imsweet Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 I was visiting the LFS on the weekend Looking at getting some corys, when i spotted a few dwarf neon gourami. Absolutley beautiful. I was wondering if i got a few more plants, like ambulia [sp?] for cover, would the gourami live hapily with my guppies? Dont mind if they ate a couple of the fry as they are breeding ALL THE TIME. It had on their tank "community fish". So rather that getting platies for colour i thought i could have a couple of these dwarfs? MAybe? Please say yes. Ive waited so long to get new tank mates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayci Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 I have had pearl gouramis with guppies and neon tetra's before. Had no problems. I think the guppies were more aggressive than the gouramis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vippy Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 I had a similar combination (dwarf gouramis, guppies and glowlight tetras) in my first tank and had no problems. On the occasions where one of my gouramis was aggressive, it was only towards the one other gourami, not the smaller fish. I didn't have issues with gouramis eating fry (that I could see..) - I had some plant cover for the fry. Seemed to be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 all gourami are community fish, I have had guppies in the past with all types of gourami event he kissing gourami - with no problems. with the dwarf gourami - if they have colour - whether it be red or blue - they will all be boys - females have NO colour are a dull grey or silver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vippy Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 all gourami are community fish, I have had guppies in the past with all types of gourami event he kissing gourami - with no problems. with the dwarf gourami - if they have colour - whether it be red or blue - they will all be boys - females have NO colour are a dull grey or silver. Ah yeah, good point. I found that, when I had gouramis, hardly any pet shops sold female dwarves as they didn't look as pretty and apparently didn't sell. That, or they got snatched up quick when they did have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted September 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hey thanks for that people, The LFS did have females and males. Would it be best to get just a pair? Dont want to rock the boat. Should i say are they happier in a pair? Im not too worried about the female being dull if she had a mate to keep her company. Of course the male was the one that had me mesmerised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Females are very hard to come by, I would buy it just for that reason alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozski Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 How big is your tank? If you get a pair, it needs to be big enough for the other fish to take cover if the gouramis spawn. I had a pair with some danios and a bristlenose in a too-small tank (35 litre), and they were all fine until they spawned. Male guarded his bubble nest jealously, and all the other fish were hidden in the opposite corner lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted September 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Its 60ltr. Thats why i would only get 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozski Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Should be sweet. They aren't the hardiest fish though, so don't blame yourself if they get ulcers and die. Although, if you have access to local bred ones, I'd go for them instead, supposed to be hardier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted September 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Ouch, sounds cruel. I guess i should read up a bit on the diseases. I just checked out tank and water specs, feeding and different colours. Glad to know the tank size is ok. Thats a definate negative on a local breeder, im pretty new here and dont know many ppl. On another note, rang the LFS to check on the price of them and asked about the female,, got told 'no, we dont get females in as they dont sell'. Um, perhaps it was a totally washed out male but even the owner (who works the weekend shift) told me it was a female. Might be able to get in there tomorrow and have another looksie. Theres another pet shop in taranaki on the way to Hawera that used to be good. New owners dont stock it like the last ones, therefore they dont have much to choose from. But i will give them a ring, you never know... We will be getting down to Palmy to wet pets this week so cant wait to look there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozski Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Wet Pets often have males and females, so you might strike it lucky there. $15 each. If they don't have them when you go, its likely they will get them in at some stage. And when I say locally bred, I mean NZ local rather than imported. Area local doesn't always matter as fish can be shipped. But the only one I see selling them often (on trademe) is in Akl and is pickup only. If they do happen to get sick, good thing is it doesn't seem to be contagious to other fish, just other gourami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Ive had two male neon dwarfs in the same tank with neons guppies etc, were all happy as larry and the gouramis only ever chased after each other (looked like harmless boy fun to me), however i did put some small killies in the tank and both the boys were nibbling at the bag when i was adjusting the water, decided against putting killies in that tank. I also bought a couple females but they dont look that flash, however it is a neat suprise to find bubble nests on the top of the tank in amongst all the plants. The neon dwarfs are full of life and very interesting to watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firespook Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 I'm glad you asked this question, I want to get gouramis and guppies. Maybe I missed the answer to my question, but is it ok to have just one male? Or will he get lonely? Everything I've read says they are best in a pair... could this be two males or a couple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Pet shops only sell males as that is all that they have to choose from - if they happen to have a female its by pure chance as the importers don't bring them in. the dwarf gourami can be kept quite happy on their own or in pairs or more. it doesn't bother them. and males can blow bubble nests even without a female present if he so chooses. yes the dwarf gourami are prone to diseases but they don't spread to other fish, even other gourami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I went to the LFS just to look again and the owner was there. He asked if i was back to get the pair of neon dwarfs. ?? Ok so i studied the tank and there was a female. She was chasing the 2 boys around nudging them in the belly, but they were just hooning off. After double checking with the owner, Its a girl. So.... I got the pair :lol: Hey what else do you do? Here's a pic of them each in the bag still. PLEASE tell me she is a she. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 I'm no expert on dwarf gouramis but I would say you have one of each. I thought females were hard to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 looks like you could have scored yourself one of each - nice going as females aren't that easy to come by. now if possible have some floating plants or plants near the water surface and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted September 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Poor little guppies, theyre all bunched up in a corner scared outta their wits. There's 2 monsters in the tank. Ive got a makeshift cave coming, once its been soaking a bit to clean it. So they'll have a couple of places to hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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