Dwarf Gouramis - There Can Be Only One?!

I'm really looking hard at a dwarf gourami for my tank. After doing some reading though it seems like you can't put them in a tank with the following:

Another male dwarf gourami - The will fight
A female dwarf gourami - She will be bullied
No other gourami species (unless tank is very large) or indeed no other labyrinth fish
No brightly colored species like guppies which would make me think of platies as well

Can anyone who's familiar with this fish tell me if these extensive restrictions are accurate?

Thank you!

 

I have a male and female DG pair in my 23 gallon..

She doesn't get bullied at all. Actually I think my male hides from her.. (Actually they get along most of the time. Except at feeding time)

 

A male/female pair should be cool. I've had some DG's kill guppies, some left them alone. Up to the individual.

 

Just read the last part and thought I could mention My DGs lives with colorfull fish, which includes a single platy. They totally ignore him.

I have a wild betta in there which is a horrible idea don't mix them. (But I'm getting a 5 gallon soon. The wild betta just looked miserable in a cup. Its a risk I took)
They ignore him too.

 

Mine were cool with platys. Once again, up to the individual. That's how I ended up with my betta, too.

 

I have 2 male Chocolate Gouramis and a male Betta in the same 30 gallon. Everything is absolutely fine. With these fish, it depends on the personality. There are a thousand ways it could go wrong, and one little chance they'll get along.

 

Wow, Florian. That's quite lucky. I hope it continues to work out for you.

 

Wow, Florian. That's quite lucky. I hope it continues to work out for you.

It's been that way for about 6 months. I too hope it continues on. And I do have good hope it will.

 

I break rules. I have 2 dwarfs in a 5.5g
I do 2 waterchanges a week and all parameters are spot on.

They are happy campers. Eat well, swim around, love the plants, absolutely no aggression.

 

I break rules. I have 2 dwarfs in a 5.5g
I do 2 waterchanges a week and all parameters are spot on.

They are happy campers. Eat well, swim around, love the plants, absolutely no aggression.

5.5 isn't even enough room for one of those. One day one's gonna turn on the other and you'll be down a fish. That is a very unhealthy fishkeeping practice.

 

I don't think so. I've had many, many tanks and with no issues. I don't consider myself irresponsible. Certain species don't necessarily need a huge area.

I have never had aggressive gourami's and over the yrs, I've had a lot.

I think with regular maintenance and good husbandry they will be fine. There is surprisingly a lot of room. In my tank.

I wouldn't keep cichlids in a small tank as they swim around constantly and are more aggressive fish, nor goldfish or other species. Gourami's tend to not be major swimmers. All that I have had over the yrs have been very lazy.

Take saltwater for instance. Clownfish are deemed 30 gallon fish. Many house them in 5 gallon nano's with no issues simply because they maintain their tanks well and provide good conditions.

 

I never said you were irresponsible. I just thought it would be obvious that keeping two fish with that much potential aggression in a small tank is generally a bad idea.

 

They cannot be housed with other gouramis but they can be housed with colourful fish

There is surprisingly a lot of room

How can a 5.5 have surprisingly a lot of room?

I think with regular maintenance and good husbandry they will be fine.

Take saltwater for instance. Clownfish are deemed 30 gallon fish. Many house them in 5 gallon nano's with no issues simply because they maintain their tanks well and provide good conditions.

Maintaining tanks well doesn't mean they won't fight and doesn't provide any more swimming room

 

I've kept gourami's for yrs and have never seen any aggression between them.
I've had multiple in my other tanks with no issues.

There are guidelines in fish keeping that can be broken and others that can't.

Dwarf gourami don't grow large and aren't overly active swimmers. Their minimum requirement is 10g.

Guppies need the same as gourami's and the sane size and there are a lot of ppl that house 6 of them in a 5 gallon with no issue besides possible over breeding.

Everyone has their own experiences in fw and sw.

 

Merlin79 just because you've done it for years without any visible issues doesn't make it right... They'd be better off in a tank where they can do more than just swim in tiny circles around each other.

I've kept them as well but had to rehome due to aggression. My most recent one was kept in a 40b and let me tell you, he used every square inch of that tank.

 

They don't swim in small circles.lol.

The tank is 15" long

 

15 inches long is very small. I'm not sure why you think this little 5 gallon is roomy.

I have to agree with the others...no amount of maintenance can make up for lack of swimming space.

Regardless....the OP hasn't posted on this thread since his inital post 2 months ago. This is not Merlin79 's thread. It was an old dead thread. So....moving on.

 

In my opinion, you can do a male and female pair of DGs.

However, in a 55 or larger I think it is OK to have a group of DGs, say 6 or more, to spread out the aggression, kind of like one would do with African cichlids.

 

In my opinion, you can do a male and female pair of DGs.

I have seen this with Thicklips but never in DG's Anders.