Gourami Questions

[LyraGuppi]

I have seen many tanks harboring mollies and gouramis together. Does this cause fights?
 
How many Gouramis should be together? I've heard pairs work but fight, and I've heard a group of 3 is ok.
 
Do gouramis get along with cories, ottos, or shrimp? Those are my favorite bottom dwellers.

 
I'm thinking of either pearl or dwarf.
 
Thanks!

 

[FishMonkey]

I have 2 Dwarf Gourami's and they are very boisterous, always chasing each other round and displaying to each other, they generally tend to leave the other tank mates alone though in my experience.
 
I've heard that they are fine on their own (i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong) but i always like keeping fish in pairs.
 
I have 2 Tiger Shrimp in my community tank and the Gourami don't bother them at all.

 

[Meeresstille]

The Blue Dwarf Gourami can be disappointing since they can come to you infected with the dreaded Dwarf Gourami Disease. It's very sad and a real shame since it is really a pretty fish.
 
I have no experience with the Pearl Gourami, but I think they do get bigger and you need to make sure you have the right size tank.
 
I have 2 male Honey Gourami (also belongs to the Dwarf Gourami family but has a better immune-system) in my 40 gallon, 48 inches long tank. They get along great, and usually stay in their own claimed part of the tank, as all gourami can be territorial.
First we had one regular male Honey Gourami, as they mature they have the honey golden body, bright yellow dorsal fin and striking black face and chest. 
Then I wanted to get him some females to keep him company and got three Yellow Honey Gourami, sadly they all turned out to be male and I ended up giving 2 away.
 
If you have a big enough tank to let them each have their own territory, preferably with a lot of plants and caves for hiding and breaking the view to one another then you can have more than one male.
 
My Honeys share their tank with Kuhli Loaches, Rasboras and Red Cherry Shrimp. They may chase the occasional shrimp but I haven't noticed any kills. I think they would get along with cories quite well too, as well as with your ottos!

 

[Fishmanic]

My 2 dwarf Gourami (one powder blue and one regular dwarf gouami)  get along fine in my 35 gallon tall tank and don't bother other tank mates.  I got them at the same time and they looked to be 4 or 5 months old at the time.  Don't know their gender.   To see my stocking in the 35 gallon tank,, see my sig.   Perhaps gender matters to know if they'll get along.

 

[DreamertK]

The bigger they get the more territorial they become except perhaps with pearls. The smallest gouramis tend to do best in groups, though they can be paired off for breeding purposes. They're typically 1" or less in length so they can't have any larger fish in the tank either. The 2" gourami (dwarfs/honey) generally the males become territorial. I dont recommend the dwarfs because of dwarf gourami disease, but the honey gourami are cute and can be kept in 1:3 MF groups. The 4"+ gourami (3spot/gold/opaline/pearl/ext), definitely do not get more than one in a 40G or less tank. The males can and will go berserk if there is another male in the tank. Sometimes even the females go berserk, but it's so difficult to find a female of these species (at least in my area) that you should just stick to one gourami. Sometimes, the older these gourami get, the more aggressive they become with other fish, but I haven't observed this (yet).
 
My gourami honestly doesn't care about any other fish except other gourami. He will turn black and fight them to the death. Though my gourami doesn't care about shrimp, there may be some gourami out there that will hunt and kill all shrimp in the tank like bettas will. And my gourami will occupy a certain bottom corner in the tank, where no other fish will go, but other than that he'll swim about in the upper portion of the tank.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Thanks everybody!