Is It Ok For Different Gouramis To Be Mixed?

[WhatTheJack]

Is it OK for different gouramis to be mixed?

Like Pearls with the more aggressive blue ones?

 

[Reesy1989]

Yes and No im afraid there is no definate answer for me, many people will argue over it but simply it has been done some succesfully and some very unsuccesfully.

You always have the potential for a territorial fight male or female? Depending on the personality of the fish they could be docile and not care at all that other gouramis are in its territory.
On the other hand both sets of fish could have aggressive personalities and they could go crazy at eachother being in the tank? It can really go either way.

Do you have one pair of gouramis at the moment? If you are going to try it there are a couple of things you can do to help the situation.

PM me if you need more help.

Reesy

 

[Littlemonkey]

I'm with Reesy1989 on this. I think that as long as you stick to 1 male 2 females of the same size variety, lots of planting and Hidey holes, you may be OK. I have two Female moonlights and 1 male opaline, he chases them just after feeding then he goes to his area near the vallis and the females have their own area, they do all swim around together on other occasions. It may not work however with all types, maybe I've just got lucky with this combo.

 

[WhatTheJack]

Well, I already have one female and one male pearl gourami. I'm planning on removing all the old fish except for them and a swordtail and getting loads of different kinds of gouramis and a bit of angelfish. I'll be getting a bristlenose pleco tommorow. I want to add a pair or trio of each type of gourami. There are practically no hideouts except for thin crevices about 1/2 to 1 inch tall and 2 inches wide.

Opaline Gourami
Gold Gourami
These are just two types I will be getting if I can


Thanks Anyway

 

[Littlemonkey]

I think you really need to address the hide out situ, ie plants etc or you could end up with either very tatty fins or worse death.

 

[Reesy1989]

LittleMonkey is right, Gouramis can get aggressive towrads their own kind and if they do then the victim needs a place to hide and rest and calm down in.

If you do not have any places for the fish to get away from its aggressor then you will end up with a fish with tatty fins and very stressed, this will end up in death. I suggest putting off buying any more gouramis untill the hiding places are sorted.

They dont have to cost much? Half a Coconut overturned are quite common, you can put tubes in there or rocks so the fish can have somewhere to destress. Also the more plants that there are in the tank the better. This will break up the line of sight for the aggressive fish which means he will not be able to see the victim fish so they will fight less.

Also when you go to put new gouramis in make sure that you move your tank around, move and replace plants, do a large water change, basically make it so that the fish feels he is in a new territory so he will be less agressive as the new fish will not be impossing on his established territory.

There will alway however be fighting as there must be a dominant fish?

Good luck.

 

[crazychris]

All depends on the temperament of the fish really. It's worked in the past for me and other times it hasn't. I found the pearls to be more peaceful and so ended up the ones getting bullied, even by a newcomer when I'd had them in the tank first! I have a big 4" male opaline now and he doesn't bother any other fish and is very peaceful. He wont tolerate any other gourami of any kind, male or female in the tank though. Goes mental, and chases and attacks them relentlessly so I just have him now. Not worth the hassle. Males tend to be more aggressive I've found but you get aggressive females too. If you look at a tank of gouramis, same species or mixed, in the lfs, you'll see chasing happening.

All you can do is try a pair of opaline or gold and see what happens. How big are your pearls? Are they small or fully grown?

 

[WhatTheJack]

All depends on the temperament of the fish really. It's worked in the past for me and other times it hasn't. I found the pearls to be more peaceful and so ended up the ones getting bullied, even by a newcomer when I'd had them in the tank first! I have a big 4" male opaline now and he doesn't bother any other fish and is very peaceful. He wont tolerate any other gourami of any kind, male or female in the tank though. Goes mental, and chases and attacks them relentlessly so I just have him now. Not worth the hassle. Males tend to be more aggressive I've found but you get aggressive females too. If you look at a tank of gouramis, same species or mixed, in the lfs, you'll see chasing happening.

All you can do is try a pair of opaline or gold and see what happens. How big are your pearls? Are they small or fully grown?

Fully grown, abouy max size