Gouramis

[knutty]

I have never beena fan of Gouramis. I have a friend who has several in a smaller tank and they seem to nip at each other on occasion. I have a 35 gallon with a small pleco, 2 small corry cats, 1 pink convict, 1 firemouth, 1 black molly, and 1 red swordtail. I did see these beautiful red striped male dwarf gouramis that I would like to add to the tank. My tank is very peacefull at this point. will the gouramis upset the apple cart? are they aggressive?

 

[Colisa lalia]

No more aggressive than your convict and firemouth are gonna become. I think that for a 29 a non breeding convict and firemouth are ok but they will test each other on occasion. On the other hand the red in the gourami will probably annoy the firemouth and encourage more aggression from it. I think you could remove both, add a male and three female dwarf gouramis, and maybe a school of tiny fish if you want to. On the other had you could go ahead and try to add the gouramis, they won't harm your other fish that's for sure.

 

[knutty]

there is not an ounce of agression in the tank now. somtimes the two cichlids will chase each other a tiny bit, but nothing that concerns me. i had two other convicts in there that HAD to go, way to aggressive. the swordtail is a happy little fellow and the molly is just awesome. the firemouth never starts anything. the pink convict is alrger than everyone and jsut seems to hang out. i see nothing more than play in the tank. i jsut dont want to change the balance. the tank is actually a 55 gallon thati have divided. RBPs on the other side. there is a waterfall between the two sides. the cichlids hang out in the live plants a lot. hmmm. decisions.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Knutty

I do not know about your other fish but I do know something about gouramis.

They are not aggressive fish, but they are territorial among their own kind. If you put a pair in your large tank I doubt if you need worry about having trouble with them. They will usually ignore the other fish in the tank. If another gourami gets too close they will chase them away. Since you have plants, you should have no problems. Gouramis are, by and large, very peaceful (sometimes timid) fish who have been given a bad rep by some people who post here.

 

[Alien Anna]

My pearl gouramis are lovely fish (even if my male did possibly eat my new loach), but my male is very, very shy and I don't see him much (which is a shame because he's big and very colourful). They aren't aggressive at all but when I had four int he tank, I had problems. I concluded that a pair is better.

 

[AquaNut]

Hi Knutty

I do not know about your other fish but I do know something about gouramis.

They are not aggressive fish, but they are territorial among their own kind. If you put a pair in your large tank I doubt if you need worry about having trouble with them. They will usually ignore the other fish in the tank. If another gourami gets too close they will chase them away. Since you have plants, you should have no problems. Gouramis are, by and large, very peaceful (sometimes timid) fish who have been given a bad rep by some people who post here.

I feel I must reply to this, as I could very well be one of the people you accuse of giving them a bad rep. If telling potential gourami owners of my personal experiences with the fish (I certainly haven't found them to be the peaceful, gentle, timid fish you describe) is giving them a bad rep, then I'm guilty. I'd feel more guilty, however, if I didn't say something to a newbie who's enquiring about them, and then read their post two weeks later saying, "I don't know what happened, but I added two opaline gouramis and two pearl gouramis last week, and now one opaline and both pearls are dead, and I'm missing seven neon tetras." Not all gouramis are nasty, and certainly not in all situations, but they definitely have the ability to be massive bullies, harassing to the point of death in many situations. I'm currently having a minor dilemma with one of my large opalines who has, in the last four or five days, decided that my entire 45 gallon tank belongs to him. It is densely planted and has lots of rocks and wood to divide up territories. It doesn't matter. The big guy's on a tear. He killed a black neon several days ago. I actually watched him chase the black neon across the tank and take a massive chomp out of him. I absolutely adore my gouramis; I wouldn't trade them for anything. However, I do feel compelled to tell people who enquire about them that the larger gouramis, particularly any of the blues (which include the goldens), are territorial with all the fish in the tanks, not just other gouramis, and they can get miserable enough to kill. Perhaps people can take what you say about them and take what I say about them and figure out whether or not the particular gouramis they're looking at would fit in well with their fish community.

 

[knutty]

While at my LFS last night i decided that i would get 2 rainbow sharks for now. they are very friendly and are fun to watch. The tank has reamined happy and unaggressive. I did, however, fall in love with some of the grouramis there. I decided that I am going to be getting an eclipse 12 system to keep on my desk that will be for 3-4 dwarfs. it should be fun.

 

[Inchworm]

I'm currently having a minor dilemma with one of my large opalines who has, in the last four or five days, decided that my entire 45 gallon tank belongs to him. It is densely planted and has lots of rocks and wood to divide up territories. It doesn't matter. The big guy's on a tear. He killed a black neon several days ago. I actually watched him chase the black neon across the tank and take a massive chomp out of him.

Oh, AquaNut, calm yourself. Surely, I intended nothing personal here.

However, you do seem to have a very real problem with your opaline male and I can understand your distress. I, myself. once had a platinum gourami who was so mean to his female that I had to banish him to the goldfish tank where he lived out his days (in peace) with fish that were much larger than he was. But in years of fishkeeping that was the only time I felt compelled to do that to a gourami.

It is unfortunate but sometimes things do not work out the way we plan especially when it comes to living things. This is true with other animals, too. And with humans as well.

Please do not judge all gouramis by this rogue fish. His behavior is not typical. Gouramis are such beautiful and popular fish that it would be a real shame if anyone denied himself the pleasure they can give because of it.

 

[glubglub]

I love gourami's, I am a huge fan. I think that they will be a great addition to you tank. i have a pearl gourami, a sunset honey blue, two albino paradise, and a powder blue dwarf gourami. I love them and I find that they are mostly very peacefull except the albino paradise. You will find with all fish species that sometimes one or two fish can be just jerks.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi glubglub,

I think you will find that the reason your albino paradise fish are so aggressive is because they are not actually gouramis. It has been my understanding that they are labyrinth fishes related to both gouramis and bettas.

I have read that the males often fight to the death like bettas do and should be kept one to a tank. I have also been told by the folks at my lfs that they tend to be more aggressive toward other fish than gouramis usually are.

They are lovely fish and I hope you will share your experiences with them so I can learn more.

 

[FanOFish]

I've read both sides here about gouramis and have one last question. My tank is comprised of a small group of neon tetras, a couple clown loaches and a cory....I really like the dwarf gouramis and was wondering how they mix with each other..For example; 1 powder blue, 1 sunset, 1 gold, and I found a neat looking albino dwarf gourami.

They are all fairly small so i wonder if they will be ok without adding females. It's a tall tank with room to hide.

thanks

 

[Inchworm]

Hi FanOFish

I've read somewhere that, kept without females, male gouramis will get along well together. If you look at a tank of them at your lfs, you will probably see that that is most likely true.

That albino sounds cool. If you can post a picture of it I'd love to see it. Just be sure it's not a young pink kissing gourami or you'll be in for a surprise. Those guys can get pretty big!

One other thing, gouramis are air breathers and they will normally live in the top level of the tank, so don't worry if you do not often see them in the other levels of your tall tank.

 

[FanOFish]

Sorry, I went back to the lfs and it was not an albino gourami but rather an albino paradise fish. It was a beautiful fish but I have no idea what it's disposition is.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi FanOFish,

It's too bad the fish turned out to be a paradise fish. They are really beautiful fish. They are labyrinth fish and are related to both gouramis and bettas.

The owner of my lfs advised me not to mix the paradise fish with them. I was disappointed at the time, but I trust his advice. He and his employees are more interested in keeping me a happy customer than in making a quick buck selling me a fish that might upset my tank. (I'm so lucky to have several really good lfs in my area and I hope you do too.)

If you want to take a chance and see how it works out, that's up to you. But I wouldn't. Please let me know what you do.

 

[FanOFish]

Thanks, I came to the same conclusion not to mix. i too am fortunate to have several good stores in the area