Dwarf Gourami Tankmates?

[CocaCola]

hey hey hey!

I recently set up a 80l freshwater tropical tank with good plant coverage, and I've been given three dwarf gouramis for the tank. I was thinking about adding a Betta splendens to the tank - is this a good idea ? I've been told conflicting reports from different parties - has anyone tried this before? I was also going to also add some rasboras (maybe harlequins).

Any advice much appreciated

 

[Carlovel1]

The gouramis should not be housed with the Betta, but it should be OK with Harlequins.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi CocaCola (Pow! ) and Welcome to TFF!

Since you have announce you are a "Complete Aquarium Noob" and as a newcomer I would have to ask the question anyway: Have you read up on the subject of "cycling" your filter and what is your story with that? How long has water been in the 80L/21G tank and have the Gouramis been living in it and if so, how long?

The members here are great! You've come to the right place for getting up to speed in my opinion. Gouramis are great fish, do you have two females and a male?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[CocaCola]

I'm currently cycling my filter fine at the moment. I've got 3 male dwarf gouramis, and as of yet they've shown little aggression to one another and hopefully that will stay the case. I've been doing water replacements and checking nitrate levels and pH everything is going swimmingly at the moment

 

[waterdrop]

Glad things look good to you! Nitrate(NO3) is an excellent indicator of the overall effectiveness of gravel-clean-water-changes after a tank is cycled. If nitrate creeps upward on you then you know your changes need to be larger or more frequent.

During a fish-in cycle, nitrate is not as useful although it adds a small bit of info. Its really the ammonia, nitrite(NO2) and pH levels (as measured by a good liquid-reagent based test, not a paper strip test) that must be monitored at least once a day. Because each ppm of ammonia is converted in to 2.7ppm of nitrite, the nitrite can swing suddenly on you and it damages nerve tissue very quickly. Unfortunately, happily swimming fish are not a good indication of no nerve damage.

I love Dwarf Gouramis, have had lots of sets of them over the years!

~~waterdrop~~