Mixing gouramis

[sharkweek178]

What has been your success with keeping different types of gouramis in the same tank? I'm thinking specifically of honey, pearl and sparkling gouramis.

 

[lazarusthefishboy10]

I've kept honey and pearl gouramis together before, they worked well! I wouldn't recommend Pearls and Sparkling, as the Pearl Gouramis might eventually eat them as they've got big size differences. Sparkling and Honeys might also do well too.
It's a 50/50 situation, you'll have to try the combos and certain gouramis might just not get along, so give a combo a shot but have somewhere to separate or give away to in case they don't work together. All gouramis have their own personalities

 

[Colin_T]

You should only keep 1 species of Labyrinth fish (Bettas & gouramis) per tank because they are all territorial to some degree.

 

[Byron]

I concur with Colin. Generally speaking, only one gourami to an aquarium, unless it is huge. Males are territorial, some species mildly, others will kill any other gourami fish that encroaches upon their territory. They can be as aggressive as cichlids.

You don't mention the tank size (length/width is more important than volume) but a group of any one of the three named species might work.

I have successfully kep more than one species of gourami, but the species were some of the smallest gourami, there was a group of each, and the tank was a 4-foot 70g. Chocolate gourami, eyespot gourami, and pygmy sparkling gourami were involved, and all three species spawned and raised fry. But they are very small, and the tank was very thickly planted with a full cover of floating plants which is critical for all gourami as they live among the upper vegetation and use it to build bubblenests (the species that do this).

 

[sharkweek178]

I concur with Colin. Generally speaking, only one gourami to an aquarium, unless it is huge. Males are territorial, some species mildly, others will kill any other gourami fish that encroaches upon their territory. They can be as aggressive as cichlids.

You don't mention the tank size (length/width is more important than volume) but a group of any one of the three named species might work.

I have successfully kep more than one species of gourami, but the species were some of the smallest gourami, there was a group of each, and the tank was a 4-foot 70g. Chocolate gourami, eyespot gourami, and pygmy sparkling gourami were involved, and all three species spawned and raised fry. But they are very small, and the tank was very thickly planted with a full cover of floating plants which is critical for all gourami as they live among the upper vegetation and use it to build bubblenests (the species that do this).

That's a good point and I appreciate the input. I didn't mention tank size because it's all theoretical for me right now. I'm in the process of setting up a 29 gallon but I'm not going to mix them in there. a) I already know what I want to stock that with and it's only going to have one type of gourami (honey) and b) it doesn't seem like enough space for any territorial disputes.
But when I get the 75 gallon I have in mind for the future, I could see maybe then.
Another thought I had is wondering if it would work better with mostly females. Say maybe one male of any type in the tank.

 

[Byron]

That's a good point and I appreciate the input. I didn't mention tank size because it's all theoretical for me right now. I'm in the process of setting up a 29 gallon but I'm not going to mix them in there. a) I already know what I want to stock that with and it's only going to have one type of gourami (honey) and b) it doesn't seem like enough space for any territorial disputes.
But when I get the 75 gallon I have in mind for the future, I could see maybe then.
Another thought I had is wondering if it would work better with mostly females. Say maybe one male of any type in the tank.

Gourami in groups should have a gender ratio of one male with two or three females, two males with maybe five females, etc. This is applicable for the less aggressive species (like those mentioned here), but would not work with some of the significantly more aggressive species. And still one species to a tank, even a 75g, if the three mentioned species are involved. I personally would go with a group of Pearl Gourami in a 75g, as they need the space and are extremely beautiful when kept like this.

 

[PewPewChris]

Are dwarf blue gourami's aggressive by nature? I have a single male in my 10 gallon column tank along with a few tetra tankmates. He is pretty chill, other than wanting to snag up all the food and spitting at you if you don't feed him fast enough.

I really want to move him to my 40 gallon breeder once it's ready and give the fella a pair of female friends.

I'd love to find female blues, but would he take kindly to some honey gourami female fish?

 

[malfunction]

I’ve kept pearls with dwarf gouramis and pearls with honey gouramis. In both situations there weren’t any major issues. One of the male dwarf gouramis was noticeably territorial, but it was in a 3ft tank so there was plenty of space for the others to
get out of his way.

My Pearl and honey gouramis are working out quite well as they completely ignore each other. They often occupy the same territories - literally centimetres away from each other - but there’s no aggression between them. I’d happily do another setup with pearls and honeys, but probably wouldn’t mix dwarf gouramis again.

 

[Byron]

Some things to keep in mind.

All male gourami are territorial, just as all male cichlids are territorial. The degree to which the males in both families defend their territory varies, and the same applies to individual fish within each species. Some are generally more docile, others usually not (talking species here).

Second point...a lot has to do with the aquarium environment. Space is crucial. And the aquascape is crucial--gourami need floating plants, and they all live at or close to the surface. This means the space is limited. Longer tanks offer more square footage.

 

[Gouramidad]

What has been your success with keeping different types of gouramis in the same tank? I'm thinking specifically of honey, pearl and sparkling gouramis.

I had a dwarf red flame and a dwarf blue pearl in the 29 they seemed to be best of friends.