Schooling Gouramie...

Red Tailed Wonder

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Feb 21, 2005
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Hi all,

Can anyone reccomend me a gouramie specie that schools. btw it has to be a gouramie! Maybe honeys? they will be in a 45g with corys, red tailed shark, perhaps hump backed limia and lemon teras. oh and a pleco.

thnx in advance!

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Most gouramis will school I think if you have LOTS and enough space. It is unfeasible unless you have a very large tank. 45g is too small. If you have too few gouramis, they may fight. You could try 4 pearl/lace gouramis, or even 6. But they probably won't 'school' as such. Don't know about honeys. You could try 6 or so, but again they probably won't school.
 
IME, a male/female pair of dwarf gourami will always stick together/follow each other around.
perhaps, but two fish do not a "school" make. how many fish do make a school? there is no magic number but in the wild, schools are generally large - often numbering in the hundreds or even thousands. In captivity, schooling fish need to have at least 4-6 to create a school that they are comfortable with.

quite a few popular freshwater fish prefer to live in schools. Barbs, Danios, and most Tetras should all be kept in schools. Loaches such as the Clown and Kuhli loach often will pine away if they are not kept in a school of their own kind. Even larger fish such as the Silver Dollar prefer to live in a school. It's a good idea to do some research before choosing a new fish. If the fish you are considering prefers to live in a school you should plan on purchasing at least 4 of the same species.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/articles/school.shtml
 
Gourami can sometimes be kept in large numbers without problem because they are too crowded for any individual to establish a territory. However, like betta's, most varietys are very territorial by nature and some are extremely aggressive. Sparkling gourami and pearl gourami are known to be among the more peaceful and can usually be kept in multiples, but even then their behavior can change dramatically for the worse once mating behavior starts up. With a large enough tank, gourami of different species/varieties can often be kept so long as they have enough space to establish their own territory. If you plan to try to keep multiple gouramis (other than a planned male/1-2 female mix), you should either have another tank prepared so you can house the fish seperately if the agression levels are too high or have prior arrangments to be able to return one or more of the fish to your LFS or rehome them with another aquarist.
 
I never said they school, I only said they tend to stick together
true, but she originally asked for gourami that 'school' and i responded that gourami are not a schooling species. and then you said .... well, blah and blah. :p:
 
There are no gouramis that school. If anything, most gouramis are harsh toward eachother. But your best bet would probably be dwarfs. One male with a few females would be the best way to go.
 
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