Dwarf Gourami pair?

Would he like a female? Surely. Would she appreciate his attention? Unlikely. Male livebearers and anabatoids (gouramies) tend to be very aggressive towards the females. If the female can not escape the attentions, she can be killed. A pair of females works better with a single male--this way the aggression is split up between the two. Make sure there are lots of hiding places as well for the female.

By the way--fish don't get lonely. Schooling fish can be stressed by being kept solo, but they are not lonely. They don't 'appreciate' company like mammals do--other fish are either cover (for schoolers), mates, threats or food for the vast majority of fish species for most of their life.

how can you tell the difference between male and female dwarf guaramies?

i'm thinking about getting several of the blue, powder blue and possibly the reddish ones (i dont remember the name) for my empty 20 gallon tank pretty soon. i'd like to get a few corys also, so i dont want to fill it up with guaramies. but if theres a problem between males and females, how many of each gender should i get? and once again, how do i tell the difference?

In the dwarf gouramies, color is the most reliable guide. Males are brightly colored, females are rather drab. A good pairing is one male for every 2-3 females. I wouldn't recommend having a pair of males--they can be very aggressive, and it's hit or miss on getting 2 that will get along, especially in smaller tanks. I had a pair of males in a planted 40 with no problems, but others have reported lots of fighting in tanks smaller than 55.

so if i got 2 males and 6 females, perhaps i would be okay?

i'm glad i readt his beforehand, i've seen what i suppose is males because they're brightly colored, and there are many in a tank at the lfs together, i wouldnt have known not to fill my tank up with them. thank you for the info!

I wouldn't put that many in a 20. Even with lots of girls, the males will still fight it out. In a 20, one male and 2 females will work okay.

*Edit: A very important point to make here. LFS do NOT maintain their tanks like a home aquarium should be stocked. They keep a massive number of fish in a small tank. Most stock juvenile fish, which will not have the same aggression levels as the adults. The fish are not intended to grow and thrive in the LFS setup--just survive until sold. Never try to duplicate the sale tanks at an LFS--gauranteed failure. If they have show tanks, some might be acceptable to duplicate, but even in show tanks I've seen fish combinations that won't work in the long run.

if i just got a single male guarami, or a male and two females, would he/they be alright with any number of tetras?

i was kindof interested in "blueberry" and "strawberry" tetras, but i'm guessing the guarami(s) might be a little too agressive.

what else might i be able to put with a guarami (or three) in the 20gal?

Blueberry and strawberry tetras are dyed--search here on dyed fish, and you'll find out a lot of info. These are not naturally occurring fish, have a poor chance of survival, and shouldn't, IMO, be purchased.

With a male and 2 females, you could have a small group of small tetras--4-5 cardinals or 5-6 neons, along with a trio of cories for the bottom. That would be pushing it though--lots of bio-load, so you'd want to add the fish slowly, and make sure to do regular maintenance.

Blueberry and strawberry tetras are dyed--search here on dyed fish

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i was afraid of that.