Gourami Recomendations

[Adorkable]

Well, I have decided to make my tank a gourami only tank. I will be giving my LFS my tetras, loach (maybe), and my cory, and I will be left with 2 honey gouramis and 2 powder blue gouramis. I was wondering what would be some good gouramis.

My tank is a 20 gallon planted.
pH: 7
Temp: 76F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: ??? I don't have a test kit for this yet

 

[MemnochsKat]

I have a pearl gouramie, for me it's been one of the best fish I've owned.

 

[d3sc3n7]

I'm partial to the neon blues and the flames

 

[RoxnSox]

i think the neon blues are the prettiest myself..i do like the flame ones but if it came down to just one id go with the neon blues

 

[Adorkable]

Would two or three Chocolate Gouramis be fine in there, with another Honey Gourami, and one more Powder Blue Gourami? Just wondering, one of the things I was planning on getting, cause the Chocolates stay small.

 

[MissFishy]

You really can't keep more than 1 gourami in anything smaller than a 46 gallon, there just isn't enough "territory" for all of them. I've heard bad things about chocolates, here's a site to look at on them: How to Care for Chocolate gouramis, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides, with pictures

 

[Adorkable]

Okay, that totally changes my mind about getting the Chocolates. Though they were cute. Just saying, but sometimes you can keep more then one gourami in less then a 46 gallon tank. I currently have four, and I have seen only the Powder Blues attack each other, but that was only when I didn't put two pieces of an algae wafer in. You can keep more then 1 Honey Gourami in a smaller tank, because they are more docile.

 

[MissFishy]

It depends on the gouramis of course, but generally, I wouldn't try to throw more than one in a small tank just to see what would happen. By the way, your 20 gallon is ridiculously overstocked IMO. Way too small for all those fish, I hope you're planning on upgrading soon, those fish must have no room to swim!

 

[Adorkable]

No worries MissFishy, I will be upgrading to a bigger tank once I can afford it, since I quit my job at the petstore. I'll probably be getting a 29 gallon or more in the summer, after I'm done babysitting.
Your the first one to say that my tank is overstocked, but I would take alot advice from you. I never thought my tank was overstocked, but you live 'n' learn

 

[ScubaSteve]

I'd go with One Pearl Gourami

 

[Dr_fish]

Keep in mind that Gouramis are very susceptible to diseases. Especially the red dwarf and powder blue gourami.

 

[Adorkable]

Yeah, one of my Powder Blues got an infections and he wasn't doing to well, but I medicated the tank and he got through it, and he hasn't been sick since.

 

[MissFishy]

I'm surprised no one has ever told you that. I just looked at your signature and noticed. Let's do the math. The general recommendation is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water.

9 neons x 1 inch = 9 inches
4 gourami x 3 inches = 12 inches
1 corycat x 1.5 inch = 1.5 inches
1 loach x (no idea what size it is, but we'll say 3 inches to be nice) = 3 inches
TOTAL = 25.5 inches of fish and that is being very very generous with the sizes of these fish. Some neons are more like 1.5 inches each, and that would considerably up your number. Same with gouramis and loach.

 

[Adorkable]

Thanks MissFishy, glad someone has noticed my mistake before it got out of hand.

 

[calinb]

This is my first post and it may be a little late to shed a new perspective on CGs. I read that CG howto as well but my LFS convinced me it's not that bad. I'm glad I took his advice. I've had 2 CGs in a SE Asian blackwater nano-biotype tank (7 gal mini-bow) for about four months and the tank also has 5 Hengel's rasboras and is heavily planted with water sprite, needle java fern, riccia, and moss. The nitrates stay around 5 ppm and I do a weekly 25% water change. I also use Indian almond leaves and have four small leaves in the tank at any given time. We have very soft water here in Portland, Oregon. I also use yeast CO2 injection, which drives the pH lower. pH runs around 6.2 to 6.4 and I keep the GH and KH both around 2 degrees. My CGs aren't shy at all--they will nearly eat from my fingers and they spend most of their time in the front of the tank. They generally only hang out in the plants when they sleep at night.

Here's a pic of "Hershey" over on fishlore:
"Hershey"

The other CG is named "Cadbury" and the rasboras are "Huey," "Dewey," and "Louie," and "Daryl" and his other brother "Daryl."

If you have the right water and a good LFS supplier, these fish remain quite enjoyable and healthy.

-Cal

 

[the_sixx]

I just got 2 new opaline gouramis they get about 5 inches but are silver with black tige stripes very pertty

 

[skratikans]

a pearl gourami gets huge..a 20gal is FAR too small
if you were not already stocked you could do 3 croaking gouramis..they are small non aggressive gouramis...there are ways to do several gouramis...it depends on the species

 

[skratikans]

I just got 2 new opaline gouramis they get about 5 inches but are silver with black tige stripes very pertty

how big is your tank...chances are they will fight and not get along

 

[skratikans]

dwarfs are susceptible to disease and need really good quality water, they are harder to keep than say a opaline gourami