Hello from Canada

[19Steve61]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Steve. I live in New Brunswick, Canada. I've had fish for 4 years, all bettas. I enjoyed looking after fish that had no tank mates. There was no one to bother them, I knew they were getting all the food, etc.

My last betta recently died. I decided to buy something different this time. I bought a 10 gallon tank, and yesterday picked up a dwarf blue gourami and 2 platies. They are all very active. I have read that some gouramis can be very shy but this guy is everything but. He is also eating very well. My concern is he seems to be getting all (or most) of the food. The platies have gone for the pellets and flakes I've given them, but haven't eaten as far as I can tell. I am thinking of putting the platies in their own tank, so I can be sure they are eating. I was always very careful about not overfeeding the bettas.

Can a gourami live happily on their own? From what I can tell, I don't think it would bother this guy. Would the platies be better off in their own tank?

Maybe everything will be fine and I am just a worry-wort. All I know is having more than 1 fish in a tank is new to me.

Anything anyone can tell me about gouramis and platies, their eating habits, etc would be wonderful!

Thanks so much!!

 

[Rbishop]

Welcome to AC!

 

[Mr. Bones]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum

 

[Claire Vaughan]

Hi Steve. Welcome. I too am fairly new. I have had Gourmies together with Platies and they all did fine together. I would think the Platies are probably getting more food that you think. The Gourmies I have had together did not get along very well. In my experience with them, they seem to do better alone that with other Gourmies.

 

[Fillip]

Hello from New-York!)

 

[tanker]

Welcome Steve, Platys will get along fine with the Gouramis, but IMO, your tank maybe a little to small for them.

 

[19Steve61]

Thanks so much for the messages everyone. A little has changed since my last post. My gourami died, the poor little guy. I decided to just stick with the 2 platies rather than get another gourami or another fish. I also bought a 5 gallon tank, and put one of the platies in it. The platies are doing great in their own tanks, and I find it easier feeding them, changing the water, etc, when there is only 1 fish in the tank. It is just what I am used to.

 

[myswtsins]

Welcome to AC (delay...). Sorry to hear about your gourami. Typically platys like to be with other platys but if they seem to be thriving alone then it's fine. Just keep it in mind that they may get lonely or "depressed". If you want to discuss this more you should start a new thread dedicated to that topic.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome back!

I agree that lots of fish like gourami do just fine solo. They prefer zero competition by nature. Other fish that are schoolers or shoalers will survive on their own, but won't behave naturally without others of their kind around.

If your solo platys are active, hungry, have good color, etc, keep doing what you're doing!

 

[19Steve61]

Thanks so much for the comments! I really appreciate it!

I was happy, but a little concerned, when I heard from Pet Smart that platys could live on their own. They are doing fine. They are very active, hungry, and seem very content in their own tanks. Hendrix (red "mickey mouse" platy) is a little nervous when I clean his tank and prefers me to keep my distance, unless it's meal time. Nothing fazes my red-tailed black varitus platy at all. He is unique in that he was born with only 1 eye. I wonder how common this is? He is normal in every other way. I named him Happy!