Is it possible to humanely place two dwarf gourami in a 10 gallon planted tank?

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nellafantasia

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I have not had a tank for many years and feel like a newbie. I realize a 10 gallon tank is small. I love the dwarf gourami and am asking those with experience the question posted above. Can I humanely care for two dwarf gourami in a 10 gallon tank? Should one be male and one female? Both male? Is there a kind of plant they like? All I have now is a floating hornwort. No fish yet. I don't want to cause harm or suffering to my fish. Thank you in advance.
 

fishorama

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A 10g is too way too small for 2 males & probably a M & F pair too. Males want to build a bubble nest, entice a female to breed & drive her away. There isn't enough room for her to get out of his territory in a 10g.

If your heart is set a DG, you might keep a group of dwarf corydoras OR small tetras OR small rasboras with 1 DG.

Can you go with a 20g instead of a 10? That may give you a few more options, but not many. Still, just 1 DG...
 

nellafantasia

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A 10g is too way too small for 2 males & probably a M & F pair too. Males want to build a bubble nest, entice a female to breed & drive her away. There isn't enough room for her to get out of his territory in a 10g.

If your heart is set a DG, you might keep a group of dwarf corydoras OR small tetras OR small rasboras with 1 DG.

Can you go with a 20g instead of a 10? That may give you a few more options, but not many. Still, just 1 DG...
Thank you very much for your response. I am glad to know that about what will happed in a 10g tank with two dwarf gourami. I am not going to do that to them. I will wait until I get a bigger tank before having gourami again.

However, I have discovered a larger issue. I now have a home with well water. Delicious for humans BUT ….. I set up the tank with hornwort, rocks and a large driftwood piece. No fish yet. After 24 hrs did a dipstick test ( API test kit is coming soon.) The pH and hardness were off the chart. I am not sure what to do at this point. Can you recommend a thread here that addresses the issue of hard well water and how to prepare it for use in an aquarium? If it is possible at all?
 

fishorama

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Like "he" said ^^, & also can you post a pic of your rock & wood?

My limited idea of well water is it can be high in iron, GH, nitrate & more! Have you ever had your well water tested? They are also often prone to seasonal variations...are you near farms etc? On a private well or municipal/regional system?
 

nellafantasia

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Thank you both for your responses. Until my API Test Kit arrives I am using a simple dipstick by "Tetra", ( I have a background in laboratory technology and am very familiar with exactly how to use dipsticks.)
I doubt these readings are very precise, but what has happened is that 24 hours since adding the driftwood is this:

pH went from over 8.4 to 7.8
KH went from over 300 to 180 approx
GH remains 200 to 300

The tannins have turned the water mildly yellowish which I don't mind if it does not hurt the fish. The driftwood I collected myself about 35 years ago from the shores of a wilderness river north of Lake Superior. I think it looks like cedar. It was whitened from sun bleaching years ago. It is raw wood untreated. I boiled it for 8 minutes on my stove in a large soup pot. The wood you see in the picture would not stay on the bottom so I anchored it with the large smooth rocks your see which I collected myself from the Canadian shore of Lake Superior.

Now about my well:

My house was built in 2006 and is situated in a transitional zone between rocky granitic outcroppings and forest across the road, and the wetland outfront of my house. I believe the habitat is mostly fen out front with some pockets of bog-like areas. I am sure my water percolates through the ground from the forest and rocky upland to to the fen out front. 50 years or so ago much of my land was a potato farm. There is no agriculture anywhere near me.

The well is 44 feet deep putting out 40 gallons per minute. The casing passed through sand, silt and clay and then more sand and one foot of clay. I know my water has iron in it because it will precipitate out in toilet tank but it is not a severe issue. I hate softened water and so have chosen to use it untreated. It tastes so good. It cleans laundry well.
But I worry that I need to remove metals out of it for any fish. Other than coliform count (nil) initially I have never had the water analyzed beyond that.

Sorry if I provided too much info. Here is a picture of the driftwood and rocks.
 

the loach

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Take the "driftwood" out... you can not use cedar wood or any other coniferous tree for that matter.
If you want to collect your own wood rather as buying it read this:


Unless you are planning to just keep alkaline, hard water fish... and want to go low tech I'd collect rain water and mix that with 50% to 25% well water.
You can't collect rainwater however from metal gutters.... they have to be synthetic.
But unless you live in an arid climate, or plan to have big or lots of tanks, it isn't much of a problem.... you can make your own rainwater collector,
just need some surface area and and a barrel to collect it in.
 

fishorama

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Yeah, "softwood" is not the best. It's difficult to get it to sink, as you've seen. I had a pine(?) driftwood piece attached to slate but it wanted to be a bit buoyant even after years of off & on use.

I had granite native rock in MA & they used wells in winter. My water was very soft whether from snow melt or wells, 2-4gdh, both KH & GH, & not much iron as I recall.

Everywhere has different water. It's easiest to keep fish happy in your tap water. Many common fish are commercially bred & may not need the same water parameters of their wild progenitors. (FLA has limestone I think, source of many US commercial fish farms). You may need to use RO or rainwater for some more picky species especially if you want to breed them.

What fish do you want to keep?
 

nellafantasia

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Apr 6, 2019
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Take the "driftwood" out... you can not use cedar wood or any other coniferous tree for that matter.
If you want to collect your own wood rather as buying it read this:


Unless you are planning to just keep alkaline, hard water fish... and want to go low tech I'd collect rain water and mix that with 50% to 25% well water.
You can't collect rainwater however from metal gutters.... they have to be synthetic.
But unless you live in an arid climate, or plan to have big or lots of tanks, it isn't much of a problem.... you can make your own rainwater collector,
just need some surface area and and a barrel to collect it in.
Thank you. I put that driftwood in the tank only because I read it could bring the pH down. It has sentimental value and I would just as soon get it out of there!
 
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