kissing gourami question

by **elliriyanna** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:03 pm

I am planning on setting up a forty long with 60 gallons of filtration and a 200 watt heater densely planted and was wondering how many full grown kissing gouramis I could have. I had them when I was little and love them so much I would love to have them again.

by **kizno1** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:10 pm

I wouldnt put any in a 40G. They get 12" long so about as wide as a 40G. What about Angelfish?

by **elliriyanna** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:27 pm

Actually in captivity they only get about 6 inches. And my dad had one that was a sole survivor from his 55 gal that he was keeping in a ten gal with no heat or anything so I took him and he's doing much better in a heated properly cycled tank. I was more wondering if anything could go in the forty with him. I know how improper of a home this is don't get me started on how much it angers me seeing him like this. I'm pulling my forty out of storage so he can have a decent home.

by **kizno1** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:32 pm

The reason they normally only get 6" is because they are stunted. But i do get where your coming from. They do get quite aggressive when big so i would stick to bottom dwellers that are either armoured or can stick up for themselfs.
Maybe
4 Hoplo catfish
2 Keyhole cichlids (i would get 4 and wait for 2 to pair up then sell the other 2)
1 BN

Or something along them lines. You might get away with 8 Marble hatchets for the surface but im not sure how the gourami will take to them.

by **elliriyanna** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:37 pm

Spots is super laid back and is in with my guppies and won't touch them. I was thinking 6 emerald corydoras since one came with him. He's 12 years old now and I've had him his whole life so I wanna give him the best without giving him up. Would cories be ok? And what plants do they like to eat? And is it abnormal that despite being active and having a healthy appetite he never even looks at the guppies?

by **kizno1** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:42 pm

Corys should be fine. They have armoured scales so should be able to take the odd nip if he ever does get aggressive. Im not sure on plants if im honest.I wouldnt say hes not normal but most are quite aggressive to smaller fish but it could just be you have a very laid back one.
What about Emperor tetra?
You could go for
maybe something like
8 Emerald corys
8 Emperor tetra
8 Marble hatchets
1 BN

by **elliriyanna** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:48 pm

Is it really ok to have that much in there? I was told that he had to have the tank pretty much to himself. Not that I wouldn't love to have more fish in there with him.

by **kizno1** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:51 pm

I dont see why you couldnt. The Tetra and Hatchets wont make much waste and the fish will be spread over different layers of the tanks so it shouldnt be to bad.
For the surface
Marble hatchets

For the middle
Kissing gourami
Emperor tetra

And for the bottom
Emerald corys
BN

by **elliriyanna** on Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:29 pm

Hmmm .. I wanna keep the tank a little under stocked just in case ... Could neons or pltayis be kept with him? And the bottom feeders sound great Smile

are there any other plecos that would be ok? BN's are hard to find around here.

by **kizno1** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:49 pm

Your the best one to judge I wouldnt normally recommend neons but if yours is really laid back and you dont mind the risk then i dont see why not. Theres loads that will work but most are rarer than BNs or cost alot more. A rubberlip plec maybe. Or if you dont go for a plec maybe 4 Hoplo catfish and 6 Emerald corys.

by **elliriyanna** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:43 pm

I was thinking Spots, a dozen neons and 5 emerald corys. That way everyone has tons of room.

by **kizno1** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:47 pm

Yeah that sounds good thumbup

by **elliriyanna** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:53 pm

If the neons don't work out we'll go from there ...

I was also curious what large fish could I have in the tank? Not with him just someday I know I'll lose him Sad

I was thinking angels or an oscar or something ... I like big fish. Though I guess it could just be a tetra tank.

by **kizno1** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:02 pm

Oscars get 12" or sometimes pushing 14" so they would be to big. Angles would be a good choose. Other cichlids that would work are
Red breasted acara
Blue acara
Port acara
Two spot acara
Firmouth cichlids
Keyhole cichlids
Threadfin Acara
Cupid Cichlid (need to be in groups)
My personal chose would be
Biotodoma wavrini or Geophagus iporangensis both of which need to be in groups.

by **elliriyanna** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:27 pm

I'll look at them Smile

is anyone in the group predatory? Its kinda fun to watch how silly they are during the chase. Our oscar use to just ram into things when you put in feeders

by **kizno1** on Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:37 pm

They will take bloodworms but not truly predatory. Oscars really dont need feeders 1) because there not really that predatory and 2) the ones you get from LFS normally have diseases which wont do the oscars any good.
If you want a real predator and are willing to breed your own guppies or similar what about Leaf fish There really cool to watch take lives but they wont take anything other than live fish or sometimes bloodworm and similar.

by **elliriyanna** on Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:23 am

I decided to turn it into an amphibian tank Smile

a 30 tall is good for angels if we ever decide on them

kissing gourami question

kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question

Re: kissing gourami question