kissers, Blue and Pearls

[wrs]

Would it be okay to keep kissers with Blue and Pearls in a 55 gallon tank?

 

[sylvia]

How many of each, what sexes are the blues and pearls and what other fish are in the tank?
Also, if the tank is planted, be prepaired for kissing gouramies to munch on a lot of the greens.

 

[wrs]

I am not sure yet. It was to be in my 55 with a female blue, and we were going to buy a pear and a kisser, but now I am thinking something else.

See, I have a cichlid tank, but my lfs no longer carries Mbuna, petco doesnt either, and Petsmart does, but they only have 3 types, kenyii, aurtus and zebras. I already have 7 zebra, one male and 6 girls, and I cant find any other types, so I may be moving them, then I would have a free 55, but it would have some other fish from a diffrent tank that I would move the zebras to, like angel fish, which actually is basically all that is in the other tank.

There are 2 ottos, and 3 corries, but you never see them. And there would be plants in this tank. If I can find one of the greenish ones though, it will go into the other 55 with

1 female blue gourami
6 black skirt tetras
2 krib pairs
6 random small catfish, corries, dwarf plecos and a mystus cat

 

[sylvia]

So probably you would be adding a single kisser and one pearl to a tank already containing a female blue? That should be fine in a 55 as long as you re-arange a little of the tank decor beforehand. However, if you are going to go with the angel plan, skip the kisser and, prefferably, the pearl as well. Because of the kisser's size (8"), they take up a lot more of the territory angels need so you get problems with territoriality/aggression. Pearls are usualy ok but they have long fins that can get nipped easily and are sometimes tempting to angels when in a more cramped environment with other gouramies - basicaly because blue gouramies (and kissers too) usualy dominate the more peaceful pearls, it is the pearls that are usualy forced to deal with the angels so they are also more likely to be attacked - being that they are also the ones with the most fragile fins, this makes them somewhat vulnerable under these kind of circumstances. Also keep in mind that black skirt/widow tetras have been known to nip so, again, pearls with these guys may not work out (sometimes it does though). If you do go with the angel thing, you can still add gouramies - maybe get a female of each of the three-spot color morphs. Females only because they are least aggressive and one of each color because the different morphs tend to leave each other alone more and are less likely to fight between each other. Also remmber what I said about kissers and plants. Realy what you do is up to you but I hope what little information I have offered helps you make the right decision.

 

[wrs]

I had a female gold CJ, that chased the blue female, but I think that was because of the 10 gallon size.

I will skip the kissers then.

Now if I had one pearl with the tiny angels, penny and quater sized, how long would they be able to live together before one fish would need to be removed?

 

[sylvia]

Well that depends. You may not even have to. Once the angels get to about 4", you will be getting to the critical stage. At this point, if they begin pairing up and you eventualy are left with 4 (or less) adults in a 55 gallon (doesn't matter how many 1.5" angels you start with as long as you end up with 4 or less - return the rest if necessary), you may still be able to keep a pearl gourami and your blue with them and not have problems (or just the pearl if that's what you want). However, if you get more than 4 angels, the tank starts getting crowded and then keeping the pearl with them could be problematic. BTW, you shouldn't have more than 6 angels in the 55 anyway so keep that in mind. Another possibility is that the particular fish you have simply won't get along - gouramies are like that - they are very individual - so sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Another factor is that if the pearl gourami has a chance to grow and establish its own territory (a male would have a better chance at this than a female), it will be able to defend itself against the adult angels so, again, a pearl and 4 or less angels could work.

 

[wrs]

I only have the three angels.