Adding some new tank mates to a 20gal.

[SimonWoodstock]

Would adding a blue gourami and a betta be overcrowding for a 20 gal. The current inhabitants are: 1 4"(ish) banjo cat, 1 2" flame dwarf gourami, 1 2"(ish) pleco, a male and female guppy w/ 6 small babies.

Assume all the fish in the tank will be full sized while living there, Except--the pleco will move in my friends 55 when it outgrows mine and i will only be keeping 1 adult male and about 2...maybe 3...adult female guppies. The rest of those will be oscar food!

thanks

[Leopardess]

Well, I'm not sure I'm too keen on the blue gourami/betta combination. I'd be willing to bet that they would be at each other all the time. Also, gouramis are very territorial and I wouldn't be surprised if the blue would hassle the little dwarf gourami (although, I had a neon blue dwarf that ruled over my fullgrown male pearl gourami)...


SO, I think you're saying you'd have:

1 banjo cat (never heard of this...thats weird lol)
3- 4 guppies
1 dwarf gourami

and the gourami and betta.

Stocking wise, thats a fine number, but as I said, I'm not sure about the combo. If you're dead set on a large gourami, try finding a female pearl gourami...just as colorful as a male...and not nearly as aggressive. But I'd shy away from the betta, unless it were a female.

[SimonWoodstock]

yeah, i know bettas and gouramis dont mix well sometimes. i had a betta w/ 2 dwarfs and they didnt bother each other. but the 2 dwarfs fought until 1 died, then my betta died from a sickness (fin rot i believe). if the betta does not mix, i have a 10 gal. that he will have all to himself...maybe share with another banjo...i love those things, check it out on planetcatfish.com

anyway, thanks for the reply. i mainly wanted to know if anyone thought that was over-stocking...i would rather be on the under-stocked side than over-stocked.

i dont know much about the blue gourami, which i think i have seen called a "three spot" gourami? i may leave him out if you think they will fight and try just the betta, i can always move him if they fight. I dont have another place for the gourami.

[Captain Hook]

I have a couple blues in a 35 with some other gouramies and I find they are pretty territorial and fairly large.

Have you thought about more dwarf gouramies but of a different type? I just bought a bright blue one (called powder blue) and a mostly orange with a tiny bit of blue on its top fin called a fire gourami. They would add some more and different color to the tank and should be fine with your other dwarfs.

[SimonWoodstock]

I'll have to be on the look out for the powder blue gourami, sounds cool! I believe the fire gourami that you have is the same as mine, he is pretty interesting. I will definently keep an eye out for some diff. types of dwarfs at the LFS though, my tank needs a bit more color and i enjoy gouramis.


Thanks for starting this thread Simon, gives more input on my topic! I think my tank has complete surface agitation I will have to check that though.

No problem, the only reason i really started it is because i overlooked your thread on air pumps. (it has been a long weekend!) Let us now how it turns out w/ your new fish.

Thanks for the advice!
...I dont know how to use the quote thing but you know what your screen name is anyway:rolleyes:

[Leopardess]

cough * cough* neon blue dwarf gourami* cough cough. Sorry, they're my favorite:)

As far as stocking goes, you'd be fine number wise.

And, if you wanna try a gourami, but still wanna stay on the understocked side...look into dwarf honey gouramis...they max out around 1 - 1.25"

[MaryPa]

Guppies and gouramis sound like a strange combination.You don`t plan on putting a T of salt per 5gal of water for the guppies?That would be nice looking to have a betta and gourami together but it seems they`d fight IMO..........................oscar food:eek: Poor things :(

[Leopardess]

Well...the guppies should be fine in fresh water...especially if your LFS keeps them in fresh (mine do). But, I would not suggest that combo simply because the gouramis would be rather tempted to nip at the fins of the guppies - they'd also get in each other's way a lot, since they are both surface fish.

[TKOS]

Guppies do fine in freshwater. Adding salt doesn't really help so much as hard water helps. NaCl isn't that important. But guppies and bettas generally don't mix at all. Those flowing tails of the guppies make most male bettas really mad. I would leave the betta for the 10 gallon tank.

Add some plants if you don't have them. Blocking line of site will help make the gouramis much more peaceful. Plus it will help take up a lot of waste from tank. Gouramis are also somewhat of a grazer so they really like to have plants.

[SimonWoodstock]

True, male guppies and bettas together can be a bad combo. Thing is...if the betta and gourami(-ies possibly) dont fight, everything will be fine for me.

You see the guppies were just feeders and i noticed 1 was a male and was developing some cool colors. Out of the blue i decided to hang on to a few.

So far they have been pretty interesting to watch sometimes, other than nipping at my catfish while he is trying to stay burrowed under the sand...which almost got them tossed. If they cause problems w/ the betta, if i decide to put one in, they will go to the oscar tank. As of right now, the male hasn't grown a full fan type tail yet. It is about halfway there i guess, and it is 75% transparent.

So basically, if the betta gets along w/ the gourami, everything will be ok w/ me. If they dont, I have a couple of 10 gallons so i can put him in 1.

As for the plants, i agree that i need some more plants. I have been plant shopping for some. I am thinking about adding about 4 or 5 bulbs that walmart has. i have no idea what kind they are, but they are cheap, and if they dont grow you send them back to the company and they will send you some new ones free. They dont look half bad either IMO.

thanks

[ROLLIN]

I didnt read the whole thread so I dont know if someone already mentioned this or not yet, but blue gouramis get pretty big. I have one (about 4 and a half inches) that did fine when she was in my 66 gallon, but when she had to be moved to my 23 gallon (30"x12"x15") she didnt like it at all. Im trying to find a home for her because she is quite skittish and hides quite a bit now, the tank just isnt big enough. IMO the minimum size for blue gouramis is around 36"x15"x18".