Will A Male Blue Mix With Platys And Tetras?

[starsatnight]

i have a 25G tank now that has 3 blues (2m/1f). i meant to get 2 females, but obviously neither myself or the store keeper could sex gouramis at the time.

i have just cycled a new 25G tank and i intend to keep red coral platy's, silver tipped tetras and a few zebra loaches (eventually). i would like to move one of my male blues over to the new tank (to stop the nightly aggressive behaviour towards each other) and am wondering if he will tone down his aggression as he won't have any other gouramis to mix with.

does anyone have any experience or suggestions about this? thanks!

 

[hollyp0p]

i have a 25G tank now that has 3 blues (2m/1f). i meant to get 2 females, but obviously neither myself or the store keeper could sex gouramis at the time.

i have just cycled a new 25G tank and i intend to keep red coral platy's, silver tipped tetras and a few zebra loaches (eventually). i would like to move one of my male blues over to the new tank (to stop the nightly aggressive behaviour towards each other) and am wondering if he will tone down his aggression as he won't have any other gouramis to mix with.

does anyone have any experience or suggestions about this? thanks!

sexing them is to do with the fin shapes i do believe!

 

[starsatnight]

sexing them is to do with the fin shapes i do believe!

thanks... i can sex them now, it's very easy once you know what you're looking for! at the time i didn't know how to sex them and hoped the LFS could....

i am looking for feedback from anyone who has kept a single male gourami in an otherwise peaceful community tank.... does this work, or am i looking for trouble....

 

[Biulu]

Gouramis are territorial towards their own kind, but mostly do not bother other fish. I have kept successfully gouramis with tetras (neons, serpaes, red eyes).

Is your tank planted? And does it have enough hiding places? Gouramis need to be able to delimit their territory. 25 gallons should be enough for 3 dwarfs (I assume they are dwarfs, since you are saying that they are easy to sex, or are they blue opalines?). If they are opalines, don't choose tetra species that are too small, as they might become snacks for the gourami.

If you are introducing one gourami into a new tank, I suggest you introduce him last, so he does not consider the whole tank his. He will know from the start that he is 'sharing' and this will make it easier to accept other fish in his territory. In all cases, make sure you have your plants (can be fake if you are not into plants) and hiding places like rocks, wood, ornaments etc.

Good luck!

 

[starsatnight]

hi biulu - thanks for the answer! the gourami is an opaline (i'm pretty sure) - but i bought it as a blue 3-spot.... sometimes it's a 3-spot & sometimes it's an opaline... they're very odd!

i like the suggestion of introducing the male gourami after the other fish had been established in the tank. i want to get some blue tetras, some silver-tipped tetras and more platys for that tank. more of a smaller variety of active shoaling/community fish. and i do have lots and lots of plastic plants, rocks and bog wood. it's quite nice actually!

 

[Biulu]

hi biulu - thanks for the answer! the gourami is an opaline (i'm pretty sure) - but i bought it as a blue 3-spot.... sometimes it's a 3-spot & sometimes it's an opaline... they're very odd!

These 2 names are used for the same fish. They come in different colours by the way, like orange/yellowish and albino.

It is good you are separating them, as for opalines you really need 10 gallons/fish. So a 25 gallon tank is smallish for 3 of these fish.

Good luck!