Keeping Gourami Alone?

[SJ2K]

Hey, thinking of adding 1 dwarf gourami to my community set up in the near future and was wondering if they'll be ok on there own? I know they do better in groups but does this rule out a single one in the tank all together?

 

[madgap]

I'm just pondering this, so.... Imagine fish looking at keeping a man on his own in a cage of monkeys. I can only imagine that one fish type to another is as monkey to man. It just wouldn't be ethical for the fish's wellbeing.
I mentioned in an earlier post about a pairof gourami I had for a long time. When he died she only lived for a couple of days afterwards. They become attached to one another. So it is my opinion that to keep just one would be cruel.

 

[SJ2K]

Point taken so with this is mind, would it be a bad idea to keep a pair in a tank thats only 80L?

 

[madgap]

Others will probably say not. But personally, I would. if thats what sized tank I had I would keep a pair with maybe five peppered cory. Plenty of plants and things for them to move between. I believe these fish have a level of inteligence and a bleak tank would break their spirit.

 

[SJ2K]

Ok ta, ill bare all this in mind

 

[Biulu]

You better not keep gouramis in pairs, as the male will hassle the female too much. It is recommended to have a trio. 80 litres should be fine for a trio, provided that you have enough hiding places in the form of plants, caves etc.

 

[SJ2K]

You better not keep gouramis in pairs, as the male will hassle the female too much. It is recommended to have a trio. 80 litres should be fine for a trio, provided that you have enough hiding places in the form of plants, caves etc.

What about 2 females?

 

[Biulu]

If your tank is big enough for 2 gouramis, it shouldn't be a problem. There will always be a dominant female though, so make sure you do have the plants and the hiding places. Most people do not prefer females though, as they are considerably less colourful than the males.

 

[SJ2K]

Lol, cant win, bloody gourami, probly wont get one then. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Gouramis are not schooling fish, don't know where you get that from. Natural behaviour for a gourami is for a male to establish a territory, into which he may let females enter but not another male. From this it follows that a single male will not be lonely. It is pointless to compare territorial animals like gouramis to flock livers like monkeys and humans (or tetras, for that matter), that's just bad science. Fish are as diverse in behaviour as mammals.
It is true that if you insist on keeping several male gouramis then you need to keep them in such a large group as to make it impossible for them to establish a territory. But why this preventing of natural behaviour should be considered kinder than letting them get on the way they'd normally do I really don't see.

 

[SJ2K]

Wa hey i like that response made sense to me but wasnt about to dispute more experienced people's understanding of the fish baring this is mind I may get a single male after all. Thanks!

 

[screamingdonkey]

Gouramis are not schooling fish, don't know where you get that from. Natural behaviour for a gourami is for a male to establish a territory, into which he may let females enter but not another male. From this it follows that a single male will not be lonely. It is pointless to compare territorial animals like gouramis to flock livers like monkeys and humans (or tetras, for that matter), that's just bad science. Fish are as diverse in behaviour as mammals.
It is true that if you insist on keeping several male gouramis then you need to keep them in such a large group as to make it impossible for them to establish a territory. But why this preventing of natural behaviour should be considered kinder than letting them get on the way they'd normally do I really don't see.

Agree whole-heartedly with everything said in this post
And from experience I know that two males do NOT get on with each other