# Good tankmates for Dwarf Gouramis



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I recently purchased some dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia) for a new 75g tank. Since getting the Gouramis I have decided to make this a Southeastern Asia biotope tank and need your suggestions for tankmates for the Gouramis. 

I am interested in "smaller" fish (4"-6" max) and purchased a couple of Yo Yo Loaches (Botia almorhae) today. If they don't work out, they can be moved to another tank  I was interested in Botai sidthimunki but they are a bit difficult to find around here. 

I am looking for mainly some type of "schooling" fish that is not too energetic so to speak. I think that rules out most of the Danios  

The only other fish I can come up with at the moment are Rasbora espeii or Rasbora heteromorpha. Would either of these be too energetic for the Gouramis? 

Any and all advice is appreciated and thanks in advance for your suggestions.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I haven't kept dwarf Gouramis for a long time, but I think the Rasboras should be fine with them, considering the size of your tank.

I think the Yo-yo's should work out well too. At any rate, they will keep you entertained.  
There is a place that many of us have ordered from online that can get sidthimunki too, but I don't know if you want to go to the trouble of ordering them, or not.


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## BleatingHeart (Nov 21, 2005)

*Dwarf Gourami Tank Mates*

Your goramis will not get as large as some other gouramis so I can tell you not to add more gouramis. When they get larger they tend to get more territorial and larger fish would just stress out the small ones. 
Do not add a male betta either as they would NOT get along. 
I am also pretty sure a discus will not get along well with them either, but I may be wrong on this one.

Some schooling fish ideas are:
*Neon tetras*, are very active and have brilliant color. They are peaceful and do not get very large.
*Cardinal Tetras*, very similar to neons, but get larger and more colorful.
*Mountain clouds* are also schooling fish, they like stronger water current and cooler water. I really enjoy theese they are fun!
*Rasboras*, will school in higher numbers. (6 or more) They are fast and a bit more aggressive. They may nip at your gourami's fins.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestions. I may have a source for the Botia sidthimunki but if it doesn't work out I would appreciate your online source Jan. As far as the Rasboras, I would prefer the R. espeii but again, they are not as easy to find around here. I like their bright, almost neon orange coloration. Maybe your online source has them also???

There are 3 male and 6 female gouramis in the tank along with the two Yo-Yo Loaches. It was my hopes that the 6 females would keep the three males ocupied  Two of the males have already built bubble nests and they have only been in there a week or so.

I have concerns about the Yo-Yo's since I have read that they like to burrow. I don't mind a little bit of borrowing but if it gets excessive (uprooting plants, etc) they will have to find another home. A nice school of the sidthimunki would be cool since they would be out during the day time. 

I may choose not to add any Rasboras if they may nip at the fins of the Gouramis so thanks for the advice on that Bleating Heart. The Tetras and Discus are out since they aren't Southeast Asian fish but it is good inof to know anyways. The White Clouds (Mountain Clouds) are a possibility but they seem to be pretty active and they tend to prefer cooler water if memory serves me correct. I may just decide to keep only the Gourami's in this tank but time will tell on that one 

Thanks again for the suggestions!


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

As soon as you said you were going with an Asian themed tank I though "He should get some Rasboras." 

Have you considered doing barbs? There are all kinds of cool barbs with great colors. They don't move around too fast and they school well. Just avoid the nasty agressive ones, ie: Tiger Barbs.

As far as the White Clouds go... meh. As far as I'm concerned they're just another danio, they certainly move around just as fast. For temps with them, it really doesn't matter much. Most books list them in a range from 70-80. 

If you're up for some odd ball fish, a school of Glass fish (nondyed, of course) or Glass catfish would look pretty sweet. I want to do a school of Glass cats in my new 46. If you have good lighting the lateral line on glass cats is an iridescent rainbow color if you view it from the right angle. Both of these fish are very peaceful schoolers too. Another good oddball, provided other fish are not too small to be eaten, is an Asian Leaf Fish. 

That's about all I've got for Asian fish without my Axelrod book. Only other Asian fish I can think of ATM are predatory.


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## apalsson (Nov 22, 2005)

I agree with the recommendation for raspboras. They are excellent in a well planted tank, especially if you have schools of 10 or more.

Another option (if you want to extend the biotope slightly) is rainbow fish. Both the bosemani and the striped rainbow are beautiful.
The dwarf neon is also a beautiful little fish that likes to be in schools of 6 - 8.
Just make sure that if you have both males and females, you have 2 - 3 females to each male.
Rainbows are predominantly from Papa New Guinea and Australia, so this is kind-of within your biotope.


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## soyadude (Dec 17, 2005)

I haven't kept gouramis in a long time. Mainly because most of my tanks are conflicting with their biotopes. Gouramis evolved and inhabit low oxygen and mostly soft, standing water in the while which is why they can breathe atmospheric air to survive this environment. Somehow I feel they're never very happy and nor will they breed in water with too much of a current. If I were to keep gouramis, i'd keep a pair in a fairly large tank with some driftwood, dark substrate. Plants would be dward sags, vallis, java moss and floating riccia. (I love watching them build those bubble nests. equipment should be a simple sponge filter and if you don't overstock and feed live/frozen foods this will suffice. I feel colisa lalia looks best in peat coloured water, their colour will make a striking contrast against it.

Feed them live/frozen bloodworms or mosquito larvae(love these). loaches and gouramis do not share a biotope really. loaches inhabit oxygen rich hillstreams and gouramis inhabit oxygen poor paddy fields/puddles/ponds/lakes. Gourami tanks should be calm and slow moving so avoid fish that would stir it up too much. I think it's a misconception that gouramis are good community fishes.. Although they look good in a community tank and most of them are peaceful, if you know where they really belong they just look out of place espescially when the other fish zip around and create all sorts of mayhem around the gouramis. Gouramis are best left to species tanks.

I guess if you can think of any other fish that does well in low oxygen tanks then it will fit well in a gourami tank. Most of these are other gouramis or bettas... you could try a goby or knifefish as well.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

If you want a 'cool' southeast Asia schooling fish try the glass cat (Kryptopterus bicirrhis). They stick together quite well and are peaceful to a fault. They need good cover and prefer a shady spot to hang out in.

They seem to be quite blind, relying on their 'feelers' to find food. At feeding time they cruise around hoping to bump into falling flakes or worms.

My wife thinks they're ugly, but the kids and I know that any fish you can read a newspaper through is a good fish.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

guaiac_boy said:


> If you want a 'cool' southeast Asia schooling fish try the glass cat (Kryptopterus bicirrhis).
> My wife thinks they're ugly, but the kids and I know that any fish you can read a newspaper through is a good fish.


LOL!

The other thing I noticed mine really liked was a nice water flow to swim into. My whole group used to spend most of their day "swimming upstream".


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