Honey Gouramis

[Barry P]

Hi,
I just lost my Betta Crowntail at the weekend to what i think is float bladder. Im now left with 4 fancy guppies, 3 zebra loaches, and 3 ottos (who i never see). Im looking for a large(ish) feature fish to replace the Betta ( or a pair of fish), something that will look good, and interact with the rest of the fish. Something cool, but not aggressive.
I have a 60L (15 Gallon) tank with plenty of hiding places, hence the reason i hardly ever see my loaches or ottos.
I would love to find out from the experts as to what would be suitable, my LFS are sh** and are the reason i ended up with a betta in the same tank as guppies.

All ideas welcome.

 

[jkrekord]

first of all zebra loaches grow way to big for your tank
dwarf gouramis would be alrite as a centerpiece

 

[Barry P]

The zebra loaches havent grown at all..? how long will it take them to outgrow my tank.?

 

[emma12321]

Hi Barry,

If your zebra loaches are botia striata they only grow 3.5-4 inches long and i don't see why they couldn't spend their entire life in a 15 gallon tank. I got a tiny one at the beginning of last year and it's about 3 inch long now, the others in the tank are all smaller. Mine are in a 90 gallon tank so i would expect them to grow faster anyway.

As jkrekord suggested a dwarf gourami would be a good choice or maybe a honey gourami. Rams also make an attractive centre piece but they spend a lot of time near the bottom which the loaches might not like. Gourami's spend most of the time at the top and middle of the tank.

Emma

 

[Barry P]

All the gourami species that i have looked up have been described as shy, Im not really after a shy fish. I want something that will take up the middle of the tank and not be intimidated by the loaches (who can be aggressive during feeding). What about a small angel fish?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Barry P

Angel fish get big and do tend to be nippy. Since your tank is on the small size, I think a brightly colored platy would make a nice centerpiece fish. You could probably even have a pair of them with the stocking you have now.

 

[Barry P]

I had Platy for a while and wasnt overly happy with them, but i will keep it in mind.

 

[CBTF]

2 mollies (get 2 females..) would be colorful but if you dont like platys you prolly wont like mollies.

 

[Barry P]

I had 2 mollies before but again i found them very susceptible to itch , although this was during the cycling of my tank. Now that its fully cycled i spose they might be a welcome addition. I was hoping for something a bit bigger and bolder, something along the lines of a red tailed shark but not as aggressive.?

I forgot to mention that i may have a taker for my 4 guppies so it would leave alot of space for new fish