Opaline Gourami And Tankmate Stocking Question

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have an opaline gourami (i believe it is a female) in my 125gal main tank. The tank has a varied stocking consisting mostly of common livebearers (like guppys and platys), neons, WCMM, an RTBS, various plecs (two commons and a sailfin, one para plec and a clown plec), cories (albino, peppered and panda), oto's, pearl and leopard danios (check profile for exact numbers).
When i first obtained the gourami earlier this year i kept it away from the main tank in fear that it would be agressive, but the gourami showed a peaceful nature towards other fish in a quarentine tank so i moved it into the main tank, where it has really come to life (before i adopted it, it used to live with two goldfish and a molly, it had bad finrot and poor diet) and seems to thoroughly enjoy living with the other fish .

It competes well for food and is in excellant health and is very friendly and has never caused any problems. I have read mixed reviews on keeping male and female opaline gourami's together, i don't really want to upset the fish so i think i will avoid getting a male; but what about keeping females with females? Do opaline gourami's mix with other species of gourami's?

The tank is quite planted and stacked with very large bogwood and driftwood peices forming a cave network along the bottom of the tank, on the other hand there is no floating plants in the tank and the plants i have havn't really grown taller than 8inches (there are 3 species of plants in the tank, although i don't know what they are, i am getting them to grow over the driftwood but this is a long process as my plants grow quite slowly)- my lfs has never stocked floating plants.
When i have sorted out my tanks stocking (things went decimated a bit by a recent NTD desease outbreak, which has almost been irradicated now), i would like to work on the tank stocking a bit and hopefully get some more gourami's. What do you advise? More opaline gourami's or something else ?

 

[sylvia]

Opaline gouramies are just one of many three-spot gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) color morphs. The other color morphs include lavender, gold, blue, cosby (which is just another name for opaline realy) and platinum.

Three-spot gouramies can be very aggressive towards their own kind and other gouramies but are relatively civil towards other types of fish provided the tank is of a decent size and provided they are not breeding. A group of female three-spot gouramies (regardless of the color morph) in an 125 gallon tank, should also be ok.

Male three-spots are generaly far more aggressive than females though so you need to be certain of your fish' sex before making any decisions. I know you said it's a female - but you said you think it is a female - can you get any pictures so we can decide the sex for certain?

In terms of numbers - the more females you have, the less aggression you'll see because it'll be spread out. You should find that they don't bother any of the other fish anyway - only each other. The other thing to keep in mind is that they should be about the same size as the female you have now but the color doesn't matter (in fact, you may find aggression si less if each female is a different color).

I would suggest adding about 3 (all at once) to prevent the current female turning on the new arrivals and causing some serious damage. With 3, she won't be able to stress any single one too much and, eventualy, they'll all settle down and the new hierarchy will be established relatively peacefuly. I you have room to add more (I didn't check the number of fish you have already), then you may do so - just make shure you add them 2 or 3 at a time for the reason mentioned above (so aggression is split). The minnimum number to add would be 2. If you only add 1, you'll have trouble as one will end up dominating the other.

If you want to add a different species of gourami, there are a few 'safe' options to try. One of those is the moonlight gourami (Trichogaster microlepis) which is often unfortunately over-looked because it doesn't have any of the very bright coloration that others in the genus posess. However, you would find that the silver coloring is very ncie in a well-lit tank and often has a lilac tinge. Also, mature males have bright orange-red ventral fins and the female's ventral fins are bright yellow. Both colors beautifuly contrast with the purple-silver body color. Because these fish grow to 7" at least, they can hold their own against three-spots. they are, however, quite peaceful themselves. You could keep a trio (1 male, 2 females) comfortably. But you could also just go for a random large group (say 5 or so) - it wouldn't make much difference realy.

The other species that would handle aggression well is the kissing gourami (Helostoma temmincki). The downside to these fish is that they grow large (often 8" - mroe than that is common - even up to 11") and can therefore pose a threat for small fish (which they'll eat). Also, they can't be sexed visualy and can be quite aggressive towards each other (though that shouldn't be an issue in a tank that size). Finaly, they'll pretty much dessimate softer plants so they need to be fed a veggie-rich diet. Other than that, they are active, entertaining and attractive fish that would be a great gourami for a large tank like yours.

Because of your tank's size, I'd also feel relatively comfortable adding some of the more peaceful and smaller species of gourami (but they need to be fully or near-fully grown). Pearl gouramies (Trichogaster leeri) are by far my favourite and should manage fine with a single female three-spot provided they are, themselves, in a good-sized group. With pearls sex ratios matter less but 2 or mroe females per male is the ideal. They can be sexed the same way as three-spots but matrue males also develop a wonderful orange ventral color and has extended fin rays (hence the otehr common name - lace gourami). I'd keep 5-7 of these with a tank that size at my disposal. You should find they display something similar to schooling behaviour if kept in this size group and in that size tank. Pearls grow to about 4-5", with males being slightly larger. Keep in mind that I don't know how many of everything you have in your tank - so do make shure you don't over-stock when you add any gouramies.

Similarly, you could try some banded gouramies (Colisa fasciata) which are almost as peacefula s pearl gouramies and stay at 4" max. Males are mroe colorful than females - in fact, these fish look like voer-grown dwarf gouramies (and their other common name reflects this - giant gourami - take care not to confuse these fish with the true giants - the Osphronemus gouramies - which grow to 24-30" depending on teh species!). Again, it would be best to go for a relatively large group - this time more to spread out aggression from the three-spot as bandeds won't socialise quite like pearls do.

All the gouramies I've mentioned so far preffer the upper water layers in the tank so will compete with the three-spot and danios for space. There are alternatvie species that'll stay lower down - things like croaking gouramies or spiketailed paradisefish. These fish are smaller than those I've already mentioned and generaly more peaceful. My personal opinion is that they would not look as good in a 125 gallon as any of the above species because they'll kind of be 'lost'. If the tank were dedicated to them, it would be a different story - but as things stand, I think you should stick with one of the top-dwelling gouramies.

You mentioned you don't have any tall plants - that is actualy rather important for gouramies so I'd suggest you either find some floating plants or get some faster growing, taller plants. I strongly reccomend Hygrophyla species - especialy polysperma and corymbosa. These don't need any extra care and grow amazingly fast. There are also plenty of different varieties to choose from - some of which produce beautiful little flowers when they emerge above the water.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thanks for all the great informative info sylvia !
Hmm...This certainly adds another perspective to things...What i aim for most in my main tank is a peaceful community, i try to limit agression as much as posible and so far this has been quite successful. So, basically, you advise creating a more gourami-friendly environment (by adding taller growing plants) before adding anymore gourami's?
The tank is 2ft high, so any tall plants will need to grow really tall for them to make much impact on the upper levels of the tank- i need hardy plants that don't require strong fertilisers or really strong lighting or anything like that and don't mind being uprooted every now and then (i do uproot the plants growing in the sand substrate every now and then as i keep the substrate very clean, the current plants i have though don't mind this and are healthy). I do add Flora Boost though by Interpet to the tank once a month or so, but i prefer to have low maintanence plants overal.
These are the plants you advise;

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Plantdir/hyg-poly.htm

http/www.lifeforceonline.co.uk/tropical_...product176.html

Will they both be ok growing in fine white silica sand substrate ?

 

[sylvia]

Yep, those are the plants except I've never kept that particular corymbosa variety. the one I have is: http/species.fishindex.com/plant_83.html (Hygrophila corymbosa 'stricta').

They do grow remarkably quickly and are extremely hardy. like you, I don't add anything to my tanks for the sake of the plants - no CO2, no extra lighting, no special substrates or fertilisers. Normaly, plants just die on me But these Hygrophila species are amazing! They should do fine in your tank

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Sorry i took a while, but i got some pics of the gourami just before lights out ;

Is this a female ?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Meh? Male or female?

 

[sylvia]

Haven't replied in a while (obviously) because my internet died Sorry about that. Unfortunately, I can't realy see the dorsal in the pics clearly but, at least from what i can see and the body shape, that is a female like you suggested