Question about male/females

[roadrunner]

I have had one powder blue gourami for a year. I believe it is a male because he has a longer pointed fin. I would like to add another gourami but I am not sure if I can add another male or if it must be female. Perhaps it makes no difference at all....I don't know.

I have searched the forum but it only produces results that aren't specific to my question so forgive me if this has been answered before.

Thanks!

[gadget228]

A lot of it depends on the size of your tank, some gourami are very territorial and need a lot of room. If you have a male then one to two females is what you want. For 2 gourami a 55 gallon minimum, with 3 a 75 gallon, either tank should have plenty of hiding places.

[roadrunner]

Thanks! I have a 46 gallon tank. Can anyone tell me for sure if this is a male?

[rich311k]

That looks like a female to me, the dorsal fin would be longer and more pointed. I would just stick with one if I were you.

[roadrunner]

Thanks.. One more question...what would be good tank mates for her?

[rich311k]

What is in the tank now?

[roadrunner]

I have the gourami, a suckerfish, and 5 very small neon tetras.

[rich311k]

You could keep any smaller schooling fish with her, Just avoid nippers like serpae tetras or tiger barbs. A big school of a medium size tetra, red eyes or lemons and group of corys would be nice. Do you have a photo of the sucker fish? Is it a common pleco?

[roadrunner]

Attached is a picture. He is a common pleco and is quite large (inside the tree to the right of the arrow). You can also see the size of the neon tetras in the background. Sorry for the quality of the photo....I used my phone to snap the shot.

This tank used to house orandas but I lost the last one a while back and transferred the gourami into their tank because it is larger. How many would you consider to be a large school?

This is all new to me because my main tanks (I have 2 currently since shutting down the gourami's old tank) house goldfish. Goldfish are so easy and I just want to make sure that I don't make any mistakes with this tank by adding the wrong fish.

[rich311k]

8-12 tetras and 6-10 corys would be fine, The teras would depend on the species you choose.

You do know that pleco is going to need a bigger home.

[roadrunner]

The only other tank I have right now is a 55 gallon that has a pleco about half his size and two 4 inch goldfish. I got the pleco when he was tiny and have had him for about three years. In the past he was really a pain in the rear and he didn't like the goldfish at all. He seems very happy since I moved the gourami in and is out an about most often now. In the past he always hid most of the time. I don't really have anywhere else to put him unless I move him into the 55 gallon (but I assume that you are meaning larger than that too?) I moved him once before (he was originally in a 30 gallon when I purchased him) and he gave me a lot of problems when I tried moving him with trying to jump out of the water!

My goal is to get down to one tank, buy a larger tank and switch everyone to it.

Thanks for the advice on the types of fish. I will take a trip up to the pet store and see if they have any of those fish available. You've been a big help!

[gadget228]

+1 on your gourami is a female. Common pleco's can get as big as two feet and you would need a tank in the 120+ range for him.