Anyone want to explain why gouramis can't mix?

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Nigoodman

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I just came upon this issue in another thread of mine. I currently have 2 female DGs and with the BN pleco i'm looking to add to my current stock im almost at capacity. I've recently fallen in love with opaline gouramis. I've heard the mix wouldn't work. Is there any way it could work? Take into consideration that my two female dwarf gouramis have been in the tank since the beginning and live in my community fine together. I'd add another cave/hiding area if i ever got the opaline.

Is there any way this would be okay? Or should i not even risk it?
 
I think you can mix if you have a healthy (3:1 or more) ratio of female to male. The males get aggressive and will attack each other or over-harrass the females if there aren't enough.
 
Opalines and any other colour morph of the three spot gourami are generally considered the most aggressive of the larger 'community' Trichoghaster spp. gouramis. Dwarfs are quite shy in comparison and may simply become stressed by the presence of the opalines and hide away in the tank and maybe be outfed by the larger fish, possibly starving to death or becoming generally unhealthy as a result.

The opalines may not bother the dwarfs at all given they are much smaller. They are possibly more likely to bother each other than the dwarfs. I.e. any aggression they show is most likely to be aimed at their own kind.

Sometimes, you just have to try these things and see what happens, but be prepared to split the fish up if problems do occur. Just consider the eventual size of the opalines compared to all the fish in your community

Another thought from my personal opinion.... get some honey gouramis... the natural colour. The male in full colour will make an opaline look like a dirty old shoe :D
 
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Opalines and any other colour morph of the three spot gourami are generally considered the most aggressive of the larger 'community' Trichoghaster spp. gouramis. Dwarfs are quite shy in comparison and may simply become stressed by the presence of the opalines and hide away in the tank and maybe be outfed by the larger fish, possibly starving to death or becoming generally unhealthy as a result.

The opalines may not bother the dwarfs at all given they are much smaller. They are possibly more likely to bother each other than the dwarfs. I.e. any aggression they show is most likely to be aimed at their own kind.

Sometimes, you just have to try these things and see what happens, but be prepared to split the fish up if problems do occur. Just consider the eventual size of the opalines compared to all the fish in your community

Another thought from my personal opinion.... get some honey gouramis... the natural colour. The male in full colour will make an opaline look like a dirty old shoe :D

Yes i agree now that im looking at my tank it would look a bit silly with a giant opaline next to all my little guys. Maybe i will try a honey gourami since it sounds like the best decision for my specific tank
 
Dwarf gouramis can be very tricky - they seem to be far more susceptible to disease than other gouramis, probably due to genetic weakening through many years of selective breeding. Foreign breeders have suffered huge losses in the past from viral infections, such as herpesvirus diseases
 
Dwarf gouramis can be very tricky - they seem to be far more susceptible to disease than other gouramis, probably due to genetic weakening through many years of selective breeding. Foreign breeders have suffered huge losses in the past from viral infections, such as herpesvirus diseases

Ive had my female DGs for almost two months and so far so good in the way of health. They eat well, swim everywhere, have grown and are even showing some coloring which is nice. Hopefully a honey will do well in my tank with them
 
You could get a group of six honeys.... two males and three females perhaps. They do ok in little groups
 
You could get a group of six honeys.... two males and three females perhaps. They do ok in little groups

I already have 6 bandit corys, 5 rummynose tetras and 3 zebra danios on top of my two female DGs in my 29 gallon and i am saving room for my dream starlight bristlenose pleco. So i believe one male honey gourami to my two females should be okay right?
 
If my memory serves me, then a standard 29 gallon tank would be around 48 inches long x 12 inches wide? if so, then you can work on 48 inches of fish. Your current stock when fully grown would account for approximately 32 inches, so, if I am right, you have 16 inches left, so a 4 inch ancistrus and 6x 1.5 inches still leaves you with 3". Please correct me if your tank isn't that size... when I was learning about aquatics I kind of programmed myself to know how many gallons were in certainsizes of tank and have yet to convert to just knowing the gallons. the surface area of any body of water is what determines stocking densities - it is all to do with gaseous exchange at the surface.

It is possible to push the limits a little as long as you look after your water... I used to raise 20,000 - 60,000 small carp in tanks with a surface area of around 125 square inches (volume 4400 gallons)... an aquarium equivalent recommendation for carp would allow me about 30 four inch fish! Sounds ridiculous, eh!
 
If my memory serves me, then a standard 29 gallon tank would be around 48 inches long x 12 inches wide? if so, then you can work on 48 inches of fish. Your current stock when fully grown would account for approximately 32 inches, so, if I am right, you have 16 inches left, so a 4 inch ancistrus and 6x 1.5 inches still leaves you with 3". Please correct me if your tank isn't that size... when I was learning about aquatics I kind of programmed myself to know how many gallons were in certainsizes of tank and have yet to convert to just knowing the gallons. the surface area of any body of water is what determines stocking densities - it is all to do with gaseous exchange at the surface.

It is possible to push the limits a little as long as you look after your water... I used to raise 20,000 - 60,000 small carp in tanks with a surface area of around 125 square inches (volume 4400 gallons)... an aquarium equivalent recommendation for carp would allow me about 30 four inch fish! Sounds ridiculous, eh!

My tank is 30.3 inches in length
 
Ok, what are the other dimensions. A 30 x 12 x 15 for instance is a 20 gallon tank
 
you are looking at around 30 to 32 inches of fish for that tank then. I would still be happy to add the last couple of fish you are talking about. Just look after your water, with regular water changes etc.
 
you are looking at around 30 to 32 inches of fish for that tank then. I would still be happy to add the last couple of fish you are talking about. Just look after your water, with regular water changes etc.

So the pleco and homey gourami are a definite and final add in. I plan on adding a second HOB small filter to the other side of my tank for extra filtration and continue with my regular water change routine. Thank you for your help.
 
Sorry, but the "inches of fish" rule is a really good way to get yourself into trouble... Different fish produce different bioloads depending on how much they eat, how active they are, and how their bodies are shaped. You can very easily overstock a tank to the point of needing constant 50% water changes if you follow that rule, especially when looking at the large bio-load that a pleco can add to the tank.

A better starting point at figuring out how much you can fit in the tank would be aqadvisor.com. It's not 100% accurate and tends to be overly cautious about aggression warnings, but it's a far closer starting point than the inches of fish rule. Take your findings from there, do your research, and then keep an eye on how "full" things seem as you increase stock levels as well as where the water levels are between water changes. That's a much more reliable method to figure out stocking levels.
 
Sorry, but the "inches of fish" rule is a really good way to get yourself into trouble... Different fish produce different bioloads depending on how much they eat, how active they are, and how their bodies are shaped. You can very easily overstock a tank to the point of needing constant 50% water changes if you follow that rule, especially when looking at the large bio-load that a pleco can add to the tank.

A better starting point at figuring out how much you can fit in the tank would be aqadvisor.com. It's not 100% accurate and tends to be overly cautious about aggression warnings, but it's a far closer starting point than the inches of fish rule. Take your findings from there, do your research, and then keep an eye on how "full" things seem as you increase stock levels as well as where the water levels are between water changes. That's a much more reliable method to figure out stocking levels.

I have used aqadvisor but not for this particular stock. I'll definitely run it through and go from there. Thank you.
 
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