Best Gourami type for a community tank.

[Iggy]

Hi all.

I am new to Gourami, I have 1 that was given to me (Earl the Cinamon Dwarf) and I really like him.

I have a big tank comming soon, and I will have my 38 gallon tank available. I want to have a small group of Gourami dwarfs of some kind along with some neon tetra's, otto's, cory cats and some guppies or other mid level fish.

I also like the idea of Angels, but I understand these are not friendly fish and will likely eat neons.

Regardless, what are the best gourami dwarfs for having 3-4 together with little or no fighting?

 

[pablo111]

You want to keep Dwarf Gouramis eh?

Well then we're talking about: Thick lips, Common Dwarfs, and Honeys.

Anything else is a cross breed. The cinnamon dwarf you have is one of 2 of such fish: if it is chubby with a blue dorsal fin, it is a common dwarf. If it is solid red with a clear white-ish tail, it is a hybrid of a thick lip and a honey gourami. (Or so the latest ramblings from my source are...)

If it is the latter, these fish are impossible to sex, although they are sexualy fertile- they can produce more spawn themselves without having to be hybridized.

A small group of these fish do well in a tank of reasonable size as I have seen this at my LFS with about 5 of these guys and some large tetras in a display tank.

If it is the Common dwarf you have, then you will want to get 4 females, which will maybe bother eachother, but not fight. More than one common dwarf male will fight- sometimes badly. Females of this species are brown or white.

Its usually not smart to mix different kinds of dwarves because they will fight.

You might want to consider pearl gouramis, which are beautiful, but slightly larger. THere will be no fighting and you could mix 2 pearls with your current fish and some females for him. It would look great.

Also if you want angelfish- type fish that aren't jerks, try a Festivum. Do a google image search for any of these fish to see how they look

Good luck.

 

[fishydude22]

Originally posted by pablo111
Also if you want angelfish- type fish that aren't jerks, try a Festivum. Do a google image search for any of these fish to see how they look
Good luck.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!, slow down pablo111, Festivums get up to 6 inches, and that's not a good size for a 38 gallon as they would outgrow the tank, and they aren't mellow when it comes to small fish like neons or guppies(they are a prefered food)

Below is an image of a Festivum

 

[Iggy]

I will not have angels with neons. More likely I will have either one or the other, and I don't want to mix angels with gourami either.

My cinnamon dwarf is not a common one at all:
http://www.petsmart.com/fish/answers/breed_guide/articles/article_3703.shtml

My 38 gallon is 22" tall, basically a tall 33 gallon. It could manage one or two 6" fish if need be, but I think I will skip the angels for now.

Is there any form of dwarf that will be ok in groups of 3 or 4?

 

[snoce]

BEST TYPE

I HAVE A COMMUNITY TANK DOING VERY WELL...I HAVE 1 BLUE DWARF GOURAMI ITS A REALLY NEAT FISH THEY ALSO HAVE A RED ORANGE TYPE DWARF GOURAMI I FORGET ITS EXACT NAME....MIXED WITH THE GOURAMI I HAVE 2 ANGEL, 4 NEON, 2 PLATY, 2 TETRA, 2 SWORDTAIL, 3 OTO, 1 CORY....NONE OF THESE FISH FIGHT AT ALL...ANGELS DONT EVEN TOUCH THE NEONS OR OTHER FISH BUT I HEAR WHEN THEY GET FULL GROWN THEY GET MORE AGGRESSIVE...THE GOURAMI ACTUALLY IS THE MOST PEACEFUL FISH I HAVE IT BOTHERS NOTHING AND SWIMS ALONE...I HEAR WHEN U HAVE 2 DWARF TOGETHER THEY CAN FIGHT...ANGELS AND GOURAMI DONT MIX IT UP AT ALL...SO I HAVE A NICE MIX COMMUNITY TAnk and all is well....

 

[Zoidfarb]

Something to remember about angelfish is that in many cases, other fish are more a threat to them than the other way around. Angels can get mutilated by fin-nipping fish like some barbs, and by more aggressive fish in their own size range. They are also pretty sedate, and will suffer from stress if surrounded in too small a tank by lots of extremely active fish. That's the convential wisdom anyway...there are always exceptions, unseen variables, and the domestic bred angels are probably a lot hardier. Angels can most certainly be community fish...these are just things to keep in mind when choosing tankmates.

Snoce...congrats on your tank. It sounds like everything is cool. In the wild, adult angelfish eat subadult neon tetras regularly. Also, some evidence suggests that neons (and cardinals) may stimulate predatory behavior b/c of their color (they are more likely to be attacked than other tetra species of the same size). HOWEVER, many people do successfully keep angels and neons without ever having any problems. The fact that the angels are growing up with the neons in an established tank is very good...the most dangerous scenario is adding tetras to an established tank of adult angels.

Iggy... If you want to keep several dwarf gouramis, I myself am very interested in the pygmy gourami and spike-tailed gourami (both in the genus Trichopsis). They are VERY small, but very beautiful. They are hardy but very shy and tankmates must be selected carefully...
I'm researching both species in terms of compatibilty with other fish and with their own species...I THINK as long as there is enough room and hiding places, you can have more than one pair of Trichopsis (but I need to be positive). Neon tetras are probably perfect with Trichopsis.