[Justinzane]

Hello all,

I am new here and a new aquarium owner. We have a 55 gal tank with the following fish in it.

6 Platy (The kids picked them cuz they look bright and cute)
1 Angelfish
1 Electric Blue Gourami
1 Red Tailed Black Shark

My wife wants to add a Turquoise Gourami and a Honey Gourami as well. The LFS we buy our fish from had all the gourami in the same tank and they didnt seem to mind each other. Is this a good idea.

Also, can I put some Cardinal Tetras in this tank? Some people say no, some say yes. I just dont want the fish to be picked on or eaten.

 

[moghedan]

The Angel is a natural predator of the Cardinals. Full size cardinals (2") are usually OK, but smaller ones tend to disappear overnight.

All of those Gourami are color variations of the Dwarf Gourami. They are fairly peaceful, and often get picked on. They only thing they fight with is each other, unfortunately. They get along with each other when younger, but become aggressive to each other as they age.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Hi and welcome to the forum as well as the hobby!

I'm going to say no on the gourami because you have the angelfish in there. They may seem to get along now, but as they age both gourami and angelfish will become more territorial. And when this happens they take a particular disliking to each other. Just as a side note, the honey gourami is actually a separate species from the dwarf gourami. They tend to be much better community fish than dwarf gourami as they are a bit more relaxed.

I'd stay away from the cardinal tetra, too. Torpedo-shaped fish can often become food with angelfish around. Try to look for something that is a little more deep-bodied like flame tetra or harlequin rasbora.

 

[Justinzane]

I am sure glad I asked before I went to get them . So I guess my next question would be. What type of fish would you suggest to be tankmates? We are looking for some colorful fish for some nice relaxation.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Both gourami and angelfish don't like very active tankmates as they are very sedative fish. Flame tetra are good as are bleeding-heart tetra. Red-eye tetra are another good choice. Basically look for fish that aren't torpedo-shaped and generally seem to be calmly swimming around (this of course excludes other cichlids and gourami). You could easily have two or three 10+ schools of such fish in a 55 gal tank (which is an excellent tank size!). What will probably be easiest for you is to see what's available locally, write down those names (scientific and common), and research those individual fish.

 

[Justinzane]

I thank you very much for your advice. Once we get the tank stocked, I will be sure to put up a picture.

And to the community here, thanks everyone for putting up with my new questions. :-D

 

[marshallsea]

How long has your tank been running? Has your tank cycled? Have you tested your water? If your tank is not cycled don't add any more fish for a while, or you will make a newbie mistake.

 

[Justinzane]

yes. it is fully cycled. 0 amounia and 0 nitrites. i am not quite sure what to add next, but i will add fish in stages so the bio system can keep up. i read alot about cycles, and maintenance. but i made a rookie mistake on buying fish before i fully planned the tank.

thanks for the concern tho. :-D

 

[marshallsea]

yes. it is fully cycled. 0 amounia and 0 nitrites. i am not quite sure what to add next, but i will add fish in stages so the bio system can keep up. i read alot about cycles, and maintenance. but i made a rookie mistake on buying fish before i fully planned the tank.

thanks for the concern tho. :-D

Thumbs up to you for researching before stocking.