lyndatu

Hello

I went to a faraway store and I got crazy when I saw a tank full of neon tetras, as they are rare here in the Philippines. I bought a school of 6 for my 20-gallon community tank, but upon releasing them to the waters, our shrimp killed one of them. We gave away the shrimp to the pet store, as I've always dreamed of having a school of neons darting in my house. I put my neons in a breeder box, just in case. I'm going to buy another neon tetra to complete the shoal. But I'm worried about this gourami - he/she is the boss of the tank, and it might hurt my neons. I see that the neons are a little more than an inch in size(1.5 inch, if I'm correct), but they might get killed by the gourami. What do you think is the breed of this gourami? I first thought it was a Red Flame Honey Gourami, but I might be wrong. It is about 2-3 inches long. Is it safe for my neons, or will I wait for my neons to grow bigger so they can handle themselves? Sorry for the blurry pics, the fish are hard to capture and I'm only using a camera phone.....

What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Edited to add: I found a fish compatability program in the web and I checked if neon tetras and honey gouramis are compatible and it says that they are, but I want to be sure.

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Alessa

That is indeed a honey gourami. And they are supposed to be compatible tetras.

The problem with gouramis in general, as well as Bettas, is that the behavior of an individual fish does not account for the whole species. That is, the personality changes a lot from fish to fish. You may encounter that most gouramis are laid back and not very agressive, and you may also find gouramis that cant even stand themselves.

I have had dwarf gouramis, I just got another one the other day, and in general as long as no one bugs them, their food, territory or their feelers, they should not be very agressive. Maybe just the occational chasing of a fish, but nothing more than that.

Barbrella

Agree with Alessa. Your gourami should be fine with tetras.

My dwarf gourami - who is also boss of the tank - has been living with neon tetras and barbs for months.

He sometimes lunges at them if they get in his way, but they don't care and he never really chases or hurts them in any way. Neons are petty feisty little guys, chasing and sparring among themselves.

Both species appreciate a planted tank.

Very pretty gourami!

GouramiGirl1221

When you put your neons in your tank, if there is an aggression from your gourami take him/her out of the tank for about an hour, redecorate/move things around, and then re-introduce your gourami to your tank. I just did this with my "boss" dwarf gourami a couple days ago when I introduced another female DG, and everything has been fantastic since.

lyndatu

Thank you all very much for the replies!

I released the Neon Tetras to the tank and after a day they've been living in peace. The other fish were curious at first, but then eventually became friends with them. The neons seem happy with their new home, as they are active and their incandescent stripes shine.

Thank you very much.

capekate

Glad to hear they are getting along Lyndatu
The honey Gourami seems to be a more peaceful type compared to other Gourami's. I also had them in my tank, tho they appeared to be more sensitive than their larger relations and did not last but I really enjoyed them while I had them.
Good luck with your new fishys!