Gourami Compatibility

[Shelby Drake]

Hello again! Since the success of the last forum when it comes to having my questions answered, I figured I’d post another. So as of right now I have a fully cycled, planted, hexagonal 40 Gal tank with three Gourami (one neon blue dwarf, one samurai dwarf and one licorice dwarf) but I wanna add some schoolers and bottom feeders to compliment my three happy boys! I am open to any type of freshwater fish, including oddballs! Help would be much appreciated!

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

As far as bottom feeders I know they get along with different corydora's. Mine also get alonge with Bristlenose Plecos and my prized Blue Phantom Pleco as well as my Dojo Loaches, Harlequin Raspbora (schoolers), a couple of Tetra's I have (I don't have enough to school), and a school of Cherry Barbs - but I had issues with a couple of long finned zebra striped danio's. Two of them out of a school of about 7 first killed one of my dwarf gouamis by eating off all his fins - he was a very passive Gourami as many of them are. Then they started killing off their school mates - eventually I was left with two danios and removed them to a small tank, then later accidentally killed one myself so there is one left. To keep him company I added Rasdora's and they all get along great. They are pretty accommodating on ph and water temperature - I've never really worried about water hardness since I can't do much about it. Our city PH is so high (8.8 to 9.9) that I have to bring down the PH to about 7 before adding fish but right now I have a tank sitting at 6.0 and they are all doing fine.

I believe any fish labeled "peaceful" will be fine with these guys - they don't even get into skuffles over food with the Cory's they just stay out of each other's way.

Some Gourami's are labeled "semi aggressive" , so you might want to avoid those, although I have a couple I got by accident (the shipper shipped the wrong fish) and other than chasing other Gourami's away from food I only occasionally see attempts at nipping - none have been successful but I keep my eye on them during feeding time,

Gourami's are very slow moving so some might think schooling fish would disrupt their day but I remember before my danio's went psycho they appeared to watch them a lot as if they were entertained but it could have been looks filled with hate LOL - I'm not too good at reading fish emotions yet. A new Gourami will likely be shy so it's good to provide some floating plants - but make sure they have access to the open air - they actually breath air and must have a way to get to it periodically

Does anybody know how Gourami's sleep if they need access to the air all the time - I've gone in there at night but have just succedded in waking everybody up so I've never observed their sleeping patterns,

I'm a hugh Gourami fan and well over 3/4 of my fish are Gourami's. Some dwarf varieties are said to carry disease but I have about 5 different dwarf species and have yet to see any disease.

 

[Back in the fold]

Gouramis are great. They are so elegant and graceful. The very pretty little Honey Chuna is exquisite. The Pearl Gourami is a canvas of loveliness. The Blue Gourami and the Snakeskin are awesome when fully grown well. How about the Thick-Lip (Colisa labiosa) and the ever popular Dwarf Gourami ? Pygmy, Croaking, Moonlight, and the monstrous true Gourami, Osphronemus. Chocolate Gouramis. They are great !