Dwarf Gourami Tankmates?

[violetthunder]

After losing a couple fish recently, I need to restock my ten gallon tank. I currently have one dwarf Gourami (named Sebastian) and two sunburst platies. I was looking for something pretty peaceful and low key as Sebastian can get pretty angsty sometimes. Thanks in advance!

-Megan

 

[fishliker]

In my opinion keeping a dwarf gourami in a 10 gallon tank is asking for trouble because it is such a small tank for that fish. They can be territorial and if it is, there would be no place for other fish to go to get away from it. Sorry.

 

[stevenht]

Like what fishliker said, it's really small for a DG. Your best bet is to get bottom feeders. A school or pygmy cory's would do fine or a school of loaches too. Even in my 20H with my DG "Fred" (r.i.p) he didn't like having black neon tetras in there. The only fish he didn't seem to mind were my Albino BN Pleco and my loaches.

 

[Barliman]

After losing a couple fish recently, I need to restock my ten gallon tank. I currently have one dwarf Gourami (named Sebastian) and two sunburst platies. I was looking for something pretty peaceful and low key as Sebastian can get pretty angsty sometimes. Thanks in advance!

-Megan

A small school (e.g., 5) of corydoras habrosus should stay out of his way.

 

[stevenht]

I think you would need to up your PWC amount if you add bottom feeders. Cory's will make a mess on the bottom sometimes. They like to dig and sometimes that means digging up substrate and releasing all that poo and old food into the water column. I can't see your picture too well but it looks like smooth gravel that you get from Petsmart which will be perfect for any bottom feeder with barbels.

 

[violetthunder]

I think you would need to up your PWC amount if you add bottom feeders. Cory's will make a mess on the bottom sometimes. They like to dig and sometimes that means digging up substrate and releasing all that poo and old food into the water column. I can't see your picture too well but it looks like smooth gravel that you get from Petsmart which will be perfect for any bottom feeder with barbels.

I'm thinking of adding some Kuhli loaches. How many would you suggest having in a ten gallon tank?

 

[violetthunder]

A small school (e.g., 5) of corydoras habrosus should stay out of his way.

I've tried Cory cats before and haven't had much luck. I know they school so how many would you suggest getting?

 

[stevenht]

I would suggest no less than 3 or 4. Most people recommend 5

 

[violetthunder]

I would suggest no less than 3 or 4. Most people recommend 5

Would four overstock my tank? That's the only thing I'm worried about.

 

[stevenht]

You can run extra filtration and do more frequent water changes to combat that

 

[Barliman]

Would four overstock my tank? That's the only thing I'm worried about.

I don't think five dwarf cories would overstock the tank. Just be diligent with the water changes.

 

[abw0004]

You really put yourself in a bind with that dwarf gourami. That gourami barely fits the term dwarf. You might have been better off with a honey gourami as they are smaller. I know it is tempting to want a lot of fish in your tank to look at but, dwarf gouramis can get very aggressive out of nowhere (I had one before). Mine even killed another fish. Just be careful and have lots of plants in your tank to break the line of sight for your other fish to hide and not be constantly harassed.

 

[violetthunder]

You really put yourself in a bind with that dwarf gourami. That gourami barely fits the term dwarf. You might have been better off with a honey gourami as they are smaller. I know it is tempting to want a lot of fish in your tank to look at but, dwarf gouramis can get very aggressive out of nowhere (I had one before). Mine even killed another fish. Just be careful and have lots of plants in your tank to break the line of sight for your other fish to hide and not be constantly harassed.

I do have lots of plants and places to hide for my other fish. My dwarf Gourami is rather small for one, barely two inches, maybe even 1.75. So far he's done really with the other fish, only chasing them around when they right up on him.

 

[abw0004]

I do have lots of plants and places to hide for my other fish. My dwarf Gourami is rather small for one, barely two inches, maybe even 1.75. So far he's done really with the other fish, only chasing them around when they right up on him.

Okay I assume it is more plants than in the tank pictured in your thumbnail? I couldn't find any other pictures of your tank.

 

[violetthunder]

Okay I assume it is more plants than in the tank pictured in your thumbnail? I couldn't find any other pictures of your tank.

Yes, there are at least two more plants in it. I haven't gotten around to posting a more recent picture of my tank. The one in my thumbnail is from before I even had the Gourami.

 

[abw0004]

I was referring to even having more than that. You want to create hiding places that make them feel safe. For an example you can look on my profile at my tank. Granted it is heavily planted and the pictures are way out of date. I hope to update the album this week as my tank looks drastically different now. For example if the DG chases another fish and they go behind one of your 4 plants, the DG will most likely still see the other fish. You want enough cover to hide the other fish long enough for the DG to forget what he was doing. Of course this is just advice from experience. I just don't want anyone to make any mistakes I made when I first started.

 

[violetthunder]

I was referring to even having more than that. You want to create hiding places that make them feel safe. For an example you can look on my profile at my tank. Granted it is heavily planted and the pictures are way out of date. I hope to update the album this week as my tank looks drastically different now. For example if the DG chases another fish and they go behind one of your 4 plants, the DG will most likely still see the other fish. You want enough cover to hide the other fish long enough for the DG to forget what he was doing. Of course this is just advice from experience. I just don't want anyone to make any mistakes I made when I first started.

I appreciate the advice! I'll look into getting more plants and such

 

[Jweiner]

Perhaps you could exchange the dwarf gourami and get a few pygmy (sparkling) gouramis instead?

 

[nirbhao]

I do have lots of plants and places to hide for my other fish. My dwarf Gourami is rather small for one, barely two inches, maybe even 1.75. So far he's done really with the other fish, only chasing them around when they right up on him.

Fish are sold as juveniles, and yours will grow. Dwarf gourami need space to swim. 10 gallons really isn't big enough. As he grows, so will his aggression.

 

[Stewie0115]

I have a community tank with gourami so this is all the fish I have

Guppies,neon tetras,zebra danios,pleco,