Fish Species

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pisces22

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Aug 1, 2004
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Hey Everyone,

I'm waiting for the ich parasites that devastated my entire (new)fish population to die out in my tank (with the help of raised temp and salt). I was researching possible fish species-originally I was attracted to livebearers;platys,mollies,swordtails ect and was planning to get more of them, but I also noticed gouramis. My tank is 21 gallons, wide, with an aqua clear 200 filter. I was wondering if anyone knew what type of gouramis(blue?pearl?) I could keep and what other fish can be kept with gouramis. I also read that they prefer well planted aquariums-I'm not "skilled" enough for real plants and I was wondering just how "well planted" does the aquarium need to be. Anyway thanks for your patience, and feel free to point out any ignorent mistakes/blunders I have made!lol
 
A single gourami would be okay in your tank, but not more than one. They can be territorial, and reach up to 6 inches in length, so need a lot of room. The blue, platinum, gold, ones are all a color morph on the three spot gouramie. There are a few other types, not seen as often, but with similar characteristics. I would avoid the kissing gourmies, as they get way too big for your tank. You might want to look into the sparkling or croaking gouramies--they stay much smaller, and you could have a gourp of one male and three females comfortably.

As for planting--well, many people will insist that almost all fish do better in a heavily planted tank. The important thing is to provide cover for the fish, but this can be rocks, wood, artificial plants, pots, etc. I have a blue gourami that is 4 years old in a 20 gallon with a, African clawed frog*--there are some chunks of wood, and a large pot. Only plants are some duckweed and a bit of java moss. No substrate. Both occupants are very healthy, and active. So plants are not required, though they are nice.

A bigger concern is feeding. Gouramies are primarily vegetarians--but they will happily gulp down just about anything you put in the tank. Too much meat in their diet gives them constipation, and can contribute to other ailments. So make sure you can feed a good veggie based diet, with meat only infrequently as a treat.


*Mixing fish with an ACF is not a good idea--the frog can and will eat anything she can get into her mouth. The gouramie is big enough that the frog can't eat her, and was introduced to the tank when the frog was still fairly small. But, YMMV for trying this at home.
 
Fish for my 21g

i was trying to research the gouramis and i read that the blue and pearl gouramis were peaceful and hardy and their adult size was four inches, so i figured I could get a pair or something, but if they grow to six inches then im in trouble!lol I called my local (good) fish store to see what they had, but apparently all they had was a male blue gourami and had just got "Royal" gouramis (also blue, but all male) alas, no dwarf,croakin or sparkling :mad: so I may have to go for the livebearers Anyway thanx for your answer, and has anyone ever heard of a "Royal" gourami??
 
OG, I think the pearl is a different fish, blues, golds, and opaline are the morphs from the 3 spot. pearls don't get quite as big as the blues, and IMO are easier going. both would work as singles, I'd agree with the dwarf gourami's being a better option in that size tank.
Dave
 
I once also read that Pearls were a peacefull gourami and added one to my tank.

Big mistake.

From my experience I will always assume any type of Gourami as semi-aggressive and treat them accordingly.

Of course fish temperments vary as wildly as dog personalities and you might luck out and get a peaceful one.

But don't take it for granted.
 
pisces22 said:
I also read that they prefer well planted aquariums-I'm not "skilled" enough for real plants and I was wondering just how "well planted" does the aquarium need to be.
Click to expand...
IME fish do really appreciate the security provided by plants, but they're not too concerned with whether they're live, plastic or silk so you could heavily plant your tank with silk or plastic plants.
 
Tank Stocking

Ok thanx for your advice-Im checking other fish stores for dwarf gouramis. If I dont find any, I suppose Ill go with swords and mollies, or swords and platys or something.One more question-I want to determine if the staff at my LFS (hahah im picking up the lingo) are competent-I have a 21 gallon tank, which I let it run for 2 weeks before adding fish, waited another week and added more fish, and they were doing fine until a week later.....ich :sad Anyways.....I told the fish guy what the tank contained-3 small red platys and three slightly bigger black lyretail mollies, and asked if I could add a school of six neon tetras. ( I tried my best to calculate, but my dad, seeing as this was a brand new aquarium, said not to get my hopes up that all the fish would reach their full adult size) The guy said it would be fine as long as I did regular water changes and good aquarium mantinence ect., and also suggested I get a few more neon tetras if I wanted a school of six in the tank at all times. The neons were very tiny (and so cute!!!!) and the final count b4 ich :sad was 3 platys, 3 mollies, and 8 neons......hindsight is 20/20, in ur opinion was the tank overstocked or can i trust the fish guy in the future?

pisces
 
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rambling new tank thoughts

Here's my thoughts:

I don't think your tank was overstocked, but I think it was too much fish to add at once. (1-2 weeks is too short a time) Letting the tank run without fish was a good idea, (it lets you check for leaks, make sure all the equipment works, lets the temp stablize,lets all the sediment settle, ect) but it doesn't do anything towards setting up the proper ecosystem. (nitrifying bacteria!) I would get a few hardy fish (I've seen zebra danios suggested) and put them in the tank and not add fish for 4-6 weeks.(a better alternative, for the fish, is fishless cycling.. but it can be a pain and hard to get the ammonia)

Get a good test kit, one that has tests for Ammonia, nitrItes (ites) nitrAtes, and pH. (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes a good one for around $25, tests for all that plus general hardnes) Look around on here for how to cycle your tank, and how to tell when it is done cycling. Then add another few fish. A mini-cycle will probably result. (more fish = more fish poop = more ammonia)

As for ich, the parasite needs the fish to complete it's life cycle, I'm not sure if treating the tank with no fish in it will have any effect.

I've got a 29gal with two Dwarf Gouramis and six Neon tetras. The tank has finished cycling, but I just changed the substrate so I think it will cycle again. (I kept a pantyhose filled with some of the old gravel in the tank, but we shall see)

The two Gouramis are kinda territorial, unless they get scared, then they hang out together.. they kinda remind me of brothers. Fighting with each other (no damage, just kinda chase each other a bit) then when something bad happens, they hide together. Anyway, I think they are great. Mostly fearless, (they don't like the net, however) and they come right up to the top and beg come feeding time. I wouldn't suggest you get more than one of any kind of gourami, unless you get a male/female pair. Mine are still young, I may have to separate them once they get older.

I've got lots of plastic plants in the tank, plus a kinda silly looking plastic "rock" with shell looking things on it. It's pretty big, has a hole to swim through and a cave to hide in. I think if I had a more open tank the Gouramis might be more inclined to fight.

Anyway, enough rambling: I like coryadora (sp?) catfish, most pet stores will have several different varieties. They are small, very peacefull, and active. they like to be in groups, though, so get 3-4+ of a type. Neons like to school, get at least 5-6 of em. (the LFS has a billion or so in the tank, they are really cool to watch in large groups.) They aren't the hardiest of fish, though, I wouldn't suggest getting them as the first fish you put in the tank.

As for "well planted", I would say lots. Most fish like cover, places to hide, ect. Gouramis in their natural habitat (or so I've heard) use floating plants to make a "bubble nest" they use for spawning. There is nothing wrong with plastic or silk plants, thats all I have (for now..)

Anyway, hope this helps a little.
 
always use gouramies in groups of at least 3 or as a single fish because in a pair the larger usually beats up on the smaller one.

as for dwarf gouramies ask around for red coral and blue neon gouramies as most pet store employees probably don't know which ones are dwarf gouramies unless it is labeled on the tag

for plants you could use anubias plants or java ferns which require no skill or special attention whatsoever and will be beneficial to your tank

as for ich the parasites will die if they do not find a fish in 24 hours (most likely shorter if the temperature is above 80) so extra aid is not needed.

good luck with your new fish and do not add too many at once
 
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