Gouramis and....

[rattyratkins]

hey guys. i have two dawrf gouramis, a flame, and a neon blue. they have just now started to fight today and i have had them for a week. should i continue to buy more Gouramis for my tank or will it make things worse. my idea was to have a 15 gallon tank with few gouramis, not a couple. i am pretty dissipointed in reading that a tank full of gouramis isnt a good idea. what options are there for me to do with my gouramis. thanx alot. any help would make me feel alot better

 

[Morrgan]

A tank with many dwarf gouramis can work as long as the tank is large enough (at least 20-25 gal, preferably more), has plenty of cover and you keep only one male with several females. In your case I wouldn't recommend getting more gouramis, especially since I don't know what sex yours are.

If the ones you have continue to fight (assuming it's a couple, male and female) you can either provide a lot of hiding places and plenty of plants, or if one of them gets too stressed or is in danger of injury, remove one and just keep the other, maybe with some other small friendly fish. If they are two males, remove one of them now, since there's not much chance of them ever getting along. Two females can be surprisingly aggressive towards each other too if they don't happen to like each other, but this depends a lot on their personalities.

Probably not the advice you want to hear though, sorry. A group of gouramis would be a lovely sight, unfortunately the gouramis themselves usually do not agree. There are a few gouramis you can keep in a group. I believe the croaking gourami isn't very territorial, but they can be delicate and hard to find.

 

[canis_lupus]

oh man! that's not good....i luv gouramis and i have 2 of them in only a 10 gal tanks and apart from a bit of chassing there is no aggression......maybe mine r just 2 young. the advice morrgan gave is very good and a lot of cover would help matters.......hopefully.....good luck anyways

 

[Laughncat]

I had two male powder blue dwarf gourami in the same tank, and all though there were times when they would quarrel, mostly they were peaceful with each other. They are currently seperated due to my twelve gallon tank having to be re-cycled. I decided to seperated them to ease the strain on the tank system while it re-cycles (which is coming along nicely if slowly since I used bio-spira in it). I plan to reunite them as soon as the tank is back up to par.

Although they quarreled from time to time, usually around feeding time, they generally spent their time just peacefully chumming around the tank together. Occasionally one might nip at the other, but after a brief bout of laying low, they'd be swimming right along side each other like nothing had happened. In fact they've been acting odd eversince I seperated them. Both of them just roam back in forth inside their respective tanks and generally act like their looking for something. I think they miss each other (or maybe they'd rather put up with an occasional bout of roughhousing with each other rather then hanging out with their somewhat dull tankmates )

 

[rattyratkins]

thanx for the help, they are both males, and the tank is 20 gallon, there is also a snail in there. what other fish would be a good idea with Gouramis??

 

[rattyratkins]

i just checked another forum i am on and they think i should take one gourami back if possible (its not) but is that even nessesarry if possible. someone said there isnt no way two male gouramis can live together. well, they do at the pet store. did that person knew what they are talking about. i have never heard that before, and i have done quite a bit of gourami resurch. this is getting fusterating. i would just love to have a tank full of gouramis. is that even possible? the way some people talk i am better to have just one gourami.

 

[Sondan]

Ratty,
I have to be honest.....there are some opinions here that I agree with and some that I don't. And I know that there are many here who don't agree with me. To me you just have to do the best research you can, use common sense, and then make the best decision you can. I have seen many stories that say this fish can't live with this fish and this fish will kill that fish...BUT for almost everyone of these there is an exception. I mean I don't think a guppy would do very well with a red-bellied piranha but again that is where the common sense has to come into play. I don't even think that overcrowding a tank is terribly bad BUT it does mean that you are going to have to work harder to keep that tank healthy.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[Morrgan]

someone said there isnt no way two male gouramis can live together. well, they do at the pet store.

The gouramis at the pet store are usually too young to have started wanting a territory of their own, that's why many of them can be kept in the same tank. When they get older though, they will want that territory and they will fight for it if necessary.

As Sondan pointed out and Laughncat has experienced first hand, there are exceptions to every rule. That male dwarf gouramis fight if kept in the same tank is a general observation, not something that is 100% correct in every case. However, since yours have now started fighting, it's quite probable that they'll keep on doing it.

It is possible to keep two or more males in the same tank, but then you must provide enough space so that they can establish their own territories. A 40 gal or more is on the safe side, but a smaller might work if it's heavily planted so they don't see each other all the time.

 

[Laughncat]

A 40 gal or more is on the safe side, but a smaller might work if it's heavily planted so they don't see each other all the time

Good point. My twelve gallon has a VERY large castle decoration in the middle of it (Eh heh heh...misjudged the size a little when I was buying it ) and is fairly well planted with cabomba and pennywort. This setup definately gives them a place to hide if they need it...which also explains why I so rarely see my cory cats.

I placed the two blues back together last night (I was dubious of a new female betta I added to my five gallon tank until I can get her a betta hex) and so far they seem glad to see each other again and are much more relaxed in manner. They were chumming around together and I would even say that they're colors look a bit more vibrant

 

[Inchworm]

... someone said there isnt no way two male gouramis can live together. well, they do at the pet store. did that person knew what they are talking about. i have never heard that before, and i have done quite a bit of gourami resurch.

You are absolutely right. Male gouramis CAN live together and do so most of the time. They do at the pet shops and they do in peoples homes as well. Most of the dwarf gouramis sold are males.

Gouramis do, however, bicker among themselves. This is normal gourami behavior and is to be expected. If it bothers you, don't get gouramis. Or, try to provide tall plants and/or decorations to divide the tank into separate areas so they each can claim a territory of their own.

Once in a while, this aggression will get out of hand and a fish will get hurt. In this case they will have to be separated, but you will have to judge this on an individual basis.