dwarf gouramis

PRichs87

would a pair of dwarf gouramis be ok to house with tiger barbs in a 29 gallon?

iamntbatman

Possibly.

Dwarf gouramis can be pretty territorial/aggressive. Here in the US, you'd be extremely hard pressed to find anything other than a male Dwarf Gourami, so if you buy two you're likely going to end up with two males that don't really like one another. If you have a lot of plants and can break the tank into two distinct territories, you might be able to get away with it.

As for the tiger barbs...well, that'd be iffy. The gouramis don't really have long fins (other than those long, thin "feeler" type ventral fins) so I'm not sure if tiger barbs would really see them as potential targets for nipping. That, and dwarf gouramis are generally grumpy enough that they likely wouldn't put up with harassment from tiger barbs, meaning they might chase the barbs away and prevent any sort of injuries. So it could work, but it might not.

Has anyone here ever tried this combination for themselves?

PRichs87

I purchased a neon blue Dwarf Gourami today. Since adding him to the tank over an hour ago he hasn't come out of this tree I have for more than 30 seconds. Think he is just adapting?

PRichs87

Update, he was obviously just adapting. He is swimming about the tank and looking very content.

fryup

iv had a gourami for 2 months and she still swims off and hids as soon as theres any movement so he is probably still ajusting

redlessi

I have a flame Dwarf Gourami in with 3 angels and 2 bolivian rams and he thinks he is in charge of the tank. That is until the big angel comes his way. Good Luck

PRichs87

So, my gourami is being very finicky with food and will even spit out bloodworms, thoughts on what to feed him?

fryup

maybe try fish slakes or tubifex worms...my gouramis also like the algie waffers i feed as a treat

Baserunner

I had one male and one female Dwarf Gourami for two years and loved them! I would recommend them for larger community tanks. They can really catch the observer's eye. They were not aggressive to any other fish in my tank, but the male would occasionally pick on the female (nothing too bad though). I encourage you to add a pair of gouramis to your tank.

Herbicide

That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard! In my experience with dwarf gouramis, they are amazing eaters.
Mine eat anything I put in there. They eat the flakes, they eat the bloodworms for my frog, they eat the zucchini for my pleco, they eat baby guppies, they even ate hydras off of the plants and the walls when I had a hydra bloom. Heck, they even try to eat poop when they see it, but then they spit it out, try again, spit it out again, etc...
Anyway, he's probably just nervous or something. He'll probably come around. Then you'll have trouble getting him to not eat :P