Too Many Dwarf Gouramis?

[TheChards]

Hi guys,

My wife and I have just bought our first fish tank. It is a 60 litre (15.85 UK gallon/ 19.04 US gallon) tank which measures 60cm by 30cm by 40cm. We have filled it with a good amount of gravel, three fairly large ornaments, some small plastic plants and three living plants in a corner which provide a good hiding place for any shy fish.

After leaving it empty (of fish) for a week, we had the water tested at our local pet shop (where we bought the tank from) and were told that it was fine so we bought four male Dwarf Gouramis and carefully introduced them into the tank following the instructions on the bag. I had read that these are peaceful, community fish which shouldn’t cause any trouble or bully other fish (although the more I read about them, I occasionally find information which contradicts this).

The fish seem perfectly healthy and are a joy to watch as they are so beautiful! I don’t think there’s any risk that we may have overstocked the tank as each of the fish are about 5cm long and shouldn’t grow to be much longer according to the man in the pet shop. However, I am a little bit concerned that having four Gourami in a relatively small tank may cause them to fight amongst themselves as I’ve read (since buying them) that they can be quite territorial.

They occasionally chase each other around and nip at each other (especially during their twice-daily feeds) but on the whole they are generally friendly and seem to be enjoying their new home. However, if anybody has any advice or recommendations regarding whether or not we have too many males I would be very glad to hear them!

Thanks in advance,
Dan

PS – When we originally bought these fish we hoped to eventually keep them with some Glowlight Tetra, Black/ SIlver Mollies and possibly a Siamese Fighting Fish. Any thoughts on this combination of fish in a community tank are also very welcome...

 

[rich311k]

4 males in that tight of space is not a good idea. One would be much better. They betta would not be a good idea, he will not get along with the gouramis and vice versa. The mollies need more space than that they fairly large and are active fish. The glolights would be a fine addition..

The tank is not cycled, test the water often and be prepared to change water if the ammonia or nitrite readings go over .5ppm.

 

[TheChards]

Thanks for your comment Rich, it's reassuring to get advice from people who've "been there and done that".

I'm not entirely sure what we're going to be able to do about our Dwarf Gourami as we live in a flat and don't really have space for any more tanks to keep anything in. Is there anything we can do to our existing tank that would help the four of them to settle in and reduce the chances of them fighting with each other over territory?

 

[Sum22]

What is the return policy at the store you bought them from? Perhaps you can take a few back and exchange them for the glowlight tetras?

How about giving a couple of them away?

Make sure there is a lot of hiding spots/fake plants/decorations or anything else that would provide ample hiding area. If they get aggressive, you could try rearranging the decorations.

You could also buy plastic tank seperators if it gets to be a big problems and you can't find another way to rid yourself of the fish. The down side is that would cut down on their swim space.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Your tank has likely not cycled, your parameters were fine when tested because you had no fish.

You should read up on the nitrogen cycle, fishless cycling, ect.. to get a good idea of what happens.

You should get some test kits, like the API freshwater master test kit. This will show whats happening and tell you when to change some water.

 

[TheChards]

Thanks for your comments guys, they have been very helpful.

I had read up on the Nitrogen cycle well in advance of buying the Gouramis and understand what needs to go on to get the fish-tank fully cycled. I didn't want to go with fishless cycling as it sounded significantly more complicated than cycling with fish and deliberately chose hardy fish that would tolerate the fluctuations in Ammonia/ Nitrite/ Nitrate/ pH levels etc as recommended by the guy who sold me the fish. With this in mind, I wouldn't add any more fish to the tank until the Gouramis have been in there for 2 – 3 weeks and would be careful not to overstock. The internet can be a great distraction during a slow day at work!

I recently bought the API Freshwater Master Test Kit and will continue to test the water on a daily basis. Ammonia is no longer at 0 parts per million but is somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5. Obviously I will keep a close eye on this and will carry out a partial water change as and when once is required.

As for the fish, I don't think the shop will take them back and don't really know of anyone else we can give them to. It's a bit frustrating for someone who is still very new to keeping tropical fish though (like me) as I have always tried to do the right thing by being patient and reading as much information as I could find before doing anything. I'd read that Gouramis were a peaceful, community fish on lots of different sources and wasn't aware that they could become aggressive over territory until it was too late. I also worked out that for a 60-litre tank, four 5cm fish would be about right to cycle the tank without overloading the filter and was never told anything contrary to this!

I guess it's all part of the learning process...

 

[flip0204]

Hey there.....


Im new to writing on this thing however I was looking up stuff on dwarf gouramis and this popped up.....


I have a 65 gallon tank and have

Tiger barbs 5
sunset mollies 3
female betta 1
two dwarf gouramis (male female)


They get along great with no problems
I understand your tank is only about 20 gallons and the best rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish to a gallon

according to website the dwarf gouramis adult size average two inches so take in account your tank it might be a little crowded

However the best advice I can give you is change the decor around so they no longer have dominant territories and will have to seak new ones.

Worst comes to worst you can always buy a cheap 10 gallon tank and stick two in there.

A filter and heater depending on water temperatures might be a good idea to look into as well

worse comes to worse you can always find people online willing to either buy or help out by taking a couple fish...

 

[TheChards]

Hi Flip, welcome to AA.

Firstly, I'm surprised you've got Tiger Barbs with Dwarf Gourami as I thought they were a bit too "nippy" to be kept with DGs. In fact, there's another thread on here ("Tiger Barbs... conflicting info.") where someone was advised not to keep them together for the same reason. Still, if yours don't mind being together then that's cool!

Thanks for the Dwarf Gourami advice. If I can persuade my wife to allow me to get another tank then I will split the 4 of them up but for the time being they do all seem to be getting on well with each other. They don't ever really fight although they do occasionally chase each other around a bit if their territory is invaded but there's enough decorations, plants and hiding places in the tank that they all have somewhere that they can call home. I've made sure of this.

I already have a filter and a heater in their tank - and it's a good job too considering the amount of food they get through and mess they make!

Thanks again,
Dan

 

[flip0204]

Its funny you mention that because the people at petco put them in the same bag when I bought them..

The tiger barbs sit in the middle of the tank swimming upwards against the current form the filter they enjoy it. the dwarf gouramis swim around the bottom picking at algae waffers and running through the plants...

I think with the amount of space they have that there is no need to pick at other fish

either that or I just got lucky




haha take care