I Am Thinking Of Getting A Pearl Gourami

[smmetz]

As the thread title/description say, I am thinking of getting a Pearl Gourami for my 20 gallon tank. It currently has 7 male platys and 1 BN plec in it.

The tank also has 3 neons left, but they are the remainders of a larger school that was hit with NTD, and they are starting to show signs of it also. Therefore, the neons are going to be moved to a quarentine tank so that any secondary problems they might get do not spread while NTD takes its course. I'll try my best to make my 10 gallon quarentine tank a nice home for them, but don't want to get them more neon buddies since the new ones would just be exposed to NTD also. (the neons had it rough in this tank until I figured out I was poisoning them with amonia with every water change due to chloromine in the water at work, where this tank is)

Anyway, sorry to get sidetracked. The tank is over-filtered, and my maintenance schedule will keep nitrates down to 20 or below. Here are my questions:

do you think platys will nip the pearl gourami?

is a 20 gallon is considered large enough for a pearl gourami? (12x24x16 tank, not a 20 long).

is a pearl gourami OK by itself? (with no other pearl gourami I mean)


I just want a nice "center piece" kind of fish for this tank, and the pearl gourami seems to fit that role well.

 

[Majjie]

I think one pearl gourami would be ok - as long as it was a male. I believe females are more sociable. (I currently have three pearl gouramis in a 20 gal - but they're still young and won't be in there permanently).

Male platys are definitely ok - I have them with mine. One of the gouramis chases the platys at feeding time - but they don't seem to mind - and they don't bother the gouramis. (They're too busy trying to have sex with each other )

Don't know anything about plecs, sorry.

If you wanted a couple more fish - to keep your neons company in the 10 gal (if they recover) - you could get some cardinals. They are much less susceptible to NTD. I have a mixed group of cardinals and neons - for the same reason.

 

[sylvia]

I agree with the above and just wanted to add that the plec would be fine.