29 gal gourami tank

[forrestcook]

I had all sorts of other ideas before about trying angels or cichlids, but while doing my research I have just fallen in love with gouramis. I want very badly to have a nice gourami habitat in my 29 gallon tank. I'd Love to have two dwarfs and two opaline gouramis and I was curious if there would be room left over after that for gold gouramis.

I know the inch per gallon rule is inherently broken, but I figure dwarfs are 4" adults and opalines/golds are 6" adults, so I was thinking that two of each would be awesome. It would put me a little over my limit, but i'll have a 75 gallon filter running through it, along with weekly maintenance.

Or maybe stick with two pairs (opaline has to be one of the pairs) and fill in with some silver tip or bood fin tetras and a BN pleco...

Would this work ou for them? The tank will be lightly planted, with some nice driftwood to hide in. Also, I plan on getting a bigger tank in a year or so... 55gal or so. I don't know how long it takes for gouramis to reach their adult size, so maybe three pairs would work while they're small and juvenile?

Your help is greatly appreciated, I've never kept gouramis before!

[zackish]

I would stick with only 2 pairs...actually only the dwarfs....golds and opalines are pretty big for a 29 gallon. You probably would get away with it though.
Whatever you do, if you are going to go with pairs, just make sure you get 1 male and 1 female for each pair.

[cocoa_pleco]

just get one pair of one species, more may cause trouble.

also you can add some tetras and cory's to the tank

[zackish]

just get one pair of one species, more may cause trouble.

also you can add some tetras and cory's to the tank
That is why I have in my tank along with some rasboras......the only trouble I havein that tank is the 2 gouramis fighting with each other...

[lasm]

What is the inch per gallon rule?

[cocoa_pleco]

some people use 1" of fish per 1g of water. it doesnt work because you cant stick a 10" fish like a oscar in a 10g. it only kinds works with fish 1-2" like tetras, else its crap.

[forrestcook]

well that makes me sad... I suppose it makes sense though that if I wanted several pairs it means i would have several males of different strains... dont want them fighting, after all. So a pair of golds would be too big for a 29? I've been operating off of the recommendations of the liveaquaria website, which said they could be okay... So since I'm only looking at one pair, how's this for a list?

2x Gourami (dwarf or opaline)
6-8x silvertip tetras or bloodfin tetras
1x BN pleco

Then... I suppose I've still got a little room, right? What, if any of the following would be appropriate?

1x red tailed shark (so cool... would love to have one of these, but probably too small of a tank)
1x Cory Catfish (hear they do better in groups though)
1x gold dojo loach
1x betta (long shot I know... probably not)
1x yellow lab cichlid
1x siamese algae eater
1x-2x Topsail Platy

I would like glass catfish, but they supposedly need 5 or more to be happy. What say you with more experience than me?

[Dave66]

You could easily keep a dozen or even two dozen tetras in your 29. Of the possible additions, six of the smaller cories would be perfect. Others, not so much.
The red tail shark would hassle the cories, the cichlid needs hard and alkaline water . . .list goes on.
Dave

[Lady Hobbs]

What is the inch per gallon rule?

It's a stupid rule that is mentioned often on the internet and only applies to small species. I hate that rule and it should not be mentioned as it only tends to confuse. Angelfish, for example, need 10 gallons each. Oscars need at least 55 gallons. Goldfish need several gallons each. There are so many variables to that "rule" that it is really useless.

It only applies to grown fish and small fish.

[Lady Hobbs]

forrestcook, I have had the 3-spot (blue), the gold and the moonlight gouramis. All are a larger variety and all are temperamental. I had one very large lovely moonlight and he was fine and left everything alone until I thought I would be nice to him and get him some 'friends'. Peace never returned to the tank. He was better off alone.

I did fine with the dwarfs but I think I had all one sex. You may try to get all one sex, as well. You can't have a tank of males and toss in a female because we all know what happens there.

[FISHIES1018]

i currently have a 29 gal tank with 5 gourami's in it. i have a paradise, gold, banded, blue and sunset. i had a dwarf but he has recently passed away. As for having all gourami's there are three that are very nice tempered and seem to get along well. then there are two (used to be three) that are very nippy and chase the others; which are the banded and the gold. the gold is the worst and chases anyone who comes near his hiding spot. the dwarf did the same but he didnt chase as much. i want to add some other fish, once i do i will let you know how they get along. (if the gold and banded keep being mean i may have to take them out of the tank)

[MeganL3985]

I did fine with the dwarfs but I think I had all one sex. You may try to get all one sex, as well. You can't have a tank of males and toss in a female because we all know what happens there.

How does one of each sex work out?