Hardy Gouramis Except Banded Gouramis

[shockshockshad]

I WAS going to get 1 banded gourami for my tank, but I can't find anywhere to buy one anywhere! What is a nice, colorful gourami, (I like bigger ones also, like 4-5 inches) and is also hardy?

 

[The_Dude]

Two words dude, Paradise Fish. Max size of 4 inches, it's hardy, and it's almost always out of hiding.

 

[shockshockshad]

sounds good! Thanks!

 

[nmonks]

While I like paradisefish a lot, do research them a bit before buying. Male paradisefish are famously aggressive towards each other, so keep only one male per tank. Paradisefish are also surprisingly predatory and will eat things like neons. Mixing them with something placid and slow moving, like angelfish, would also a pretty bad idea, because they are territorial and will chase things that don't get out of the way. Best kept with armoured catfish, Corydoras, large/giant danios, non-nippy barbs, etc.

Paradisefish are also *subtropical* fish, and under very warm conditions lifespan is reduced. Consider 25 C the maximum, and anything between 18-24 C the ideal. Under subtropical conditions, you can easily mix with subtropical fish like weather loaches, Corydoras paleatus, Scleromystax barbatus, rosy barbs, etc.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Biulu]

What about honey gouramis, or three spot gouramis? The latter are somewhat more agressive, but not as agressive as the paradise fish. Paradise fish are mostly recommended to keep in a species only tank.

 

[Crookshankz227]

Pity, banded gouramis are my favourite species!

You could try pearls, moonlights or three spots. Male threes spots are a tad aggressive to other three spots, but the females are fine.

 

[SouthernCross]

I also recommend pearls

On the larger side, beautiful, and hardy. Don't have the aggression problems you often see with the 3-spot varieties. I keep a trio, I love them.

Check out my male in my avatar

 

[shockshockshad]

Do I need a certain sex of pearl gourami? I have researched and tried to tell the difference, but I just can't! Which are hardier, swordtails, or pearls? Will my 30 gallon be overstocked with 3 pearls, 8 harlequins, and 6 peppered cories?

 

[SouthernCross]

You don't HAVE to, but its known that there are certain sex ratios that can minimize aggression, and if you start out with them you won't have to deal with problems down the track - sometimes things seem ok with juvenile fish, then they mature and you get problems. Generally with gouramis most agree that M/F/F ratios and multiples thereof are the best.

Can't really answer the hardiness question, but I'd say both those fish are considered to be hardy species.

Pearl gouramis are one of the easiest gouramis to sex! Have a look at this thread here and scroll til you get to the pearl pictures:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=209002

Some of my own pictures are in that thread. There are more in the comments. Note the long dorsal, longer finnage (although these come with age) and deep orange throat/chest on the male. Females don't have the orange throats, and another giveaway is the shorter, rounded dorsal fin. They are a bit thicker in the body too but The orange/dorsals are the two major ways to tell.

It's a lot harder to tell when they're babies (the fins havent grown yet) but if you look at a bit larger specimens you should have no trouble.

 

[shockshockshad]

That is pretty easy to tell the difference. The male has a longer dorsal fin, and Imo is brighter and kind of more colorful. About the stocking question in my last post.... will that be okay?

Ooops! I just saw that you already told me how to tell the differnce! I just clicked the link without reading your post. Sorry!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Just thought I'd mention that the banded gourami is sold as Indian gourami in many places.

 

[Biulu]

Do I need a certain sex of pearl gourami? I have researched and tried to tell the difference, but I just can't! Which are hardier, swordtails, or pearls? Will my 30 gallon be overstocked with 3 pearls, 8 harlequins, and 6 peppered cories?

No, you won't be overstocked. 10 gallon/gourami is fine,and you could even up your school of harlequins, or add another small schooling species.

 

[Squidman]

Pearls are hardy fish.