Dwarf Gourami Pair in Community

Hello so I'm getting a new 240l fish tank next week. I'm my tank at the moment I have:

1 Dwarf Gourami
7 Guppies (2M,2F,3fry)
3 Harlequin Rasbora
6 Neon Tetra
3 Cory Cats (1 albino, 2 bronze)
8 Red Cherry Shrimp

What I'm planning so far is:

1 Dwarf Gourami
7 Guppies
10 Harlequin Rasbora
10 Neon Tetra
6 Albino Cory Cats
6 Bronze Cory Cats
Red Cherry shrimp

My questions are :

1) My dwarf gourami is very skittish in the tank now and I think that's because it's too small for him to have a territory so I'm hoping he will be more confident in the bigger tank?

2) I can't figure out whether having a pair of DG 1M,1F or a trio 1M, 2F would be a bad idea or not in a community tank. Does anyone have any advice on this?

I want my DG to become more of a centrepiece fish which is why I got him, but I barely see him at the moment.

Thanks



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I like your stocking except for the Guppies. With 2 male and 2 female, you are going to have a constant stream of fry. If you have the space, means and ability to handle that, than okay.

As for Dwarf Gouramis, I had 2 in my 208l tank. Both were males and they got along great based on when I was watching. I know many here will say there should only be one DG in a tank because they will fight otherwise. Mine never did, but mine is also a larger tank than most people have that ask if they can have 2. As for a m/f pair, I don't know. You will be lucky to find a female DG. Also, if you can, get them from a local breeder. Avoid the big pet/fish stores if you can since most get them from over seas and they have a high mortality rate due to DGIV.

 

HI alink, thanks for letting my know about you DGs. I've been finding it so hard to find any information about DGs in a community tank because all of the threads I've seen are someone asking about a 10g, or maybe a 20g. It's good to hear some information about about a bigger tank Hopefully someone will have some experience with a breeding pair in a larger tank.

I'm not sure how to find a local DG breeder, but I have found a small LFS that sells females (the only ones I've seen). I've asked at an LFS before about them and they said that some of the bright blue gouramis in a tank were females. Shows how much you should trust your LFS.

In the last year (almost) these three fry are the only ones I have even seen from my guppies, so I haven't been too worried about population. But if they start to get out of hand I should be able to sell the fry (and I will have a spare 60l) and I can the sell the females if need be and just keep a group of males. Possibly just 4 males of different colours, which would be quite nice. Of course I've tried this before and the males just attacked each other.

 

I forgot to mention that both my DGs died mysteriously (as in no visual indicators and water quality was good). I had a powder blue and a neon blue (who was more orange than blue lol). The powder blue went first and within a week later the other went.

You can check sites like aquabid or local aquarium hobbyist groups for more information on finding a local breeder.

That's a good test you did and quite funny what they said since anyone who knows anything about DG's know the female is much duller in color and has a rounded dorsal fin compared to the males that comes to a point.

Good luck with everything!

 

Oh, how sad. Sorry about your DGs. The one I have now is my second DG. My first one didn't survive my parents looking after the tank for 6 months or so while I was moving around a lot. But this one I've had almost a year now.

I do like to test my LFS sometimes. It's helpful to find out which ones actually "might" know something in a pinch and which ones are completely clueless.

Thanks for the tip on aquabid etc. I'll look into it if I decide to get a female or two.

Does anyone else have any advice or experiences to share?

 

Anyone?

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I'm sorry for continuing to bump this but I'd really love some advice. Thanks

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I totaly agree with alink. That's without the two males-thing (maybe your neon blue was a female alink !). No problem in a 240 litres. Don't keep them to warm (triggers mating = agression)
And off topic : Up the Corys !!!!!

 

HI DoubleDutch, thanks for your reply So you think that a pair/trio would work then? That's great! Would a pair or trio be better? What temperature do you suggest keeping them? At the moment I keep my tank at 24C

Also, up the Corys more than the 6 of each? I don't want to overstock, or overcrowd the bottom of the tank. Do I have room for more?

 

24C is okay. I'd go for a trio. Any aggression of the male is divided that way.
6 / 6 Corys (though the same species) would be great !

 

Brilliant I didn't even realise that the temperature made a difference to whether they tried to breed or not. Being able to control at least some of the aggression will be amazing.

I had considered having 3 albino and 3 bronze, and then 6 sterbai, but it was suggested that my corys would be happier as 6 albino and 6 bronze. I have noticed that my albino tends to stick by himself at the moment and my 2 bronze stick together.

 

Then I'd take 6 bronze and 6 albinos indeed. I've both as well. Sterbais like it a bit hotter then 24C.
So you have floatingplants?

 

I don't have floating plants at the moment, but I also don't have my 240l yet. I'm getting it on Monday. I will have to buy some floating plants though for the dwarf gourami. Any suggestions for a low light, no CO2 floating plant?

Amazon Frogbit perhaps? If I can find it

 

Gouramis need / love floatingplamts. Frogbit, Riccia Fluitans, Salvinia Natans aso would be great.

 

I've found somewhere that sells amazon frogbit so I'll try that thanks for the tip

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