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Right now I have 1 dwarf powder blue gourami (who would be going back to the lfs if I decide to get the gold gouramis) and 9 neons in my 27 gallon tank. Today at the lfs I noticed a pair of gold gouramis. I think they are male/female. The one is alot showier than the other, it has spots, etc. while the other one is more plain. Anyways, will this work out? Or will they get too big? Will the male bully the female? I noticed her fins looked a titch ragged. How about the neons, will they be in jeapordy when/if these 2 decide to mate? I haven't been happy with the blue gourami so far, he is very frantic, not at all peaceful to watch. Not sure what to do. He had the same behaviour at the lfs, they gold ones they have now seem much more peaceful.

They should be fine and although they won't probably breed with the neons in the tank, they should have enough space. Make sure the tank is quite heavily planted (plastic plants are fine too) to give the female a chance to retreat.

Here is a couple of Web pages to read up on.

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/bluegour.htm

]http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile84.html

The Gold Gourami is the same breed as the Blue Gourami. So its temperment etc is the same. They do grow big. Not as big as the Snakeskin Gourami.

]http://www.mongabay.com/fish/belontiidae.htm#Trichogaster%20trichopterus

For a 27g I would go towards Drawf Gouramis.

or the Indian Banded Gourami, these fellas are very peaceful.
http://www.adelaideaquariums.com.au/Faqs/freshwater/fish/labyrinth/bandgourami.html

either way, one male to two females is the best way to go.
1 male to 1 female and you will get some fighting.

Re the Neon, should be no problems. I have mine in with some Glowlights, and they get on fine.






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[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-08-08 04:21][/span]

How well the fish get along will really depend of them, as they can have quite different temperments. They will determine who's boss, then settle down. I've had tanks that a female was the Alpha fish. They will spawn in a community tank and the male is quite serious about guarding the nest after spawning. A better mix is 2 females-1 male. All this is based on having Gold Gouramis for several years and raising about 150 from egg to adulthood. HTH, Steve

I've had various different colors of the 3 spot varieties and can definitely agree with the person who's bred them on their temperments. I've had a Lavender Gouramie that was the nicest community fish. Wouldn't eat a baby guppie nor harm anyone. Then I've had some Blue gouramies that just didn't feel a 6 foot long tank was big enough for it and anyone else. I didn't have mine so long..maybe 1 1/2 years..they got to be about 5-6" but I've seen bigger. I'd not do them in anything smaller than a 40 gal.

The way to sex, by the way..is to look closely at the top fin. Males are pointed, females are rounded. First time you do it it's easier looking at a group so there's at least 1 of each sex...hopefully. Same way to sex all Gouramies that I've seen (in addition to coloring on the dwarves).