Hi all
First post here. Seems like a very friendly forum. I’m Just getting back into fish keeping after years away. I’m in the process of setting up a 90 litre tropical community tank. I don’t have any experience with tropical fish as I always used to keep fancy goldfish.
I've searched for other threads on Gouramis, but unless I'm not looking hard enough I haven't found anything that really deals with my specific situation and questions below. Please feel free to point me in the right direction if this has all been covered before.
The tank set-up is an Aqua-One kit – external dual compartment filter, filled with ceramic, sponge, wool and phosphate remover. “Phosphate remover??” I hear you ask! Well yes, the phosphate level in the tap water here is sky high believe it or not. I’ve been trying to figure why all the starter fish I’ve been adding to the aquarium over the past few months have been dying after a couple of days. After a lot of head scratching and talking to the local fish dealer I tested for phosphate and found that was the cause. But that’s not what I want advice on as all that’s sorted now (just giving you some background).
The tank is reasonably heavily planted with Java ferns and fake plants. Bogwood for the decor. Temperature is constant - hovers in the middle between 24 and 25 C.
The tank has been set up for two weeks now (today is 20th November), with 5 White Cloud Mountain Minnow added after one week. I’ll be getting 3 or 4 Red Platties this coming weekend. Then some Corys the weekend after that.
After that I want to get Gouramis. The obvious choice of which sort, considering the small size of my tank, would seem to be the Dwarfs. However I’m worried about getting these due to their apparent aggressive behaviour. I’m worried about getting Blues due to their large(ish) size compared to my aquarium.
So now for my questions:
1) What sort of combination/number/type of Gouramis do you think I could successfully go for, given the size of my 2-foot tank? For example should I just go for a single Blue perhaps?
2) How many weeks after I get the Corys should I start adding them, and at what rate? (I will be getting the Corys 4 weeks after fist setting up the tank and 3 weeks after getting the fist fish in there).
I want to get it just right for the Gouramis (and the others of course) and not end up with bullied, or even dead, fish.
All suggestions and any other tips greatly appreciated!
Cheers
First post here. Seems like a very friendly forum. I’m Just getting back into fish keeping after years away. I’m in the process of setting up a 90 litre tropical community tank. I don’t have any experience with tropical fish as I always used to keep fancy goldfish.
I've searched for other threads on Gouramis, but unless I'm not looking hard enough I haven't found anything that really deals with my specific situation and questions below. Please feel free to point me in the right direction if this has all been covered before.
The tank set-up is an Aqua-One kit – external dual compartment filter, filled with ceramic, sponge, wool and phosphate remover. “Phosphate remover??” I hear you ask! Well yes, the phosphate level in the tap water here is sky high believe it or not. I’ve been trying to figure why all the starter fish I’ve been adding to the aquarium over the past few months have been dying after a couple of days. After a lot of head scratching and talking to the local fish dealer I tested for phosphate and found that was the cause. But that’s not what I want advice on as all that’s sorted now (just giving you some background).
The tank is reasonably heavily planted with Java ferns and fake plants. Bogwood for the decor. Temperature is constant - hovers in the middle between 24 and 25 C.
The tank has been set up for two weeks now (today is 20th November), with 5 White Cloud Mountain Minnow added after one week. I’ll be getting 3 or 4 Red Platties this coming weekend. Then some Corys the weekend after that.
After that I want to get Gouramis. The obvious choice of which sort, considering the small size of my tank, would seem to be the Dwarfs. However I’m worried about getting these due to their apparent aggressive behaviour. I’m worried about getting Blues due to their large(ish) size compared to my aquarium.
So now for my questions:
1) What sort of combination/number/type of Gouramis do you think I could successfully go for, given the size of my 2-foot tank? For example should I just go for a single Blue perhaps?
2) How many weeks after I get the Corys should I start adding them, and at what rate? (I will be getting the Corys 4 weeks after fist setting up the tank and 3 weeks after getting the fist fish in there).
I want to get it just right for the Gouramis (and the others of course) and not end up with bullied, or even dead, fish.
All suggestions and any other tips greatly appreciated!
Cheers
