Dwarf gourami variants

[Ripnhammer]

I came across these two fish at a LFS that I never vistited before:
Flame Red Gourami
http://www.plantedtank.net/images/fish/flamegourami.jpg
Cobalt Blue Gourami
http://www.aquahobby.com/img/powder1.jpg

I googled them I found they are both Colisa lalia but slight variants.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with either fish and what type of tempermant they have. Also, if they like to be kept in schools or pairs.

I currently have chocolate gouramis, which I'm sort of getting sick of because they don't move. They look in perfect condition, and I've had them over 6 months, but I never see them eat or move more than an inch.

If I wanted the above mentioned fish I presume I would probably have to find a new home for my chocolate gouramis because they are so passive.

Also, do you think the cobalt and flame g's would mix?

One more thing I have a 20g, planted, with 5 cardinal tetras, 3 panda cories, and one oto cat

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Dwarf gouramis are very peaceful with other fish, and would do fine with your tetras, cories, and oto. They are pretty slow and passive, although they will move around a bit.

On the other hand, gouramis are related to bettas and will fight with eachother. I know that some people keep them in pairs, and this seems to work better with dwarf gouramis than other types, but most of them say that there is aggression between the two. If you are planning to get a pair of them (and you really don't need to, they don't need eachother's company), then it wouldn't make any difference if they were the same color or one of each.

 

[blueturq]

I have had dwarf gouarmi's in a community before and they didn't tend bother other fish as much as they bothered themselves.

I haven't had the cobalt/powder blue type, but I have had the neon blue type and the flame red type together, with disasterous results!

In my community tank at the time I wanted to mix things up by having two different variants

My neon blue male ended up killing my flame red male

So I learned two things first hand

1) Dwarf gourami males don't get along.

2) It doesn't matter what colour variant the dwarf gourami's are, they will still fight.

here's a photo of a neon blue dwarf gourami male

http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/gourami_neon_blue_male.jpg