Wanted to get some opinions on weather or not i should get a Moonlight Gourami for my 30gal tank (see my specs to see which one i'm on about). I used to have a dwarf gourami in there and it was happy until it caught some kind of intestinal disease and died. I heard gouramis are prone to them and would'nt want another fish that will die at the drop of a hat despite good water conditions.
If anyone has any experience with moonlights then what do you think of them. And if not a gourami then what else would make a good centrepiece fish for that tanks? I don't have space for anything too big. If else I guess I'll just get a few more rosey tetras.
Well, I can't speak for all Moonlight Gouramis except for the one I used to have....he was a real jerk! He grew to about 7" or 8" and just harrassed everyone in the tank. I didn't even have any other gouramis in that tank either. He would chase everyone, including my poor little corys to where I would only see one fish swimming around...HIM....all the others were hiding.
I'd reccommend Pearl Gouramis. They're very pretty and you could get 2 of them at least.
Like I said though, my moonlight may have just been one in a million that decided he was going to kick everyone else's butt. Maybe someone else will have some more info on their experiences and know a little more about them.
I am like the the pearl gourami, very sweet. I'd recommend only one however. I have a male and female, but he can be mean to her at times. Luckily, she is not really afraid of him. Often, he won't allow her to eat and chases her from the food, but she just ignores him and feeds even while he's trying to push her away. She's learned how to handle him, other times, they swim together and get along fine. They are pretty, and intelligent and not as temperamental as the other types of gourami. Easy to keep too. They get to 4 inches or so, which is a nice size too.
Pearl Gouramis are great. Beautiful fish, don't get big on gourami scale, and they are just wonderful. I can't stop watching the two (two males, so far very civil and buddy-buddy to eachother) I recently got. I'm so glad I got these instead of gold gouramis.
Swimfins, have you tried a group of three? Two females, one male? This worked well for me with a few groups of dwarf gouramis. This time around, I think my male true color is ***, he really doesn't care much for the girls.
I had about 6 different dwarf gourami's of different colors and species and none survived very long until recently when I bought a male/female pair of "thicklip sunset gourami's". I havn't exactly determined the species yet but it appears to be a crossbreed. They are doing great as a pair in a 20 gallon and have been trying to breed but I'm not getting any fry so they may not be fertile. I've also got a pearl gourami in my 65 gallon planted tank. I had a two and one became aggressive. I believe most pearl's are docile and don't bother anyone but there are exceptions. Another thing to note is they are vegetable eaters and will likely pick on your plants. they will not destroy them but you'll have nipped leaves on any softer species. I've never had moonlight's either but I believe they are similar to the pearl in temperament. Stay away from any of the blue/3-spot/gold gourami variations. they are very aggressive and will likely torment your tetras. I made the mistake of taking in an orphan gold gourami being returned to wal-mart and was destined to be flushed (should have let them flush it). It's a very nice fish to look at but mean as hell when you add any fish smaller than they are. Once established, new tankmates seem to do fine however. A male/female pair of any colisa sp. or the pearl gourami's would probably do just fine with no adverse affects to other tankmates other than the pearl's picking on the plants. Other possibilities depend on your taste really. If you're looking at anabantiods, there are paradise fish, wild bettas, croaking gourami's etc. You may have different fish available in your area. I can think of many other fish I would add but the cories/bristlenose would be a problem because they're mostly cichlids that are bottom-dwellers. Kyle
Thanks guys. I looked into pearls and everyone is saying how unbelievably shy they are. The Paradise that Snakeskin mentioned fish looks and option though...
