Je55*e

I work at a pet store with fish and we have these in. I was told by an experienced co-worker that these are peaceful gourami, as opposed to the other variations of gourami. I would love to get one of the honey sunsets (unless they prefer company).
I am ultimately going to have 6 hatchet fish, 3-4 cory cats, 3-4 kuhli loaches, and an apple snail in a 20 gallon planted aquarium.
Would they fit in this kind of set-up? I am having trouble finding information on them via google. Any trusted sites anyone knows of with more info. on them are also welcome.

MeGustaUnaPez926

I have 2 in my 20 gallon. They are very cute and peaceful. I believe they only get to 2 inches long. I can't direct you to any good sites, sorry. And I think your aquarium is pretty fully stocked already. Oh, and they can be kept alone.

GouramiGirl1221

They can be kept with just about anything that isn't a fin nipper. I have a female, so obviously she is much more peaceful than my other male dwarfs, but I would agree that they're very peaceful fish compared to other gouramis.

I think your plan will overstock to your tank to the point that you will have some problems though. Maybe if you pick either the cories or the loaches you'd have better luck, since a 20 gal doesn't have an extremely large footprint and they would both be living on the bottom of the tank.

Je55*e

^Yes, I am having trouble deciding between the two (Loaches or Cories). I like them both so much, but I can only pick one. ;_; hehe
I doubt that either one would bother the Gouramis, do you think? Your name speaks of your Gourami knowledge. :P Oh, and how do you sex Gouramis?

Barbrella

IF you're referring to small gouramis, males are brightly coloured, and females are usually a silvery grey. Most petstores do not stock females, since it seems no one wants them.

Dwarf or Honey gouramis should be just fine with the fish you have planned.

Je55*e

Yes, small gouramis (honey sunsets). Aw, I would be happy with a silvery-grey female. :/ Are the males unhappy alone if I were to get just one?
And thanks for the info. =)

angelfish220

No, they are fine to be left alone. They are one of the cutest gouramis in my opinion

Je55*e

^Great! Hopefully the Hatchets and Loaches or Cories (whoever I decide upon) will make friends with him. =)

GouramiGirl1221

I've kept my gouramis with hatchets and cories and everyone gets along fine. I've never kept them with kuhli loaches, but I have kept them with yoyo's and dojo's and again, all was fine. I've never had any issues with my gouramis getting along with tank mates except for other gouramis.

Sexing gouramis really isn't that hard if you know what you're looking for. Not all females are silvery gray-my female sunset is actually very brightly colored. What your looking for on the dwarfs is the dorsal fin. If it's tall and long with a point at the end (normally) then it's a male. I say normally with a point because sometimes the tips get nipped off in the LFS because they keep so many males together. Females always have very short, rounded dorsal fins. I've attached pics of my gouramis to help you out. The first is a powder blue male, the second is my honey sunset female. I hope you can see how different their dorsal fins are.

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Je55*e

^Those pictures are very helpful, thank you very much! I can see the difference between their dorsal fins. They're lovely fish, by the way. =)

catfishtabbi

it is one honey of a fish. i think you should get a male & female. The males dorsal fin will taper to a point and he is more colorful,whrn in the mood his breast changes colors he will be all shades of blue-purple/black, its a must see. The female is no dog but lighter and her dorsal fin comes to a round.Oh by the way ive only seen my K.loach 2x/6months, waste of time, you need the bottom feeders mostly.

Je55*e

^Thanks for the info. Sounds gorgeous, I believe I will get a pair. =)

MeGustaUnaPez926

Catfishtabbi, you might never see him because he's lonely, I believe they like to be kept in schools. Also, they need a lot of hiding places, and the more they have, the more secure they feel, the more you see them.

Je55*e

^Agreed. I plan to get a small school of them. I love the cat fish, but with snails, they would probably be better in case there are snail eggs.

GouramiGirl1221

Wait, are we talking about gouramis or catfish? Gouramis don't school at all...in fact, it's rather difficult to find multiple males that will live together peacefully. If anything you would want one male and multiple females, but even that can sometimes cause problems.

Iron waffle

Honey gouramis are very peaceful and can be kept in groups, but they won't school. They get along great with coolie loaches, i keep them together. If you can, get some java moss for them to rest in.

Je55*e

Gouramigirl: I meant a school of loaches. I probably would only have room in the tank for just one or two of the honey sunsets. Is one of them ok alone? Or, two females or a male and a female?

Gilbert: I am planning to get some java moss; that's a nice image. ^_^

GouramiGirl1221

They are fantastic alone! If you want two though, I'd suggest two females. That will give you the highest likelihood of a happy tank. Two males will almost certainly fight, and if you get a male and a female the male may torment the female if he's ready to breed and she's not. Just wanted to make sure you weren't going to create a "school" of gouramis and have them tearing each other apart!

Je55*e

So far, I have not seen one female at work. Unless we get some soon, looks like it'll be a solitary male. I hope he's happy, if so!

GouramiGirl1221

My powder blue was kept as the sole gourami in a 10 gal when I first got him for 2 months and he is no more happy now, with more gouramis, than he was then. He knows he's my favorite though...that probably helps lol.

Je55*e

^haha, I imagine. ^_~ Is that him in your avatar?

GouramiGirl1221

That's actually a stock photo I found on the internet, before I got good pics of him. Now that you mention it, though, I should change it. He poses for me when I bring the camera out, so I've got at least 25 good pics of him and none of some of my others lol.

Je55*e

^what a ham! I'd love to see him. =)

GouramiGirl1221

That's him in my avatar now lol. I just changed it - thanks for the suggestion!

Je55*e

^Wow! He's stunningly gorgeous! What beautiful coloring. I'm glad I made the suggestion, however inadvertently. =)

2lucky

Hi there, sorry to hijack your thread. But a question: can you keep a dwrf DG and a honey together.
Thanks

GouramiGirl1221

2lucky,

It really depends on the size of the tank and the temperament of the fish. If there is enough room for both fish to establish their territory and stay out of each others way, then you'll likely have success. You'll also want to provide plenty of plant cover, both rooted and floating, so that they can get out of each others line of vision when necessary. What size tank are you considering attempting this in? When I know, I can give you some better advise.

2lucky

Thanks GG
-My 107 gallon -so I'm guessing they should be right??

GouramiGirl1221

That should be plenty of room for them! Best of luck!