Gourami help

[lmeijer]

Okay I am new to the fish world so I have been listening to pet stores and things keep getting worse. I need help. I currently have

4 cory catfish
6 zebra danios
2 dwarf honey gouramis
2 dwarf fire red gouramis
1 dwarf powder blue gourami
1 dwarf blue (unknow type) gourami

My blue gourami (type unknown) was purchased with one red gourami. At this point they were the only gourami's of their size (I had the honeys too). The blue one hide all of the time so the pet store told me to get him a friend. So I went out and got another red and another blue. The blue was bigger and not quiet the same type as I am unsure what type the first blue was. Well now, the original red is biting the others and the original blue hiding even more and seems stressed. In addition I have not seen blue eat since I got him two weeks ago. What should I do? My tank is only 26 gallon. Should I go back and get ANOTHER blue that is exact to him and another blue for my new one, so everyone will have pairs? Am I out of tank space. Please help, I am worried about him. Thanks so much

[TheOldSalt]

No, don't get more. You have too many already. No, not too many fish, but too many males. You see, the fish you mentioned are almost always all males hopped up on extra hormones and color-enhancing foods. That's all fine and dandy, but then you wind up with a tankful of males, and they don't like each other. Getting some females won't help much, since it would only give them more to fight about in the first place.
Separating them is about all you can do that will absolutely work, but you could also try adding lots of plants and such to help them avoid each other's line of sight.

[Damon]

Agreed. I'd keep the honey gouramis (they tend to be more docile) and return the rest of the gouramis. The rest of the tank seems fine. You could ask a cpl of more danios if you wanted to or a few more cories.

[lmeijer]

They won't take them back? Should I take the small one out and make him a 5 gallon tank and get him a small friend?

[Lexus]

Try giving them away or selling them in the paper... or if a friend will take them... or if another petstore will take them
As I see it your overstocked because of the male ratio, they will be happier in the long run if seperated.

[lmeijer]

so how many should I have? ****Sorry to ask so many questions I am new to this

can I get rid of the 2 red ones and be okay?

[mousey]

I'd also like to know why the stores only carry dwarf males.
what are they doing with the females if they are not selling them or have they figured out a way to make them all males?
This all goes back to the question of how many gouramis can you have in a tank if all you can buy are males.
Mouse

[fish_doc]

In larger tanks you can get away with more than one gourami. But in smaller tanks you are pretty limited. Unfortunally mixing different kinds of gouramis does not mean you can increase the number of them in the tank. Take a look at them and try and figure out which ones are causing the biggest problems.

Where are you located. Is there a fish club near you if so im sure you could find someone there willing to take them off your hands.

[TheOldSalt]

Since it's summer, you could always set up a tub outdoors for them. You can get little kits ready made or just whip up something made from a Walmart lawn&garden beer barrel and a tarp. These can look very nice, especially with a little lilypad in it. You won't need a pump or anything for the airbreathing gouramis, and the plants will filter the water for you well enough.
A small kiddie pool also works. By the end of summer the fish will look fantastic, and then you'll have no trouble selling them.

"Flame" & "fire" type gouramis are made by giving color enhancements to the males, which are naturally brighter in color. Such enhancement do very little for the females, so it usually isn't done for them, which is why you only see males in the stores. Many stores still carry the normal versions of these fish, and carry the females as well, but many others just carry the souped-up males because they sell better.
Flames & fires will of course mate with normal females, but the resulting fry are ordinary. For that matter, the extra color of the flame&fire gouramis wears off in several months anyway if the fish aren't kept under the conditions the fishfarms use to give them those colors, so these fish are really something of a ripoff anyway.

At any rate, it sounds like now would be a very good time to consider the fun of keeping outdoor fish. The results will be worth it. In fact, puting a male/female pair in each tub may well get you lots of babies.