Can Bettas and Dwarf Gouramis get along?

[hb2000]

Hi,
I have an Eclipse 12 from Marineland. I would like to stock the tank with a Male Betta and a pair of Dwarf Gouramis. Will they get along? Is this too small a tank for this combination? Could I add a small school of Tetras or something to the combo?

Also can you have two male dwarf gouramis together in the same tank?

Will I need a heater for the above combination and if so what wattage? I have read that a 25 watt would be enough for an eclipse 12.

Thanks for your help

 

[madasafish]

Dwarf gourami males will not get along together in a 12-G. Everybody in the trade makes that mistake at one time or another! I did! Try to get a female gourami, though they're hard to find in the LFS. You may have to special order one. IF you can get her, the combo should be ok (but the tank is still on the very small side for gouramis).

Reckon on 2-5 watts per gallon. I've heard 4, mostly. I imagine a 25-watt will be sufficient. You could think about a 50, also, if it fits.

I'd advise against the betta and the gouramis, as the gouramis can get a little territorial (mainly to conspecifics, though). Bettas are generally peaceful to other species, but I've certainly heard bad things about keeping them with other fish in a small tank.

I would recommend a small school of tetras (rummynose are great, and different from the standard neons). They will grow as large as 2 inches, though, so factor that in when you do the 1-inch-per-gallon calculation (which really only applies to small fish). If you get five or six tetras, you might be able to get one gourami. However, I always recomend getting an algae eater such as a siamese algae eater or a dwarf pleco (ppl have heard me say this a million times on this site, but it's a good idea). They should help keep your tank healthier and cleaner.

So, I'd recommend a small school of 4 or 6 rummynoses, and an algae eater (don't get a Chinese algae eater--they get very large and aggressive).

Good luck!

 

[lmw80]

I agree with madasafish that 2 male gouramis will not get along in that size tank. A male and a female should be fine.

In a bigger tank a gourami and a betta will be able to cohabitate, as I have this in my 46 gal community. However, in a 12 gallon, there won't be enough room for them to establish comfortable territorial boundries.

As far as other fish go, I would try for an algae eater...not a chinese, they get too big for a 12 gallon....a dwarf pleco is a great idea though. Also, you may want to consider a pair of cory catfish. They are great cleaners of the substrate and are very fun to watch.

Good luck, and remember that small tanks are a lot easier to overstock, (I speak from experience) so be careful.

 

[Allivymar]

I've got a 10g well planted that has a similar fish load.

I've 2 male gouramis, however, its a VERY well planted tank with lots of hiding spaces; the non-dominant male has plenty of places to hide. There are also 2 (or 3) cherry shrimp in there somewhere.

Just picked up 5 cardinal neons; I also was looking for pygmy cories but no one seems to have them around here. Instead I got 2 otos. Not bottom feeders per say, but they will take care of the algae (I leave the lights on for 12-14 hours so I need em LOL).

I also picked up a bamboo shrimp. Funky lil guys.

So I've maxed out the bio-load pretty much; then again, I'm diligent about water parameters, I have animals which don't require HUGE amounts of room to move and its a well planted tank.

I'm guessing an Eclipse 12 is a 12g tank. If so, you can probably so something similar as you'll have 2 more gallons to deal with then I. Do keep in mind smaller tanks require more work keeping water parameters good (smaller space means things happen quicker, such as ammonia spikes).

 

[Terry]

Allivymar
I have a question for you, sorry to interupt. great advice by the way. Your Otocinclus, I get these from time to time in my store, sometimes i get Otocinclus Affinis and on rare occasions i get Otocinclus Flexilis. My question is do you ever give them suppliment food/treats etc, like algae wafers, lettice. I have tried this on several accasions in the store and found that they really wasn't interested. Also customers report back to me on there progress and some say that they otocinclus eats other things and some say there's turn there noses up at anything that isn't the algae in the tank. They are such great algae eaters it doesn't take them long to clean a tank up. For small aquariums they are great as they only grow to about 1.6 inches. I was just curious to find out really. breeding these great little algae eaters is fun to watch as well, they are abit like corydorus. They like to be in big groups and lay there eggs anyware and everware.

Thanks.

 

[Allivymar]

OT post for Terry

I'm really new to otos; like, about 24 hours new LOL I *think* they are Otocinclus vittatus, but they may be a variant. Hard for me to tell as the patterns are very similar.

So obviously I don't have lots of info on feeding yet. The only thing I do know, and this is from research, is whatever tank you put them in MUST have algae. They don't seem to survive QT in a clean walled tank. Mine are in QT in my 25g which has yet to be torn down after all my big guys moved to the 55g instead of sitting out QT in the 10g; the 10g has no algae thanks to the snails. Once the plec moved out of the 25g, the algae moved in, so theres a thin layer on most of the tank walls. I have Hikari Tropical wafers as well as Algae wafer for the plec; I'm hoping they take them once they finish off the algae on the walls. Also, I'm thinking they MAY take regular fish food; most of the foods I feed my guys have spirolina in them as one of the top 5 ingredients (may be why your customers are seeing the otos eat other foods).

And they're not allowed to breed. They will be moving into a 10g with gouramis, cardinals, 2 cherry chrimp and a bamboo shrimp LOL there's not enough ROOM for more fishies in there!

And as for 5 cardinals *sigh* I'm already down to 4; one of em didn't make it thru the night. I do know they are REALLY difficult to keep, and this one was swimming seperate from the others as soon as they all entered the tank. The rest look great and are taking food; hopefully this is a one off problem.

Coupla quick questions for U Terry (sorry hb2000!): I didn't see the Otocinclus Flexilis on PlanetCatfish; do they have another name as well? Or are they one of the specialty breeds of otos? Didn't realised otos liked large groups; I only got 2. Should I make it 3 so I have at least a small school?

 

[Terry]

Hi there,
sorry to here about your cardinal, as for the Otocinclus flexilis all i know is that they are part of the Loricariidae family and you are probably right in saying they are a varient of the affinis, they are more difficult for me to get hold of so they are rarer than the affinis. They don't have to be in groups, your 2 will be fine, they don't mind there own kind so you can have as many as you like. They keep them selves to themselve but if they were to breed they would get together for that and then go there own way. As for differances between the two the flexilis can be distinguised by it pattern of spots on the dorsel, anal, and ventral fins. Some stores dont bother in checking if they have affinis or flexilis and just sell them as ottocinclus so it is always worth a look.