first freshwater tank

[Celeste]

i have a 10 gallon tank, its already doing a fishless cycle. i have a 15 gallon filter, and a 50 watt heater. i just started the cycle yesterday with ammonia, but i forgot test strips, so i will pick those up today. i have already purchased bulbs and droped them in the water. the package says they will sprout within 20 days and will grow to be 6-8" tall in 15 more days. i read somewhere else that plants should be added at the beginning of the cycle as they like ammonia.

my question is about Gouramis. i really liked them at the pet store, and i have a lot of expirience with bettas already (i have owned bettas on and off for 15 years) and i understand they are labrynthe fish like bettas.

i was told by my husband, who also has a lot of expirience with fish, as does his father, and by the guy at the pet store, that Dwarf Gourami males will get along in the same tank, and i could just put 4 dwarf males in the tank and they would get along. i was thinking of getting a blue dwarf as the centerpiece, and then like 3 of another color variation to round it out. not to mention that they ONLY sell males

so far i know that gouramis like the water temp at about 77 degrees, and they like the PH to be in the neutral range. they are omnivores and will eat flakes, algae tablets, plant matter, brine shrimp, worms, etc.

is there anything else i need to know? does anyone have expirience with male dwarf gouramis getting along well? or will they kill each other like i've heard some others say?

if i get some convincing arguments that they'll kill each other, what are some other fish that would go well with a single dwarf gourami male?

 

[TKOS]

In fish stores dwarf gouramis tend to get along due to overcrowding. That sometimes kills aggression. I have found that dwarf gouramis can be nastey little guys to each other as most labarynth fish are. They will probably be able to live together in a larger longer tank with lots of plants but I wouldn't do it in a 10 gallon.

They do like warmer water so get tropicals to go with them. Peaceful tetras like neons, rummy nose, glo-lites are all great choices to go with them. Platies are a nice choice too as they are bigger and quite colourful. Plus with the gourami you won't have to worry about the platies over populating the tank (they are live bearers so they reproduce quite easily). Also cories on the bottom might be fun to watch, or khulie loaches.

Just make sure to stick to only a few fish as a 10 gallon gets overcrowded fast.

 

[Celeste]

the guy at the pet store that told me they would get along has a 125 gallon freshwater tank. my husband also had a couple gourami males that got along. also at the pet store, they had a tank with only two gourami males in it, they had been together 4 months and got along fine. a little pushing and shoving, but they were mostly cool with each other.

how big to platys get? i was considering them or mollies before i changed my mind to gouramis, but i felt mollies got too big for the tank.

 

[stingray4540]

I personally have 2 male dwarf gouramis in a 29 gallon tank, they get along fine other than some minor chaseing and fin nipping, but nothing that has done any damage. I also have two cory cats which are fun to watch. If you only have a ten gallon maybe get one gourami and round the tank out with some schooling fish like white clouds. I have found that trying to keep tetras can be expensive because they die to easily, even if your tank is set up perfectly for them, just the stress of travel could leave you with 2 out of 10 fish in a day or 2. If you want to just have gouramis in the tank than 4 or 5 should be just fine together. they might chase and nip but I wouldn't worry unless they start doing damage. Also If you bring home gouramis from the store and one of them happens to be sick or overly stress from travel, the other gouramis will know and gang up on him until he's dead or seperated until fully healthy. If you get more than 1, get them together and there will be less tendency to pick on each other, if one is used to haveing the tank to himself he won't like any knew roomates too well.
p.s. go with the gouramis there better! I've heard that mollies and platies breed easily and you may end up with more fish than you'd care to have.

 

[Celeste]

what about one neon blue dwarf gourami and like 3 or 4 serpae tetras? those are about the only ones i really liked the look of that dont get too big.

 

[Celeste]

argh! now i'm reading all over that serpae tetras are fin nippers and terrorize each other and other more docile fish....

i dont like neon tetras or cardinal tetras, and all the other ones i've seen are too plain, or get too big.....i dont know what to put with this gourami.....

i cant get female gouramis because theyre ugly and nobody sells them around here.

 

[stingray4540]

why not just make it a gourami tank if you can't find another type of fish you like? Get like four or five gourami's and some cory cats. There are 3 different kinds of dwarf gouami's so you can have a variety. The regular dwarf gourami ( orange and blue stripes), the blue gourami which you seem to be familiar with, and the flame dwarf gourami (all orange with blue dorsal and anal fin). The cory cats also come in a lots of different variations, I personaly like the spoted ones. Good luck.

 

[Jericho]

You can probably do a gourami tank, every fish is different and as long as they get along together then have fun with it. If you want another fish with a gourami then you can do tetras, or fancy male guppies.