Gourami & Betta

[KRamgren89]

my husband and i finalized what we are generally looking for to stock our 45 gallon bowfront aquarium. (please note some of these numbers will increase as everyone settles down and we see how the over all tank does with the numbers we will add at first)

- 1 Group of 6 tetra (not sure yet as we have to see what our LFS has but looking for cardinal or neon maybe)

- 1 Group of 6 Cherry Barbs

- Already have a common pleco that isnt to large yet but want to add a bushy nose or bristle nose as well as we eventually plan to rehome the common when he is to large (our LFS is always looking for LARGE pleco's for their huge tanks)

- 2 Sterbi Cory. 4 Bronze Cory and 2 Upside Down Cat Fish (all currently have stocked and will up numbers once new tank is up and established)

For our center peice we are thinking 2 very pretty Gourami either a male/female pair or 2 females

our only dilemma is i REALLY want our betta in our tank, so my big question is can we give it a shot and just keep a real close eye on the tank for awhile and see how he reacts. we know that we should add him LAST so he doesnt think he is dominant to anyone and most of the other fish except gourami were on the compatibility list for bettas so the big kicker will be if he can survive with the gourami. any imput on this topic would be greatly appreaciated as tomorrow is the big day we bring the tank home and get it up and running and then go get our fish!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I can't help you with the gourami/betta question (however, I don't feel the risk is worth it myself) but you should get either 6 sterbai or 6 bronze (more really, you certianly have the space!). Bronze and sterbai are quite different variations of cory (unlike bronze/albino) and would be better having a group of their own kind.

 

[KRamgren89]

yep we do plan on upping our cory numbers significantly! we just want to get the current stock and new fish we need to add settled down and then we are going to increase everyones numbers (the schools and the corys) thank you for the advice. i guess we are just gonna go ahead and give it a try! he is really docile in his tank with the shrimp and as i said all other fish except gourami are betta compatible. and we will make sure his tank stays up and running incase we need to move him back at a moments notice!

 

[DJH584]

Personally I wouldn't take the risk of adding the betta with gouramis. Like you I checked a compatibility list and found that the two were not compatible. I think it would be a case of not whether the betta would survive, but if the gouramis survived.

David