Did I screw up? 2 Gouramis in a 10g

O

Opie-IN

AC Members
Nov 21, 2005
10
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Indiana
I did a little reading here under the species profiles and decided on the Three Spotted Gourami because they appear hardy and this will be his first tank. I was careful not to overstock and it showed these fish coming to a maximum of 4.5 inches. Now that I bought them and got them home, I did some reading on the forums and I am finding multiple posts saying 2 of these fish need up to 30gal to be happy.

I am running a 10g, with a Penguin 170 bio-wheel thats turning over the water 17x a hour (very heavy filtration for a 10g) so I think I will be fine with 2 4.5 fish if they get that big.

Your Opinions please.....
 
1 of these fish needs a 20g long to be happy. you could also keep a pair in a 20g long. did you buty two males, two females or a pair? You can tell thier gender by the dorsal fin, the males dorsal is pointed while the females is rounded. I my opinion, putting two male labryinth fish of the same species in the same tank is just asking for trouble, and if you got a pair and they breed, the male could possibly kill the female and/or any tankmates. Two females or a lone male should only give you problems with tankmates.

EDIT: that is way to much filtration for a freshwater 10g, it won't allow you to keep more fish than you would with a properly sized filter, and most fish probably won't be able to swim right.
 
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My daughter's preschool room has a 10-gallon tank w/ a single 3-spot within, and he is patently unhappy. Definitely needs more space.

v/r, N-A
 
As already said, a 10 will be too small for those fish. It would even be too small for only one. They can grow to 6" and maybe a little more with excellent care. You'll also probably soon find out that having two together usually doesn't work, one will probably dominate the other. Keep this fish either by itself (in a 40 gallon or more), or keep a group. Sometimes keeping 4 will work, but you will have better luck with 6 or 8, and even better with 10, etc. Let's say you wanted to keep 8. A group of about 3 males and 5 females would probably work, or even just a group of all females. If you are going to have a big group I would have a big tank. Probably at least a 75 for 8, but bigger would be better.
 
I have 2 Honey Gouramis in my 20 gallon community and they are very happy, but they stay pretty small. The males gets a deep blue throat and blue bottom fin once adjusted then begins chasing the female in circles every so often. They seem to be doing excelent in my 20 gallon, but yours will get bigger than mine.

Not sure if they would work in a 10 by themselves or not though but you might look into it if you want gouramis.

You could either try to return the fish or get a larger tank.
 
I have 2 Honey Gouramis in my 20 gallon community and they are very happy, but they stay pretty small. The males gets a deep blue throat and blue bottom fin once adjusted then begins chasing the female in circles every so often. They seem to be doing excelent in my 20 gallon, but yours will get bigger than mine.

Not sure if they would work in a 10 by themselves or not though but you might look into it if you want gouramis.

You could either try to return the fish or get a larger tank.

Not so much about the filtration, but the space they need to not stunt their growth.
 
Labyrinth fish (gouramis, bettas etc.) are VERY territorial - it's not just a matter of filtration, they need space to call their own. Unfortunately, two in a 10g tank isn't going to work. I'd take them back to the LFS and mention to the manager that the staff member who sold them to you shouldn't have done so; I work at a LFS, it's up to both the staff and customer to make sure that the fish are going to a suitable home.
If you want a 'showpiece' fish for your 10g, a betta (fighting fish) is a better choice IMHO. They're territorial and will fight with their own kind, but they're fine with corys, tetras, cherry barbs, kuhli loaches, rasboras and other small friendly 'community' fish. Just make sure you don't get anything that will nip their long fins - no serpae tetras or tiger barbs! :D
 
OK, some changes will have to be made. The species profile here shows 4.5 max, and was told 4" at petsmart. A bigger tank is NOT gonna happen, my wife is ready to kill me already with what I have now.

I might feed the Gouramis to my Oscar, and get him a single dwarf gourami for his 10gal.
 
Petsmart does *not* have proper fish sizes listed for their fish. That's a fact, Jack. I've complained more than once to them about that.

Best thing to do is research your fish before you walk into the store and just nod your head politely and ignore what they tell you.

Roan
 
Yes Roan is right about the incorrect tags. I happen to work for petsmart *lucky me* :o
Anyway, as of now all the stores should have the new updated/corrected tags up, if they don't, mention that to the manager.
Most of my tags have been sent to me with the corrected info on them and the gouramis are all part of that group. It should say a size of at least 6" on there for the blues and golds.
I agree with everything all this fine people have told you....for 2 of those you'll definitely want at least a 30 gallon or larger. You should be able to take them back and exchange them for something more suitable for the 10 you have.
Candice
 
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