Platy & Dwarf Gourami

[Bojangles]

Will these two mix well together?

Really wanted a small shole of tetra but my LFS only has black widow tetra and i dont really like them so i might go for a few platy's instead

 

[kcharley]

Will these two mix well together?

Really wanted a small shole of tetra but my LFS only has black widow tetra and i dont really like them so i might go for a few platy's instead

I'm guessing the answer depends on quantities of each.

My recent experience with 2 Opaline Gouramis, 3 Platys and 5 Blue Tetras hasn't gone real well. While there was no fighting inter-species the high activity level of the Gouramis and Tetras combined with one Gourami bullying the other and one tetra bullying the others resulted IMO in two platy deaths. Basically they were intimidated and outcompeted for food.

Gouramis are known for bullying each other so we have re-homed one of the gouramis. The bully tetra was returned to the LFS and exchanged plus we bought two more. My wife really likes the sunset platys so we bought three more picking the largest ones they had.

It is too early to tell but this combination looks to be better. The lone gourami is still very active but leaves the other fish alone. The larger group of tetras minus the bully is now shoaling. The platys are active also with no clamped fins (so far).

So back to your question, I think it depends on your combination. I wouldn't expect two or three young platys to do real well with two gouramis. If you really want two gouramis maybe get the gouramis first and see how they get along before adding the platys. That would give you time to see if you could adjust the tank plants and/or decorations to minimize the gourami bullying. Good luck.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you'll find a lot of conflicting nfo on this basically because gourami's are one of those fish that each one will have their own personality and temprement. if the DG's you get are peaceful then no problem they'd be fine with platy's. If you get an agressive DG however then the platy is a similar enough shape and size to be considered a threat and all hell will break loose.

now i wouldn't be too concerned about this though because I would strongly warn you away from dwarf gourami's anyway. There's a specific virus which only DG's get and because of this they're nearly impossible to keep alive. they may be fine for a few months but then they just keel over and there's nothing you can do, i've tried to keepo them several times with no joy and have just given up and I know a significant number of other aquarists who have done the same.

at any rate they are definately not hardy enough for a newly cycled tank.

 

[malakye]

I have 6 dwarf gourami's and 9 platies in my tank and they all get on well, the platys dont really mix with the gouramis or vice versa. I have 3 female gourami's one male and 2 youngsters who I am not sure about yet which I think makes it easier as males would fight