Gourami Dilemma

[The Duke]

I have bought a second hand 20 gallon tank today, it came with fish which I am meaning to re home. I already have a 45 gallon tank which is home to two pearl gouramis. In the tank I have bought today there are two beautiful gouramis, one is an opaline and I think the other is a giant gourami as it is dark and striped. Both are a big size and beautiful!! I would really like to keep them but am a bit worried about putting them in my bigger tank as I will then be mixing gourami species. Do you think this is ok?

 

[JoeGuzzo]

you should be alright i was inquiring about the same topic when i wanted to buy more gouramis

i already had 2 powder blue gouramis and i saw a dwarf gourami and just fell in love with it and i had to get him but i wasnt sure so i asked the guy at the store i got them from

he informed me that it should be alright and he told me about a tank he used to have where he had pretty much one of every type of gourami in the tank together and he said they couldnt have been more happy

so i wound up buying the dwarf gourami and putting him in the tank with the other two

i have yet to have any major problems with them, except for the dwarf gourami seemed to be a bit nippy towards the other two so i got curious and researched it and i discovered that the new dwarf gourami i just bought was a male and male gouramis are somewhat aggressive towards the females and you should have more females then males in your tank to distribute the aggressiveness

it also might be because i have them in a bit of a small tank (only a 10gl) however i am in the middle of purchasing a larger tank a 37gl and im thinking that might help a little with the aggressiveness as well

to sex gouramis btw is farely easy once you figure out how, the top fin on them when at the end is more curved like a circle those are the females as appose to the males fin who goes more to a point. females also have a bit more gurth to them then the males do thats the more difficult way to sex them but once you see the difference between the two you will know what to look for and it should be rather easy

 

[nicko378]

The gouramis should be fine. They can act up every once in a while but they usually get over it. I have a pearl, a yellow, and a kisser gourami all male that get along just fine. I used to have a blue gourami as well (RIP) but it never had any problems with the others.

 

[Ruskull]

Post a picture of the Opaline if you can & I'll tell you if it's male or female. If it's a female it should be fine with the Pearl G's, if it's a male I wouldn't suggest adding him. I don't know what the other Gourami is so I can't comment on that.

 

[SamLovesCorys]

Are you sure its a Giant Gourami? If so, I don't think its a good idea. They grow HUGE rapidly.