How many would work

[paulthegreat]

I have not had Gouramis before but my wife would like to have a few in the 125gal I am working on getting up and running. I was going to transfer some of the fish from my 112 liter(all tetras, 3 Yoyo loaches, 1 Common Pleco). As well as putting in 4-5 Clown loaches. What Ratio of male/female would be a good idea? I was thinking about 1 male and 2-3 female Pearl Gouramis and/or the same ratio Yellow Gouramis. I really love the look of the Dwarfs but I want fish that are going to be a little bigger so they do not look lost in a six foot tank.(I know the tetras! but after they are gone they will not be replaced).

 

[Kopix Nation]

Pearls are a nice choice.I love the bright red bellies of the males. Honeys are so cute the males are a bright orange while the females are not very colorful.

claire

 

[paulthegreat]

I do not think the yellows that I saw were Honeys, the store owner said they were a color variation and interbreedable with the Pearls. They were a very(canary) yellow color, both male and female. I was wondering how many I need have to prevent agression or how few I should have to prevent agression, and if having two different groups of Gouramis would present a potential problem. I know some fish can not be kept in groups while others need to be kept in groups.

 

[sylvia]

Pearl gouramies (trichogaster leeri) are an excellent choice. These are my favourite fish and will do extremely well in the ratio you mentioned. These are one gourami that does benefit from being in a group but males aren't as aggressive as certain other species so you could keep more than one if you like (as well as a few more females). As you are likely to already know, males have a bright orange-red throat area and a more pointed dorsal and also have significantly extended unpaired fin rays which the females lack. You'll also probably be aware that they get to 5" and preffer the upper layers of the tank. They'd appreciate some floating plants as well.

As for 'yellow gouramies'. These are probably the gold variant of trichogaster trichopterus - commonly called the three-spot gourami. Though it's true that these can hybridize with pearls, they are not the same species. Other three-spot variants are the platinum, lavender, blue, cosby and opaline. All of these can get to about 6" and are considerably more aggressive than pearls. As it sounds like you have no interest in breeding them, I'd suggest you go for a female-only group. The sexes, besides, are identical except for a little difference in body shape and fin length. If you do go with this fish, avoid getting more than one male as they do often kill each other (though your tank should be large enough to prevent this from happening).

If you are willing to scrap the gold gouramies, I'd reccomend moonlights. They'd get along with pearls fine. These get to 7" so would look less out of place in such a large tank. At first glance, they seem rather plain - being a solid silver all over. However, in good lighting, you notice a purple sheen which is beautifuly offset by the male's orange-red ventral feelers (the female's are yellow) when in breeding condition. They are more peaceful than three-spots but a little more boisterous than pearls. Sexing juveniles is somewhat tricky but the ratio isn't as important if you are keeping them in a good-size group anyway.

Here's a link with some three-spot pics: http/www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Gouramis,%...ichogasters.htm
Are these like the 'yellow gourami'?

 

[paulthegreat]

Still not sure about the yellow ones since I do not recall their having any spots much less three. If I am going to have to pick one over the rest I would like to have the more colorful Yellows. If they do not get along with the others then the Gourami numbers will have to be limited. As far as raising the offspring that may have to wait since I have the Swordtail project. I do not think I can convince the wife I need a growout tank for Gouramis as well.

P.S. Sylvia; The link did not have any pictures of anything like the yellows I was looking at these were more of a real yellow with some thin silvery type vertical stripes near the back half. I could be remembering wrong though since it was my first time considering Gouramis and I had looked at a lot of different fish that day.

 

[sylvia]

http/kd.mysearch.myway.com/jsp/GGimg.jsp...-lipped+gourami - maybe it was one of these?

3-spots don't actualy have '3' spots. Wild fish (blue color morph) have 2 + the eye (hence the name). Anyway, golds often lack the spots altogther - as do opalines etc.

Thick-lipped gouramies would also make a good choice BTW but only get to about 4" and females are slightly duller.

 

[paulthegreat]

Well I think they did look a bit like the thick lipped gouramis. Next time I go in I will write down the scientific name but they looked the same in form and size as the Pearls just colored differently oh well.

 

[paulthegreat]

I was looking a some Gold(guld) Gouramis(Guramis) at a different store the other day and they may have been the same fish. I think that those that I first looked at were a bit more on the yellow side though. The store I was thinking of buying them from is a bit further away and I can only get there on Saturdays. Hard to say though since I am an American living in Sweden and am not always sure on the naming of the fish over here. Gold=guld and yellow=gul.

 

[sylvia]

I'm leaning more and more towards my orignal suggestion of the gold variant of the three-spot gourami being this mystery fish. If you can't understand the common name (well actualy, you should always do this), note down the scientific name. There's a good reason these are usualy latin - they are the same internationaly. If you find the fish is indeed trichogaster trichopterus (and the exact shade of gold can vary greatly from one strain to the next), like I said to begin with, these are quite aggressive and you should prefferably try to get only females. If you get more than one male, they'll bully each other and, once sexualy mature, may even kill each other. Sexing them is easy as males have a longer, pointed dorsal and appear more streamlined as opposed to the deeper-bodied females that also look considerably wider (when mature) if viewed from above. The color is otherwise exactly the same so you aren't missing out on anything if you only get females. This fish, like I said before, doesn't necessarily have '3 spots' and actualy looks quite similar to a pearl gourami - only completely yellow-gold with some darker markings instead of the lace-like black and white with bright orange and shades of green seen in pearls.

 

[paulthegreat]

Yep definitly gold Gouramis, they also had some Marble ones that looked really nice but no sale since there was a Blackwidow Tetra in the tank that was covered with either Ich or a fungus. They were going to remove the Tetra and treat the tank so I will wait a couple of weeks and then go back and decide. The Golds appeared to be mostly males though

 

[sylvia]

Keep in mind that the marbles are the same species so it's fine to get a mixture if you can't achieve the sex ratios otherwise. Just remember that three-spots can be very aggressive so get only 1 male with several females or, better yet, an all-female group.

 

[paulthegreat]

I was thinking on going all female but, since I do raise Swordies the prospects of raising Gouramis is very tempting. I just do not have a good place for a new growout and having a potential agressive male is not in the cards right now. I will likely go with 3-4 females and if things change later I can always add a male. Besides the Wife is not likely to be pleased if I try to put a tank in one of the kids rooms