Pearl Gourami's With C.habrosus?

[noodles]

I have a nice shoal of 6 habrosus and some black neons in my uk 20g and some oto's. I also have some platies, which to be honest I want to get rid of! they have inbred a bit and are a little bit ropey and are also pretty messy!

So I was thinking of getting rid and replacing with some nice little honey gouramis. However there is a problem in that my wife (and my baby) love looking at the colourful little platies. And she has kicked up a fuss that replacing with honey gourami's would possibly not be colourful or active enough for my boy to watch. So the only other option I have thought is to replace with a bigger fish that is colourful, thinking here 3 spot, angels or pearls. Angels and 3 spots are a no no due to size and agression issues, but the pearl would fit the job and would look pretty good in my set up.

However when it (they) reaches full size is it likely to want to take a bite out of my habrosus? I know they spend most of their time on the bottom and the gourami at the top, but occaisionly the habrosus like to shoal in the midwater which could entice the gourami into making lunch out of them! I have seen some comments on here that neons can be eaten from time to time.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i wouldn't put pearls in a 20g, tanks too small sorry!

 

[noodles]

i wouldn't put pearls in a 20g, tanks too small sorry!

ah! ok then! lets end it there then! Sure I read on other peoples threads though advice to the contrary on that one though?

Any other suggestions aside from the honey's I was originally thinking of?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't just take my word for it, i may be wrong, but my opinion is a 20g is too small for them really

 

[noodles]

don't just take my word for it, i may be wrong, but my opinion is a 20g is too small for them really

Well I will wait for others opinions, but guessing from your quick post you may have experience in keeping them (and from your other posts on here in general) so probably valid!

My whole aim is to keep happy relaxed fish that wont cause each other (or myself) hassle! so even if its marginal then to me its possibly a bad idea!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i've kept other gourami's of a similar size so i'm just judging on my experience with them...... but hey i'm not gonna argue with myself.

i am infallible and know everything

 

[sylvia]

Pearl gouramies are mostly harmless when it comes to other fish. They can display limmited hierarchial aggression and you'll get the occasional aggressive male (I ended up with one particular mass-murderer in one spawn that couldn't stand other gouramies and ended up in a tank on his). Other than these exceptions, hwoever, pearls are one of the most social gouramies. The implication is that, dispite size, they can be put together in a trio, for example, even in a 20 gallon. HOWEVER, it sounds to me like you'd end up overstocked like this though you haven't specified the number of each fish species you already have (could you do that please?).

BTW, many 'dwarf/pygmy' cories like habrosus spend a lot more time in the mid-water levels than the more common species so the mid-water shoaling is typical behaviour.

As an alternative to pearls, have you considered thick-lipped gouramies? They stay around 3.5" and are also more colorful (since you're looking for platy replacements). A trio would do well and should largeley ignore the rest of the fish. The scientific name is Colisa labiosa. They come in a gandful of color morphs and the females have shorter fins and are duller in color - aim for a single male and two females.

On the honey issue - 2 males, 4 females, for example, could be perfect platy replacements. They are not dull fish when it comes to coloration (I'm not sure why you are under that impression) and they come in several color morphs - including red/flame and the wild honey morph.

 

[noodles]

Pearl gouramies are mostly harmless when it comes to other fish. They can display limmited hierarchial aggression and you'll get the occasional aggressive male (I ended up with one particular mass-murderer in one spawn that couldn't stand other gouramies and ended up in a tank on his). Other than these exceptions, hwoever, pearls are one of the most social gouramies. The implication is that, dispite size, they can be put together in a trio, for example, even in a 20 gallon. HOWEVER, it sounds to me like you'd end up overstocked like this though you haven't specified the number of each fish species you already have (could you do that please?).

BTW, many 'dwarf/pygmy' cories like habrosus spend a lot more time in the mid-water levels than the more common species so the mid-water shoaling is typical behaviour.

As an alternative to pearls, have you considered thick-lipped gouramies? They stay around 3.5" and are also more colorful (since you're looking for platy replacements). A trio would do well and should largeley ignore the rest of the fish. The scientific name is Colisa labiosa. They come in a gandful of color morphs and the females have shorter fins and are duller in color - aim for a single male and two females.

On the honey issue - 2 males, 4 females, for example, could be perfect platy replacements. They are not dull fish when it comes to coloration (I'm not sure why you are under that impression) and they come in several color morphs - including red/flame and the wild honey morph.

Thanks for your comments, informative as usual! To pick up on a couple of your points:

I know honey gourami's are very pretty, but my wife sees the jeuvenilles in the lfs and compares them to platies and is not keen! And of course platies being dumb swim openly around all the time, honeys can be more secretive swimmers and by their nature are a bit slower. But I agree they would be my preference!

I did look at the thick lipped gourami's and they do seem to fit the bill between honeys, pearls and platies quite well. Its a good idea worthy of further investigation!

As for my stocking, with the platies in there it would be over stocked imo, unless they go, nothing is going to change! And I also think 3 pearls would tip the balance for stocking for sure. I am close to my limit as it is.

The numbers of my fish are in my signature now but also are:

5 platies (not all adult)
1 oto
6 c.habrosus
3 neon tetra
11 black neons
5 amano shrimp

I will keep on thinking! Knowing my luck the platies will live for years! (not that I would wish a quick death on any fish!)

 

[sylvia]

Yaeh - you would be heavily stocked. You could always just go for a single male though - either thick-lipped or pearl.

 

[noodles]

Yaeh - you would be heavily stocked. You could always just go for a single male though - either thick-lipped or pearl.

Its an idea, we will see.

 

[Zeoth]

Who says Honey Gouramis are slow and secretive. I've got two of them and boy are they fast! All day they chase each other and their reflections and they never hide. But then again it could be i got the hyperactive of the bunch!