Is a 75 gallon big enough for two male dwarf gourami?

[CherryBerry670]

So, I’m likely getting a 75 gallon, and if it’s possible, I want a flame dwarf and a powder blue. Will they fight even if they both get that much space? I’ll put four females in, but I’m not sure if that decreases or increases aggression.

 

[CalamityAngel]

Plants are a huge difference between fighting and not fighting sometimes. Plenty of places to hide will help greatly, though as for the rest I'm unsure of. I've only ever owned goldfish, plecos, neon tetras, oscars, and betas. Wish I could help more, but hopefully this little bit helps!

 

[Colin_T]

Two male dwarf gouramis should be fine in a big tank. However, adding females will make the males fight over territory. And I would avoid dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) and all their colour forms due to the diseases they regularly carry. Gouramis can and regularly do have the Gourami iridovirus and Fish Tuberculosis (TB), neither of which can be treated and once in a tank, the diseases remain there until the tank and everything in it is disinfected.

 

[Wills]

As Colin says its the disease risk from Dwarfs for me that just strike them off.

Have you considered the 'three spot' gourami and its different colour morphs? You get the Blue Opaline and the Golds which have been around for a long time but I've seen some red ones recently too - if you can find them all you could get the colours you want in one species as a trio of something like 1 male 3-4 females.

Wills

 

[CherryBerry670]

I have, and they’re some of my favorite gourami, but they’re so aggressive and I want to keep them in a tank of small-medium sized tetras and a few apistogramma. I did consider honey gourami, but I really think they’d be too intimidated by a breeding pair of apisto. Honestly, I kind of think the disease risk is nil anyways: my LFS breeds their own dwarf gourami.

So just two males, no females?

 

[Byron]

Aggressive is the word--the gourami Triichopodus trichopterus, in any of the varieties (same species selectively bred) is probably the most aggressive and nasty of all the small and medium-sized species of gourami. Not only would you likely have issues among the gourami themselves but other non-gourami fish may be severely attacked--and this is not confined to males, females have been known to single-handedly kill every other species in the tank.

Pearl Gourami are much less aggressive, and real beauties in a small group.

You've mentioned cichlids--these and gourami should not be combined. It is true that the dwarf cichlids (like Apistogramma species) do tend to remain near the substrate, and gourami tend to remain in the upper third, but it is best avoided.

There are some lovely larger but peaceful tetras--I had a group of Bleeding Heart Tetras in my 5-foot 115g Amazon riverscape, and swimming together mid-water they were very colourful. This fish has been in the hobby a long time, but it can be well worth having.

 

[CherryBerry670]

Pearl gourami are good, but I just don’t really like their colors much unless I can get the albino variant. If I can’t keep gourami with apisto, I’ll just kick the gourami out and get a school of hatchetfish or something.

Oh, and bleeding hearts are adorable: totally getting a few.

 

[Byron]

Pearl gourami are good, but I just don’t really like their colors much unless I can get the albino variant. If I can’t keep gourami with apisto, I’ll just kick the gourami out and get a school of hatchetfish or something.

Oh, and bleeding hearts are adorable: totally getting a few.

Bleeding hearts like all characins are shoaling/schooling fish. A group of 12-15 would suit the space here, or up to 20.

 

[Colin_T]

Hatchetfish with Apistogrammas would be nice. The hatchets wouldn't bother the baby cichlids and the cichlids shouldn't bother the hatchets. They aren't as colourful as the gouramis but are more interesting in my opinion.

 

[CherryBerry670]

Hatchets should be cool, yeah. The only thing I’m worried about is doing maintenance on the tank, as supposedly they’re jumpers.

 

[Colin_T]

Yeah they jump alright. Have lots of floating plants on one side and slowly go into the tank on the other side. They do settle down after a while but the first few months it's a matter of constantly checking the floor while doing a water change just in case they have gone over the side.

A snug fitting coverglass is essential to stop hatchetfish jumping out.

 

[sharkweek178]

Hatchets should be cool, yeah. The only thing I’m worried about is doing maintenance on the tank, as supposedly they’re jumpers.

It's their natural defense against predators.