Stocking Of My Tank And What Kind Of Ram?

[glasgowgirl786]

Hey everyone

A couple of questions for anyone who would be kind enough to answer them

1. I have a Juwel rio 180 external filter Fluval 206 and in my tank I currently have:
8 X-Ray tetras
8 Corys
2 gouramis
1 female betta
2 silver sharks (which I know will outgrow my tank,plan on taking them back soon as lfs never told me how big they get!)
1 ram

I was just wondering if I could add a few more? Maybe platies or small schooling fish? Or do you's think my stocking is pretty full?

Also I got a ram but not sure what kind he is as found a Few diff names on the internet so I've had attached a pic for anyone to let me know what he is

Thanks for the help!

 

[fluttermoth]

Do you know what species of gourami you have?
 
That's a Bolivian ram

 

[glasgowgirl786]

Ones a thick lip gourami (in my pic) and the other is a small yellow one. They get on surprisingly well
He has no yellow on him though and is very dull, he was like that when I bought him but all the pictures of Bolivian rams have yellow and are bright . Hope he isn't stressed or something! He seems happy enough swimming around..

 

[Byron]

I too think that is likely a Bolivian Ram, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus.  A good cichlid on its own in a community tank.
 
The yellow/gold gourami might be the same species, there is a gold variant of the tick-lip gourami, Trichogaster labiosa is the species (both).  I'm attaching a photo of the normal and one of the gold variety so you can compare.  The only other yellow/gold gourami I am aware of is the gold variant of the Blue Gourami, Trichopodus trichopterus, shown in the third photo.  One of these is less likely to be "friendly" with other gourami if male.
 
You should be able to add a few more upper fish, like a shoaling species that fits, but first I would get rid of the sharks, sooner rather than later.  As for upper fish, what are your water parameters, thinking GH (hardness) and pH?  So far you have soft to moderate water fish, so harder water fish would be less compatible, depending upon your parameters.
 
Byron.

 

[glasgowgirl786]

The middle pic is like my thick lip gourami and I have attached a pic that looks like my yellow one. Yes I'm planning on taking the sharks back ASAP. Not looking forward to catching them though lol they are super fast..thanks for your help Byron
Oops won't let me attach the photo
My gourami is all yellow though no orange on her

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi Glasgow, I had several Bolivian Rams for 2 years plus. They are great fish! By the way, is your tank cycled yet?

 

[glasgowgirl786]

Hey yeah we'll & truly cycled had it for about a year + now

 

[Essjay]

 I have attached a pic that looks like my yellow one.....

.....My gourami is all yellow though no orange on her

 
The fish in the photo is a male honey gourami of the yellow colour morph. Females don't have the black throat or the orange towards the tail. But they do tend to have a darker stripe along the sides from nose to tail, though not all females have this stripe, and it could just be a hint of a stripe.

 

[glasgowgirl786]

She had the dark stripe along her body when I got her so thought she was a female lol