Dwarf Gourami and Betta together?

[Thribz]

So how likely is it I can put 2 dwarf gourami 1 male and 1 female together with a male betta in a 60L community tank? How long would it take me to realise that it won't work?

 

[Mcgolg76]

Not very likely. Only way to have any chance at all is to make sure your gouramis is a different color then the betta. Even then very unlikely. You would know pretty quickly

 

[Thribz]

I have had these 3 in the community tank together for about 4 hours now and they swim next to each other, ignore each other and have come face to face and just swim by each other.

 

[Thribz]

I put the betta in a breeder box within the tank for 3 days first. I don't know if this helped get them used to each other?

 

[Thribz]

Is it likely to change and go bad or if it is good early on will it be fine?

 

[rpgmomma8404]

I tell anyone in this situation always have a back up plan if things don't pan out. Betta's and gourami's are both labyrinth fish and with most labyrinth fish comes the attitude. You might get lucky and they do fine together. But remember later down the road you might end up with them beating up on each other or a dead fish. When it will happen or if it will happen there is no telling.

 

[twiddlemuffin]

I've never had issues mixing bettas abs gourami's. I may just be an exception, but I feel like if the tank is big enough it works.

 

[Thribz]

All seems well so far. I wasn't sure if there would be signs that they may be a bit hostile at a later date but they all seem pretty happy together

 

[tnfinfan]

All hell didn't break loose until they settled in, here. Took a couple days and then they started defending territories. I thought that three males with no females would be OK as long as they had room. Nope! BTW, your gouramis are both male. Look up info on flame gouramis and you'll see how much more subdued the female coloring is.

 

[twiddlemuffin]

I wasn't aware you had more than one male, I'd only keep one male per tank, otherwise you'll have aggression issues.

 

[Thribz]

No the red one is male the blue is female. The blue dwarf gourami the female is still very blue

 

[tnfinfan]

The females are silvery gray. It's why you almost never see them in pet stores -- most everyone wants the brightly colored males.

 

[Thribz]

Look at these descriptions. If you look at mine. You will see my blue one has a wider girth, rounded fin. Hence a female and the red is narrower with a pointed fin. Hence male.

 

[tnfinfan]

You have a young male, but it's still a male. Some gouramis have similar coloration in males/females. The photos you reference are one of the types with the more subtle differences. But dwarf gouramis aren't like that. The females are rounder and they never develop the long fins. But, they're also much, much more plain in coloring. Young males can look a bit like females but females never get the bright blue look like the males.

Here is what a female dwarf looks like (note that the powder blue breeding would make the stripes more faint or even absent):
Dwarf Gourami (Female), Gouramis for Freshwater Aquariums | PetSolutions

 

[Thribz]

I'm not arguing with you. The blue one is female. They had male and female blue ones there. You could tell the difference from the shape and fins but all of them were very blue. The red ones the females were grey and the makes red.