Planted 10 gallon gourami tank?

Ulyaoth

I found a ten gallon tank in my attic and although I'm going on vacation tomorrow I was just wondering what I could do with it. My mom's been bugging me to get a Gourami so I figured I could use it to set up a tank for that. Just wondering what they need and who else could be with them. I wanted to plant it, wondering what plants would go well with this, I have a Java fern in my other tank, thinking maybe I'd take that out and put it on a piece of driftwood and replace it with a sword or crypt.

Guessing dwarfs would be all that would fit in the 10 gallon, how many could be together? Or are they really aggressive like bettas? Also had a hang on filter with my other tank, wondering what would be better for the plants and everything.

Also for the plants, I have plain gravel in the other tank, should that be fine again or should I maybe try sand or one of those enriched substrates? Only other thing is I'll have to find a hood and light for it.

BradSD

I put some gouramis in my fairly new 72 gallon planted tank and they are doing fantastic. The tank had only cycled about one week before entering, so far so good. I think they are just a beautiful fish, love them.

Byron

Your 10g size is going to limit the gourami species, but take a look at the fish profiles under Anabantids. There are now many gourami species listed, and each profile gives the minimum tank size and indicates how many (some are better single, others in a small group). Profiles are accessed via the second tab from the left in the blue bar at the top.

I would naturally be willing to answer any questions you might have, but the best thing first is to chek the info on the species.

Byron.

coolcar24th

I had a couple croaking gouramis and a couple of honey gouramis in a 10 gal planted tank once. They do fine and stay about 3 inches max.

Inga

I have a Blue Gourami and I HAD 2 Gold and 2 Blue but am down to 1. Aggression is a definite possibility among them. The remaining Gourami is getting along fine with everyone else in my tank so it is a species thing. Also, I think you should stick with the Dwarf species as the Blue gets around 4 inches long. Mine is at least that long. They are really cool fish though and fun to watch. Even if you only had one Goruami and maybe a couple of some other small fish, it would be a very interesting tank to watch.

They love the plants too and hang out in them a lot. Pennywort is a nice floating plant that they can hide under. Easy care and all.

Ulyaoth

Changed my mind. I'm just going to use it to give my poor betta a bit more room above the 1.5 gallon she's in now. I'm fairly accustomed to bettas, so the only thing is what plants would be good for my plan to just stick it in front of my window. Also, I've heard something about a java fern growing with its leaves out of water will absorb nutrients(you know, ammonia and such) better than submerged, so I was thinking maybe I'd keep the water level a bit lower and pile up some rocks or something so the leaves can grow out of water, since I never had a filter for the betta and they seem to do alright so I wasn't planning on one in this. I'll get a piece of glass from home depot to make a top for it to keep the heat and humid air in. Think all this would work for just the one betta?

Byron

Sounds good, except the Java Fern bit. Don't understand that; these plants assimilate nutrients (incluyding ammonium) through their roots and leaves, and out of water would not benefit this. Maybe what you were thinking of was CO2. Surface (floating) plants and those that grow emersed do have an advantage by taking CO2 from the air. But the other nutrients still come from the water.

Ulyaoth

Well that's what I meant, it said they absorb nutrients from the water better thus making better filters if the leaves are out of the water so they absorb the ammonia from the water and co2 from the air to grow quicker. Does that sound right? I mean I guess it can't hurt to try, I've got so many baby java ferns anyway.

Byron

Yes. Just have a read of the profile of this plant though, there are a couple issues to watch out for. Nutrient assimilation through the leaves will be minimal if they are out of the water where the nutrients are. And out of the water it will be in direct light, and this plant does not always do well in light.