cichlids and gouramies

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vinodhv

Large Fish
#1
Jul 26, 2005
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chapel hill, nc
#1
hello,

so i gave my six goldfish to my neighbour who is starting a 75 gallon tank (something about feng shui). He already cycled the tank and checked the water parameters so they should be in good shape.
I went to the pet store yesterday looking for ideas on stocking my 55gal. Does anybody know if cichlids are compatible with gouramies? The store person hadn't the slightest clue, and kept telling me to match the 'color code' on each fish to see if theyre compatible - there's got to be a better way.
 

Seleya

Seleya

Superstar Fish
#4
Nov 22, 2004
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#4
Which cichlids? Cichlids can be anything from murderous to quite shy and from 2" - well over a foot" (for tank-bred species) Gouramies tend to be bullies.

You may want to check out the Profiles sections -- lots of good information there! :)

You may also want to get a good book and stroll some fish store aisles and see what appeals to you. You have a nice sized tank to play with. Find a fish or two you like or fabricate a scheme you're going to follow and go for it! If you like the Gouramies, why not find compatible fish from the same (or similar) waters?

As for the 'color codes', all that is is a chain's categorization of whether a fish is aggressive or not and to what level -- and they're not always accurate!
 

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vinodhv

Large Fish
#5
Jul 26, 2005
125
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chapel hill, nc
#5
thanks guys. i'm going to browse through the profiles section. i might go with gouramis. i like the blue dwarfs and the neon blue dwarfs. i'm thinking of having two communities of them, with maybe 3 or 4 per community. what do you think?
 

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discus4everGrl

Superstar Fish
#6
May 24, 2005
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Chesapeake, Va
#6
so 8 to a tank? I don't know, I don't have alot of faith in those little buggers not killing each other, but that's based on my own experiences with them. They seem okay for a few months then they get mean. Two males will fight till the death. It would be beneficial if they are in a planted tank or at least have lost of places to hide and claim territory.

tbh, if you want gourami's I would go with pearls. Most people report them to be much more docile than the other strains.
 

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discus4everGrl

Superstar Fish
#9
May 24, 2005
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#9
I will just leave it with this and I'm sure that others will disagree, but a tank full of gourami's is a recipe for disaster IMHO. They fight and they almost always fight within the same species. They are very closely related to betta's, aka siamese fighting fish and they will fight with each other until death, especially males. They will kill angels too and will generally chase anything that swims in the same surface space as them. You have such a nice size tank to be starting from scratch, I would research before you decide on a species. There are so many options.
 

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vinodhv

Large Fish
#10
Jul 26, 2005
125
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chapel hill, nc
#10
hey discusgirl. Thanks for the feedback. wow, i never realized they were so aggressive. i realize others may disagree with your opinion but i'd rather not chance it. Do you have any suggestions for other fish i could keep? I looked at some oscars but read here that they're very messy.
 

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discus4everGrl

Superstar Fish
#11
May 24, 2005
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Chesapeake, Va
#11
as far as cichlids go I only have experience with discus angels and dwarfs like rams. If you like angels you could do some of those. Do you plan to plant this tank? That would decide alot as the other cichlid types like africans tend to dig plants up.
 

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discus4everGrl

Superstar Fish
#15
May 24, 2005
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Chesapeake, Va
#15
I wouldn't use sand. It doesn't hold plants down all that great. You can get some schultz aquatic soil from homedepot to mix in or some flourite or eco complete from the pet store. It gets expensive at the petstore sometimes. I think the best thing to do is decide on your main species of fish then go from there. Sand is good for cichlids but alot of plants aren't and you won't be able to grow alot of plants with stock lighting.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#18
May 16, 2003
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Colorado
#18
I think thats always a good plan. There are SO many different types of fish. You should probably start by choosing whether you want cichlids or a community tank...and then go from there because there are so many different kinds of tanks you can build under either of those categories. A 55 is a good size tank for dabbling in pretty much whatever you'd like, save a handful of species that just get way too big.

If you let us know whether you're going for cichlids or a community tank it might give us some directions to point you in for our favorites :)

On the gouramis...they are interesting fish...but I think they are a lot like putting a betta in a community tank. They have different personalities and you really get limited on your choices for which fish you can put in the tank with them.
 

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