Fish suggestions please . . .

[Wookii]

A bit bigger than butterfly barbs (much deeper bodied too) but with similar colouration, drape fin barbs are nice. I've not kept either and have only seen them in a shop once. I don't get to fish shops that often though so could be as common as guppies for all I know.
I think croaking gouramis are quite underated but are beautiful when settled and especially in sun light. Plus the croaking is a bit different to a lot of fish.
I do like honey gouramis though, a group looks great. To me they look like autumn leaves floating in the tank. I've heard a few people say males can be a bit territorial though, so probably best to avoid multiples. They're easy to sex though so shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'm shying away from the barbs a little, possibly wrongly, mainly due to mouth size, and protection of my shrimp. I love the look of the Croaking Gourami, but that getting too big for my tank at 7cm, I want to keep below 5cm if possible.

Very apt description on the Gourami's - I though the same when I was watching some video of the Chocolate Gourami's among leaf litter yesterday. On the Honey Gourami sexing, is it still easy to tell when they are 20-25mm long juveniles? The MA has a tank chock full of them, so it's going to be a tricky exercise for my untrained eye.

 

[ScareCrow]

Thanks for the suggestions - I'm shying away from the barbs a little, possibly wrongly, mainly due to mouth size, and protection of my shrimp. I love the look of the Croaking Gourami, but that getting too big for my tank at 7cm, I want to keep below 5cm if possible.

Very apt description on the Gourami's - I though the same when I was watching some video of the Chocolate Gourami's among leaf litter yesterday. On the Honey Gourami sexing, is it still easy to tell when they are 20-25mm long juveniles? The MA has a tank chock full of them, so it's going to be a tricky exercise for my untrained eye.

Sorry I meant sparkling gourami not croaking. As you say there is a big size difference! I've editted my original post.
The honey gouramis should still be sexable, how easy it will be is another thing. Males have pointed dorsal and anal fins. At that size this should be visible. Depending how long they've been in the shop/quality of the fish some of the males might have started to colour up more, so they'll be brighter yellow and possibly starting to get a black bar on their underside. Females tend to be rounder all round. So round end to the dorsal fin and rounder body. They're less colourful and have a horizontal band, which runs through their eye back to their tail.
Colouration can be age, stress or quality dependent so I'd look at the fins as your best guide.

 

[ScareCrow]

@Wookii just found this thread which might be of help when trying to sex those gouramis. I've gone down a gourami rabbit hole now

 

[bazz]

Hi,
I have no personal experience but just from reading on here and 1 or 2 other sites, that it would be difficult to trust any Gourami with shrimp.
I did keep a couple of Honey Gouramis years ago (without shrimp) and they spent the days constantly probing through the plants/hardscape. That said, they are without doubt beautiful fish.
If my CRS don't soon multiply, I may give up on them, lower the GH (less than the current 5) and PH, and look into Samurai Gouramis. They had some a while ago in Lincoln MA (along with standard chocolates), but not been in there for a couple of months.
Cheers!

 

[Wookii]

Sorry I meant sparkling gourami not croaking. As you say there is a big size difference! I've editted my original post.
The honey gouramis should still be sexable, how easy it will be is another thing. Males have pointed dorsal and anal fins. At that size this should be visible. Depending how long they've been in the shop/quality of the fish some of the males might have started to colour up more, so they'll be brighter yellow and possibly starting to get a black bar on their underside. Females tend to be rounder all round. So round end to the dorsal fin and rounder body. They're less colourful and have a horizontal band, which runs through their eye back to their tail.
Colouration can be age, stress or quality dependent so I'd look at the fins as your best guide.

@Wookii just found this thread which might be of help when trying to sex those gouramis. I've gone down a gourami rabbit hole now

That's great, thanks @ScareCrow

 

[Wookii]

Hi,
I have no personal experience but just from reading on here and 1 or 2 other sites, that it would be difficult to trust any Gourami with shrimp.
I did keep a couple of Honey Gouramis years ago (without shrimp) and they spent the days constantly probing through the plants/hardscape. That said, they are without doubt beautiful fish.
If my CRS don't soon multiply, I may give up on them, lower the GH (less than the current 5) and PH, and look into Samurai Gouramis. They had some a while ago in Lincoln MA (along with standard chocolates), but not been in there for a couple of months.
Cheers!

I looked at the Samurai last night whilst in a Gourami rabbit hole of my own, they do look beautiful, but I could only find them at one dubious eBay seller on a 'Pre-order' basis for £20 each! Good to know MA occasionally get them in.

 

[Wookii]

Well, decision made. . .



I spent a good hour in MA trying to decide, but there was just something peacefully elegant about the way the Chocolates moved around the shop tank, and those bright gold bands, that was strangely captivating. I think they’ll be the perfect fit for my tank - thanks for the suggestion @Conort2, and thanks everyone for your help as always.

 

[bazz]

Nice looking fish mate, looking forward to seeing them in a FTS once they're settled!

 

[Dominik K]

Congrats! They look stunning.

 

[Conort2]

Well, decision made. . .

View attachment 173849

I spent a good hour in MA trying to decide, but there was just something peacefully elegant about the way the Chocolates moved around the shop tank, and those bright gold bands, that was strangely captivating. I think they’ll be the perfect fit for my tank - thanks for the suggestion @Conort2, and thanks everyone for your help as always.

Great choice, They look to be In good condition! I Think they’re the perfect match with boraras. Make sure you keep their water nice and soft and tannin stained, the gourami and the boraras will glow.

cheers

 

[shangman]

Very nice choice, they are very intriguing fish. Looking forward to reading about their antics from you!

 

[bazz]

Alright Wookii,
How are the Gouramis settling in, all good I hope?
Cheers!

 

[Wookii]

Alright Wookii,
How are the Gouramis settling in, all good I hope?
Cheers!

It’s been an interesting learning curve @bazz to be honest.

They are lovely fish and they seem much more intelligent than the other fish I have. I love my Chillis and Embers, but they are much more like typical fish governed by their base instincts - they appear to think mainly about food and little else.

The Chocolate Gourami’s on the other hand are genuinely curious - they come to the front of the glass when I’m near the tank, and eyeball be closely - you can kind of tell there is something else going on behind the eyes, and they’re trying to work out what’s going on.

They’re surprisingly gregarious too, often swimming around in a shoal. One fish though appears to have set him/her self up as the dominant fish - having grown really quickly - and decided the front of the glass is their territory. There is no fighting as such, but he/she will chase off the other Gourami’s when they get near, particularly at feeding times. The others don’t seem overly bothered about it, but do tend to hang around at the back of the tank instead, which isn’t ideal.

I also found yesterday morning, that one of them had jumped out of the tank during the night, which was really gutting. I suspect the dominant fish had chased it out of the tank during the night. So I nipped to MA yesterday afternoon and bought two more to take the shoal to 6x, which I was intending to do in a couple of weeks anyway.

It was really strange though when I added the new pair after I’d acclimated them - the dominant one abandoned his/her post at the front of the tank, and the whole group of six shoaled up tight together and did slow purposeful laps of the tank and in amongst the plants - interacting with one another as they went - almost like an organised “getting to know you” session 😂 it was really interesting to watch.

I have also noticed that the Gourami’s are much more actively hunting in amongst the plants and moss than the other fish. There are lots of scuds (and likely scud babies) and other fauna in amongst the greenery that they presumably like hunting, but I’m also seeing less baby shrimp about. So I’ve converted my failed Moina tank into a shrimp breeding tank now to try and support the population.

All in all, they are lovely fish, and a welcome and contrasting addition to the tank - their dark brown colouration in combination with the stunning shiny gold bands, give them a really understated beauty. I thoroughly recommend them 👍🏻