sound for a 55 gallon tank? When they are grown will it be overstocked? And will the rainbows be swimming too much in the tetras space? Will there be enough bottom dweller action? And (last ? !), what order should they go into the tank?

Pam in TN

 

[Annastasia]

It sounds pretty good to me. Your Gouramis and Rainbowfish numbers sound good. Sooo, I'd get 8 or so Black Phantom Tetras, and 6 Cories. In my calculations, that would be just about right, depending on the Cories you get.

The Rainbows and Tetras should be able to share the space. If we are talking about a regular 55 gallon, the length is pretty long, so they'll have room. My Rainbows swim on all levels of the tank too, as do my Tetras.

I think there will be enough Bottom Dwellers. Cories are pretty active fish, and in a tank that size, they'll be very happy!

As for the order...I'd probably put the Tetras or Rainbowfish first, then Cories, Pleco, Gouramis. In my experience, I need to put the Gouramis in last, so they don't feel the whole tank is their's, and start chasing other fish away. Just my opinion though.

 

[sylvia]

I agree, but I would probably add the tetras first, cories next (depending on what you want. If they are a hardier type, now is a good time. If not, just before the plec is better.), followed by the rainbows, then the gouramies (first the pearls(s), then the three-spots) and last the plec when some algae will have also started to grow in the tank. Honestly though, only the order you add the gouramies in will realy matter. The rest is just so that you are adding the hardiest fish first when the tank isn't yet fully established/stable so as to avoid problems.

 

[Ethos]

Bump for being the oldest topic in our section!