Tankmates for guppies

[Poppy27]

I've got a 34 gal long tank with 6 guppies and 4 danios. Just wondering if there are any big fish that would like happily with them? Gourami? Anything else? I'm also getting Corys. Thanks.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Hello Pop...

Large fish will make lunch of small fish. The best fish to put in with your small fish are Corydoras, the "little cats". Anything else will go after the male guppy's fancy tail. Schooling fish will too.

B

 

[Poppy27]

Ah ok. I love Corys so that's a positive. Might look into other schooling fish / live bearers like Platys too.
I have tried some ideas out on Aquadvisor and it seems to think neons and guppies would be ok with gouramis but I'm not convinced. How reliable is that tool??
Thanks for replying B. I really appreciate the help!!

 

[Mebbid]

A single dwarf gourami would be a great addition to a guppy tank. 95% of the time they are quite docile but some can be a bit nippy so that's something to be careful about.

Some others:
Cardinal Tetras or Neon Tetras
Harlequin Rasboras
Praecox Rainbows
Cory Cats
Hatchets
Bristlenose Pleco
Platies

I would skip mollies as they can crossbreed with guppies.

AQadvisor is a great tool and gives fairly good recommendations.

 

[Poppy27]

Great. Thanks so much for your replies.
So I'm thinking
6 guppies (I have 2 male, 4 female)
4 pearl danios
6 Corys (leopard maybe)
3 platys (1 male 2 female)
1 honey gourami
4 shrimp
According to Aquadvisor that's 66% capacity so maybe some neon tetras too.
How does that sound?

 

[Poppy27]

4 Corys I meant

 

[Mebbid]

4 Corys I meant

I wouldn't keep less than 6 cory cats together in a tank. The same goes with the danios. They just do better in groups. Other than that I don't really see a big problem with it.

Generally, when stocking a tank people pick 3 different schooling fish to keep. One bottom dwelling school and 2 mid / top dwelling schools. More than that and it just gets crowded. With keeping livebearers you are going to get a very very crowded tank quite quickly so that's something you are going to have to deal with eventually.

Have you looked at a powder blue Dwarf gourami? Those are a really beautiful colorful dwarf gourami that I think would go well.

 

[Poppy27]

Ah so my mistake was correct after all - 6 cories it is! Although can I have 5? I prefer odd numbers for some reason.

Same goes for danios if poss. I only got 4 because that's all the shop had but u can go to a different LFS and get one more.

That gourami sounds lovely I'll have to check it out. Is it more/less peaceful than the honey?

Thanks again!

 

[Mebbid]

Ah so my mistake was correct after all - 6 cories it is! Although can I have 5? I prefer odd numbers for some reason.

Same goes for danios if poss. I only got 4 because that's all the shop had but u can go to a different LFS and get one more.

That gourami sounds lovely I'll have to check it out. Is it more/less peaceful than the honey?

Thanks again!

yeah, it shouldn't hurt to keep 5. But why not 7?

The powder blue is about the same as the honey as far as aggressiveness goes. The one I had was one of the most docile fish in my tank.

This is a pic of mine sharing food with my shrimp. He cared more about eating the food than the delicious shrimp that he was sharing it with.

 

[Crazyhermitcrab]

Most gouramis turn aggressive when they mature. I have female bettas with my guppies.

 

[Mebbid]

Most gouramis turn aggressive when they mature. I have female bettas with my guppies.

Gouramis tend to turn aggressive against each other when they mature, that's a fact. However towards other fish it's completely dependent on the particular fish. The majority of gouramis won't care enough about the other fish to bother them whereas occasionally you will run into a black sheep that will terrorize its tankmates.

 

[Crazyhermitcrab]

Gouramis tend to turn aggressive against each other when they mature, that's a fact. However towards other fish it's completely dependent on the particular fish. The majority of gouramis won't care enough about the other fish to bother them whereas occasionally you will run into a black sheep that will terrorize its tankmates.

Thanks for clarifying. It seems most labyrinth lungs get aggressive with tehir species at around 1 year.

 

[fishenthusiast]

You could try some White Could Mountain Minnows. They are some of the hardiest fish out there, and I remember having them with guppies when I first started in this hobby, but that was 10 years ago.

 

[Poppy27]

Mebbid your fish is beautiful!

I hadn't thought of female bettas. They'd look lovely. I've had male bettas (alone) before but never kept females.

 

[Musicfreak]

Mebbid that is such a beautiful fish, had to say that. Also nice to see someone else from Michigan on here, don't see many.

Be careful with Groumis like everyone else has said they can get aggressive, I have one that I had to take out of my community tank because he would pester every fish I had until they sadly died. He is now by himself and very happy about it although probably a tad bit lonely. I've had other groumis and they were all very good fish no aggression issues at all. Just depends on the fish really.

 

[Luananeko]

Female bettas may go after the guppies too, it depends on their personality. I've had better luck keeping male bettas with my guppies than females, honestly. The females tend to seem fine and then snap one day and start chomping guppy tails, while the males usually show you straight off whether they'll tolerate them or not. I never had a male betta suddenly snap on my guppies.

That said, if you go the betta route, you'll need to introduce them carefully. Add the betta last, and make sure to float it in a breeder net or box for a few days. This lets it watch the guppies without being able to attack, which helps ensure it doesn't mistake them for another betta. Once it can calmly watch the guppies swim by without throwing a fuss, release it, and watch it like a hawk to see if it swaps behavior now that it can actually reach the guppies. If any problems arise, have a backup plan of what to do with the betta.

 

[Mebbid]

Mebbid your fish is beautiful!

I hadn't thought of female bettas. They'd look lovely. I've had male bettas (alone) before but never kept females.

Mebbid that is such a beautiful fish, had to say that. Also nice to see someone else from Michigan on here, don't see many.

Be careful with Groumis like everyone else has said they can get aggressive, I have one that I had to take out of my community tank because he would pester every fish I had until they sadly died. He is now by himself and very happy about it although probably a tad bit lonely. I've had other groumis and they were all very good fish no aggression issues at all. Just depends on the fish really.

Thanks! Sadly, he died last month of unknown causes I had him for around a year

 

[Crazyhermitcrab]

Thanks! Sadly, he died last month of unknown causes I had him for around a year

Thats sad.


Maybe get some other livebearer's? Like mollies, swordtails/

 

[schoeplein]

There's a lot of misinformation about dwarf gourami. Dwarf gourami are only aggressive when kept in a small tank. 29g should be good for one, no more, if you're keeping other fish in the tank. They get nippy due to territorial issues. Issues you won't have in a larger tank with a group of gourami (with a high female to male ratio). I have 8 in a 65g tank with a ton of other inhabitants (danios, longfins even, neon tetras, corys rams), no guppies tho.

I had guppies in a smaller tank with one DG and the DG chewed the guppies apart. It was a tall tank, too small for what was in it.

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