gouramis for 1st time gourami owner???

[Ark6ie]

im interested in getting some gouramis and was wondering what type should i start off with??? my tank is 2 ft by 2 ft by 1 ft thanx

[MeganL3985]

Someone told me not to get kissing gouramis b/c they're mean to one another, but the dwarfs are okay? I have no idea though....I am interested in gouramis also...so it'll be nice to hear some other opinions :)

[cocoa_pleco]

??? i had a pair of kissing gouramis and they loved eachother! arkie, if you dont want those try honey gouramis, theyre small and sweet. also, i have a large silver pearl gourami and hes very peaceful (see my pics under the general forum, hes there)

[MeganL3985]

That was told to me by a girl I know who works at petsmart, but IMO....her opinions don't count....i'd be fightin with some people too if I was way overstocked, smushed together for sale too. lol...

[Ark6ie]

my 5 yr old actually was asking bout "those pink fish that kiss????" im likely to see some other sort of gourami and get that instead. was interested in the honey sunset (is that what its called?) ive gone through so many different new fish ideas lately i want one of everything!!!! im going to need a good dose of retail therapy tomorrow

[zackish]

Any dwarf gourami, however I will say I would only have a couple and if you do MAKE SURE, it is 1 male and 1 female.
I currently have 2 males and one of them likes to pick on the other A LOT. I will be getting rid of one of them shortly and see how they do alone.

[Ark6ie]

is it easy to tell the difference between boys and girls????

[MeganL3985]

Oh I feel ya on the many fish ideas.....i've got an empty 29 gal just screaming to be set up....so i'm doing some research on different things. So far in the running are Dwarf Gouramis, Dwarf Puffers, Killi's (If I can find any), or a few other choices....lol

[cocoa_pleco]

my killies are NO work, all that "theyre sensitive eaters" stuff is BS. mine eat anything. puffers are species only, but theyre cool, i miss mine.

[MeganL3985]

is it easy to tell the difference between boys and girls????

Apparently from what i've read its easy to tell between male and female with the gouramis. Females have rounder bellies, the dorsal fin is rounded and the colors are more muted than males. Males are more slender, have a "sharper" shaped dorsal fin and have bright colors.

Here's an article--
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/fishqa/f/faq2060.htm

[zackish]

Apparently from what i've read its easy to tell between male and female with the gouramis. Females have rounder bellies, the dorsal fin is rounded and the colors are more muted than males. Males are more slender, have a "sharper" shaped dorsal fin and have bright colors.

Here's an article--
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/fishqa/f/faq2060.htm

Megan is exactly right. I would say the dorsal fin is the easiest to distinguish though.
A side note from this topic to megan. I read above how you are thinking about gouramis for your 29 but I would seriously reconsider. This is only a biased opinion because of my experience with gouramis but I have not had a good one. I hear if they are in groups of like 5 they are fine but I know with 2 they are not that great. Granted mine are both males may be my problem but I have also read a male can pick on a female just as much and may have to be removed.

[Ark6ie]

oh and can you keep any other species with them? e.g tetras, bristlenose and the like??? maybe a lil loach or two????

[MeganL3985]

If you go into the "Tank Setup" section on here, there are compatibility charts, it'll give you a whole bunch of "possible" tankmates. :) I've found them very helpful!

[cocoa_pleco]

i had mine in a planted 20g with-

3 albino corys
flying fox
banded loach
betta
2 platys
2 baby angels
a few tetras
10 white clouds
black shark
golden ram
ghost shrimp
im sure there were more. filtration was a fluval 205 canister

[Ark6ie]

sounds like exactly what im looking for in a fish lol thumbs2:

[MeganL3985]

All of them in there at one time or at different periods of time?

[tropfish]

i have a gold gourami in my 29 thats getting moved to the ten as soon as i give away the goldfish. He's on the larger side, they get to 5" but hes a cool fish with really nice colors.

[zackish]

i have a gold gourami in my 29 thats getting moved to the ten as soon as i give away the goldfish. He's on the larger side, they get to 5" but hes a cool fish with really nice colors.

You don't think a 10 is too small for him?

[tropfish]

i was debating that and i think he'll be ok. he'll only be with 2 danios. its either that or have him get attacked by the cichlids. He's fine now that they're small but when then get larger i dunno if he'll be able to stay in the 29.

btw i got him when he was about a year old and he used to live in a 10g. I rescued him really. The tank was barely ever cleaned so he has some gill damage from ammonia burn. He's recovering slowly and i've had him for 2 months and his breathing is getting better. He spends alot less time at the top sucking air now.

[Migforce]

Gouramis go very well with most non-aggressive fish. I have gouramis in my 30 gal. tank with zebra danios, corys, black neon and cardinal tetras and they seem to be very happy. I have four gouramis total; two are blue a.k.a."three spot" gouramis, and two dwarfs of different color (one red and one blue and red stripes). At this point they don't fight with each other, that being said they did split the tank into territories and each pretty much stays at their own spot in the tank. It should be noted that gouramis of different species ignore each other and swim tofether peacefully. Blue Gouramis occasionally (very rarely) chase each other briefly. Some people are known to have a bad experience with the male blue gourami fights. IMO to be on the safe side if you are gonna get gouramis get one of each species and you will be OK.

[MeganL3985]

Gouramis dont fight with other gouramis of a different species?

[zackish]

I think they would megan. Just like they are more likely to fight with a betta or something. Even 2 different types of gouramis are still genereally the same fish. I.E. they are both labrinth breathers, etc. etc. And they fight as it is if they are the same species.

[MeganL3985]

Thats what I was thinking too......but I know nothing about gouramis so I value everyones experiences and information. Who knows...I think with anything it just depends on the individual fish, not so much the species. But like I said, who knows! lol :)

[zackish]

Thats what I was thinking too......but I know nothing about gouramis so I value everyones experiences and information. Who knows...I think with anything it just depends on the individual fish, not so much the species. But like I said, who knows! lol :)

Ya to a certain extent I can agree on that. I have heard in many instances bettas in a community tank being a hit or miss.

[Ark6ie]

went looking at gouramis today and i like the look of them but have decided to do a bit more research before i purchase any

[cocoa_pleco]

All of them in there at one time or at different periods of time?


all at one time. it was EXTREMELY planted and had a fluval 205 canister, so there were always good conditions. most of the fish were adolescent so that was just a growout tank. they all went to the 55g and the tank remained empty until now so im planting it

[Rocky06fx4]

Just to clarify what size tank you should have for Dwarf Gouramis and what they are compatible with I found this site.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/gouramis/dwarf_gouramis.htm

Appropriate home. Eventually an aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a BIO-Wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel, and an aquarium heater adjusted to between 68 and 82 degrees F. Click here for more about warm water aquariums.

Compatibility. This species enjoys each other's company. There are several color varieties and you should mix and match a group with at least three males and about twice as many females.

Dwarf Gouramis are compatible with all Danios, White Clouds, all Rainbows, a school of Clown Loaches, and a school of Bala Sharks.
Often seen in aquariums with Angel Fish, Bigger Tetras, and livebearers such as Platies, Mollies, and Swordtails

Even goes on to talk about there life span.

[squirt_12]

Well whatever you do do not go with the kissing gourami because your tank is not big enough for them.
A kissing gourami can grow up to be 30cm long meaning that the tank would have to be really big for him or her to move around in.....so the kissing gourami would be a bad choice.
Also....2 species of gouramis will get along without fighting. I have a kissing gourami (giving away soon) and 2 female blue gouraims an dthey leave each other alone and they even just swim together all of the time.

[freshwaterfishlover]

1 ST time owner should get Peral Gouramis. Very peaceful. Stay away from the 3 spotted or Dwarf as a 1 st timmer. Agressive.

[freshwaterfishlover]

First your tanks are way over stocked. 2 ft tank is a 20g. 6 Goldfish in a 20g? Also goldfish are Coldwater all the other fish are Tropical. 4 ft is ok for just one Oscar nothing else.

[squirt_12]

Yeah you should not have goldfish in with tropical fish because the goldfish are VERY dirty and they can give the tropical fish diseases and also the tropical fish could bother the goldfish and nip at them.

[Ark6ie]

i know my tanks are waaay overstocked. thats way im getting bigger tanks in the next couple of weeks, ill end up with probably two 4 fts and my 3 ft, with whatever fish dont fit in them, will go into my two 2 fts. most of my fish are still little at the moment and there is no aggression or fighting. and thats one of the main reason why i havent actually bought any gouramis to date.... no tank room as yet!!!

[FISHIES1018]

i recently started my 29 gallon tank with 3 gourami's of all different types. we had a golden (which i sos pretty cuz she looks like a tiger with all her prints), a blue and a giant (which only gets to 3''). things with them have been really good, the gold can be fiesty at times, but the are doing well. hopes things work out!

[lasm]

Gouramis don't give trouble at all.

I do have a small collection with on of each of the following.

Blue gourami
Gold gourami
Pink gourami
Chocolate gourami
Neon Blue Drawf gourami
Red Flame Drwaf gourami
Opaline gourmi

With good care, the most that they do is to pick each others tale. They don't really fight.

I do keep them, now that they are still very young in a 20g tank and I'm currently saving to get a bigger one because I have seen one about 3'' to 4''.

They are really pretty, you should get at least one.

Luis