I am cycling a 55 gallon tank. Eventually I would like to have 3 variations of the Blue Gourami (Maybe Blue, Opaline, and Three-Spot). I assume I should get one male and two females.
Can the following co-exist peacefully with the Gourami?
Western (Australian) Rainbowfish, Rosy Barb, Penguin Tetra, Bleeding Heart Tetra, and pictus catfish.
I know I can't fit them all, but if they're compatible I'd like to keep 3 pictus and 5 or so of the barbs and/or tetras.
I believe Blue Gourami's don't have problems with most other species, it's mostly with their own. In a 55 gal, you should have enough space for them to find territories, and one male with a couple females may spread the aggression. I had a male/female Opaline and the male would have killed the female if I didn't seperate them. This was in a 23 gallon. I have my female with dwarf rainbows and other fish with no problem. I'm not sure about the barbs, but see what others say.
I have a 75 G and once fish get to a fair size, 2-3 inches there really is no room for territories. If someone in the tank is aggressive there is no where to go to get away... and it's 4 feet long. My experience is one Gourami to a tank. Even the peaceful Pearl Gourami got aggressive with each other. Having said that, I don't see anything in the list that is a problem just several of those need 5-6 each to be comfortable. The RBF are a good match. JMO. Good luck with your tank. Do lots of research for sure!
Generally speaking, gourami should be kept with fish that are fairly quiet and sedate, like themselves. Rasbora are excellent for this. Danio and barb tend to be active swimmers, and this in my view is not good pairing. Characins would depend on the species; some will nip fins so they would be out (Bleeding Hearts have been known to do this, one of our members had a group of these in with angels and she had to remove the tetra due to the angelfish fins getting nipped mercilessly). This tetra is in the Rosy T clade, and some of the other species in this clade are fine, like the Rosy Tetra, Roberts Tetra, Black and Red Phantom. At any rate, these should be OK, sometimes something will affect even peaceful fish to get nippy.
The male/female ratio of one/three is good, but as someone pointed out, this sometimes doesn't work. Male gourami are really very similar to male cichlids in their sense of territory and related aggression. Having multiple tanks just in case one needs to separate them is advisable, or a store that will take them back. All female should be OK as far as I know.
On the pictus catfish, a group of five is better. And this fish is predatory. Check the profile.
Byron.
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