which gourami?

[hcover]

I've been researching and all, but what is your favorite gourami and why?

And which should I get for my 75g? And how many? I was thinking a pair, but the more research I do, the more I think that's not such a good idea.

I'll have neon tetras, cherry barbs, loaches, and glass knifefish. It's a planted tank with rock structures, and soon it'll have some driftwood, too.

 

[tranquiltank]

I like dwarf variety, they have beautiful colors, and do well with the other fish in the tank even though they are smaller.

 

[Fishckabibble]

i really like the look of the paradise gouramis, and the opaline gouramis both in my opinion are beautiful, i wish my paradise one had not died on me he was a pastel version of them he never got his colors like most do. i think it may have been too much stress in the petstore.

 

[Lorazoo]

The Dwarfs tend to be less aggressive and don't get as large. With a 75G well planted you could get 2 males and 4-6 females no problem. I have the Dwraf and some honey dwarfs. I love both of them. I want to get some Pearls, which i think are beautiful, but i may not have room. The Pearls tend to be less aggressive from what I hear too. On a side note, I'd get some more neons for your school too

 

[hcover]

Is it hard to tell male from female in dwarfs? Are females readily available? I'll probably go with some sort of dwarf. Can you mix them (color) as long as they're the same species?

We went to the pet shop today and it was all I could do not to buy something, but I'm supposed to add them slowly, not something new every day.

 

[Lorazoo]

It's been my expercience that females are hard to find. They also do not have any color. You can mix males of diff species, but not males and females. All of the Dwarfs, ie powder blue, regular dwarf, flame, sunset, etc. are all just color variations of the dwarf species. honey Dwarfs are a different species, and then all of the rest are regular gouramis, meaning not dwarfs).

I bought some females that were listed as dwarfs. When I got home I found out they were honey dwarfs, so i went and got a few male honeys. Well, now some of my females are getting colors. I now have learned that in honey dwarfs, males can loose their color and look like females when they are subdominant. So, now I am waiting to see if I have any females. With Pearl Gouramis I know its hard to tell them apart until they mature and you will find females and males in the stores quite often.

I would do your research about males and females. B/c most LFS employees won't know. That's how I got stuck in my situation. Luckily I have a 120 and a 40 that I just set up, so if they start to fight I can seperate them a bit. But I am hoping the 120 will give them enough room. Personally, I think getting 2 males and no females would be fine too. Maybe then you could get a couple of differsent species. They will still establish territories and build bubble nests.

Anyway, good luck. Gouramis have to be one of my favs.

 

[micah2012]

Besides the difference in color, the sex can be determined by the dorsal fin. The male's dorsal fin is pointed, while the female's is rounded.

 

[hcover]

I went shopping today and didn't see a single female, that I could identify anyway. All of the dorsals look pointed and they're definately all colorful, too. I have to wait a week or so anyway, but I'm thinking of getting 2 or 3 from different species - maybe a dwarf, and a pearl, and maybe a paradise - but they might be too aggressive?

I was very tempted to buy today, but I have to stock slowly. I have a small amount of amonia and nitrites, and have been doing small water changes every day. I'd like to have those at 0 before I add my gourami.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I personally wouldn't try a paradise fish with those tetras, I've had bad experiences with that kind of combo. The paradise ate the eye out of one black neon tetra and a hunk of gill cover off another, within a few hours of being added to the tank... he made a little trip back to the store. Pearls and dwarfs are nice though. You can usually find female pearls, just look for the rounded dorsal fin. The female pearls are just as colorful as the males. If I were you, I'd go for 1-2 dwarf gourami males and 1-2 pearl gourami females.

 

[hcover]

Fish store tomorrow!!!!

Going to the fish store...gonna buy me a pair of somethin....what'll it be?...Depends on what looks good.

Planning to take everybody's advice....2 dwarf gourami or....2 pearls....or a glass knifefish, and maybe a yoyo loach because they're so cool....

Of course whatever I don't get this week, I'll probably get next week. Can't wait

Water conditions are good - a trace of amonia, a trace of nitrites, each day, and a small water change each day to keep it down.