Gouramis

[FishWhisperer]

Does anyone know how many gouramis can be in one tank? They always seem to behave at the fish store. Long story made short... I have a 30 gal tank with two cory catfish. I added two powder blue dwarf gouramis and two red flame dwarf gouramis. There is one particular power blue that is really aggressive towards the other three. Any comments, suggestions are most welcome. Thank you.

 

[bassbonediva]

Gouramis are related to bettas. As such they are VERY territorial, especially toward members of their own species. They behave at the fish store because they are extremely stressed and aren't there long enough to establish territories.

I would get rid of three of your four gouramis. You'll end up with dead gouramis going the way you are. The most aggressive one (that "one particular powder blue" you mentioned) will attack and stress out the other three. If he doesn't kill all of them by attacking them, the stress will kill them.

 

[misterking]

Although they're related to bettas they're not quite as aggressive.

In my early (and naive) years, I bought a blue gourami and gold gourami for a 25 gallon. Both were males, and the blue was scrappy with the gold for a while. However the aggression eventually subsided and they didn't bother each other at all. They certainly didn't stress each other a particular amount and I ended up with no dead gouramis. I've done this once again since with the same results, in a 55 gallon. I guess they found their territories and stuck to it without any issues.

By their reputation I wouldn't reccommend doing this. However I'm not sure to what extent the reputation is truth, and how much of it is truly deserved. At least, not for all gourami species.

I have, however, found that dwarf gouramis are a particularly scrappy species and the males can be fairly boisterous. I'm assuming all your gouramis are male?

Personally I agree with bass on this one. I think your tank is far too small for 4 gouramis and I'd return all but one I'm afraid. There just isn't the space for them to set up a proper territory and you'll cause your fish unnecessary stress.

 

[breebrry]

in my 26g bowfront i had 2 dwarf gouramis and one beat the other up so bad i took it out to quarantine him.. needless to say i only have one.. however Gilbert (dwarf honey gourami) has a deffinate territory in my 55 gallon.. and seems fine with the mass of tetras and barbs.. i do agree with bass here and MK gouramis are awesome and look so beautiful but they need their space.. try to take the others back or maybe set up more tanks and spread them out

 

[FishWhisperer]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. The guy at the fish store tank said I could put five in my tank. I will definitely have to split them. I had two to begin with and bought two more thinking he wouldn't bother just the one. I guess I will take them back. Do you think the one gourami would get along with a red glass barb? Just thought I'd ask.

 

[littletankbigworld]

I'm not sure about the red glass barb, but I do have a word of advice for you. As a beginner, it is a very bad idea to listen to pet store employees. They usually do not care about your fish. They care about selling you lots of fish, no matter whether they will get along or not or whether the fish can live in your tank. It's very important to research using google or, more importantly, this forum. There are a lot of experts here.

 

[FishWhisperer]

Yes, I have visited this forum many times and don't know what I was thinking listening to him. I should have known better by now. I just love gouramis too. I think they are a beautiful fish. I do want a 37 gal so I guess I'll buy it sooner than later.

 

[bassbonediva]

One red glass barb? Barbs are schooling fish and generally if they aren't kept in a group of 5+, they become nasty little fin-nippers. I would say that mixing small gouramis with barbs is a bad idea. The only time I would put a gourami with any barbs is if the gourami is substantially bigger than the barbs and will keep them in line (did this with my tiger barbs when I first got them...they were 3/4" long each and the opaline gourami I had at the time was almost 4"...he definitely kept them in line...to the point that they are now afraid of EVERYTHING ELSE in the tank, even the cories!).

 

[Kallen]

A few years ago I decided to get a few blue gouramis. OMG I hated those little b###ards. At first they had a little gang going on where they would team up against my other fish, but very quickly turned on each other. There was only one of them that was docile and he was picked on terribly, to the point were he had no tail fins. I didn't have a sufficiently large 2nd tank to put them in, so I had to keep them. At this point they were only bothering each other and leaving the other fish alone. i eventually took the most agressive one and put him in solitary in a 2gal tank where he lived for a few months. I felt pretty guilty putting him alone in such a small tank but he was killing the other gourami. He did kill one, and the one that was left was the tailess one. They are very nice to look at but I will never even consider having another.

 

[lauraf]

If you want multiple peaceful gouramis, pearls are the way to go, or honeys. But not with barbs!

 

[brian1973]

One thing I would add is that many websites will suggest keeping 2 to 3 dwarf gouramis togther, what they dont tell you is that by 2 or 3 the mean 1 male and 1 or 2 females, female dwarf gouramis can be very hard to find due to their drab coloration, and someone correct me if i am wrong but your powder blue and flame gouramis are all the same species which will also attribute to aggression. I also found out the hard way that dwarf gouramis dont mix well together or with other unrelated species if they may be observed as a threat.

 

[FishWhisperer]

Wow, I should have asked questions on this site before I bought the gouramis. I do have a LFS that said it will take trades. I do know they will take my red glass barb but am unsure of the gouramis. The barb is bigger than the gouramis for now but the gouramis will surely pass him. I hope they leave my cories alone. I told my mom I would get rid of the gouramis before I let anything happen to my cories. I love my cories. Thanks to all of you.

 

[lauraf]

If your LFS will take the barb, they should also take the gouramis. Powder blue, flame, dwarf gouramis are all better alone, and as mentioned above, most of those sold are males because of their coloration.
You could do a male and female pearl gourami together, and they are very peaceful. Dwarf honeys also won't bother your cories.
Let us know what transpires!

 

[FishWhisperer]

Just an update . . . 10 gal tank - one powder lonely blue gourami . . . 30 gal tank - one red glass barb - one powder blue gourami - two red flame gouramis - two cory catfish . . . so far the gouramis are just bothering each other, just a little. Since the "bad" powder blue gourami is gone from the tank, the two cory catfish don't hide anymore. I need to get one more cory though and give up the three gouramis so I can have just one gourami. Now I am really confused what kind of tank I want to set up. All suggestions, comments are welcome.