Bad advice from lfs

[BIGMAC]

Hey people im fairly new to Bettas i have hade a male for a couple of weeks now in a 10 gall tank with a couple of corys.At the weekend i went to my lfs (not the one i normally use ) i was looking for a couple of fish for my daughters aquarium which has been up and running for a couple of months now.In there i have 5 neon tetra,2 corys .I was told that i could put gourami and male Betters in there no problem,so away i came with 2 honey gourami and a fantastic male Betta,i watched them in their new home for a while when id finally got them acclimatised(spelling) to the water they seemd to swim about together .2 days later i noticed my Better coverd in white spot and hiding away,when he did come out the gourami were chasing him.I have now rehomed him in a spare heated tank i have.My problem is i dont know what fish to put in my daughters tank with the gouramis,i want a nice selection of fish as she has the tank in her bedroom cos shes very sick and has been bed bound for 3 years so she just loves to watch her fish.Has anyone any ideas please?

 

[Nina7777]

Hello there-

I am very sorry to hear that about your daughter.

What size tank does she have?

If she has a 10 gallon I would suggest you take the honey guoramis back to the store and get peaceful live bearers.

Just my opionion.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

i'm so sorry about your daughter

lets see what we can do here about giving her a lively, colourful tank
just one question,
you said YOUR tank is a 10gal?
so how big is your daughters tank?

 

[BIGMAC]

Thanx guys ,sorry i should of said its a 20 gall tank

 

[Nina7777]

how do you feel about fry?

Platties would add alot of color to the tank, however they produce alot of fry. Same thing with guppies.

The honey guoramis worry me though. They might get aggressive towards each other.

 

[BIGMAC]

how do you feel about fry?

Platties would add alot of color to the tank, however they produce alot of fry. Same thing with guppies.

The honey guoramis worry me though. They might get aggressive towards each other.

So do you think i should return one of the gourami? they told me they should be in pairs so i baught 2,thats what happens when you dont know enough about fish,i will learn im sure.As for fry i dont think id have enough room 4 them all.,although i do like guppies.

 

[Nina7777]

Well see what other people say, but if they are both males then they will probably fight. How are they getting on now?

 

[BIGMAC]

They seem to follow eachother everywhere in the tank,i think they are probably the same sex cos they look identical

 

[DrOizo]

Did you sought out the white spots on the Betta??

 

[Dwarfs]

Look at my sig (55g), all these fish are good with honeys although a pearl gourami might get aggressive to the honeys in a tank your size. As for your gouramis chasing the betta, they finally got a chance to pick on him because he was weakened by illness. His guard went down. My honey gouramis hang out together and get into extremely minor fights (slapping with feelers, and circling eachother) but they stick together because none of my other fish would give up a chance to chase them. If they are bright orange they are probably male because the females are dullish.

 

[shrks1fan]

Chances are both your Gouramis are males and females are pretty rare in lfs (or so I've heard and I have experienced in my area), if they are both male then yes you should return one and they'll eventually fight for dominance, also they will get pretty big, so having 2 in just a 20 gallon is going to really cramp all your fish unless all you had was a couple of gourami (and I don't think you want that). Gouramis and Bettas are not good together because they are closely related breeds and will see each other as competition. Having the Betta in a tank by himself is the best thing (or in a tank with peaceful fish like platy's, Cory's).

Linda

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BIGMAC

You still have lots of room in that tank, so why not get a few more corys? Three bronze corys would give you a nice playful school.

Your daughter might also find 2 or 3 kuhli loaches amusing.

African Dwarf Frogs are also an interesting addition to a tank with small, peaceful fish. Click on the link in my signature for more information about them.

 

[BIGMAC]

Did you sought out the white spots on the Betta??

Yep i got that sorted i think.Didnt want to use meds so i slowly turned up the heat.The ich has gone of my Betta,and none of the other fish seemd affected by it.

 

[BIGMAC]

Thanks for all the help you guys an girls,i will try take all your info into account an put together a fun active tank for her.
Cheers.
Sue

 

[BIGMAC]

Chances are both your Gouramis are males and females are pretty rare in lfs (or so I've heard and I have experienced in my area), if they are both male then yes you should return one and they'll eventually fight for dominance, also they will get pretty big, so having 2 in just a 20 gallon is going to really cramp all your fish unless all you had was a couple of gourami (and I don't think you want that). Gouramis and Bettas are not good together because they are closely related breeds and will see each other as competition. Having the Betta in a tank by himself is the best thing (or in a tank with peaceful fish like platy's, Cory's).

Linda

I thaught they only grew to about 2" in size?