# Gourami group?



## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

So i'm planning on putting gouramis in my 42" tank when i move the cichlids on. Am thinking of the larger variety (not giant) pearl/moonlight/2spot. Is it better to keep a male with multiple females or would people recommend keeping a pair over a group?

Thanks very much


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## arapaimag (Dec 1, 2007)

I have had the best success with one male and multiple females.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

arapaimag said:


> I have had the best success with one male and multiple females.


Especially with the 2 spot/3 spot/blue/gold/platinum/opaline species ... _Trichogaster trichopterus._ :thumb:


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## arapaimag (Dec 1, 2007)

Very good point.

I have had that problem with other species also but not as bad as the 3 spot blue and colour variations.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Yes, I was able to keep a pair of the other _Trichogaster_ species and the _Colisa_ species ... except for the 3 spot variations.


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

as i expected. Thanks guys

Think i'll try for 1m/2fm. Not sure if a larger group would work in a tank this size.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Why not the giant gourami? They are the prettiest of the _Colisa_ genus and just about as large as a pearl gourami. In a 42" tank, I'd avoid the snakeskin gouramis ... they are the largest of the _Trichogaster_ species by quite a bit.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

dwarfpike said:


> Why not the giant gourami? They are the prettiest of the _Colisa_ genus and just about as large as a pearl gourami


I think a latin name would be better here as it's not obvious as to what fish you are refferring to. I know it is not Osphronemus goramy :lol: , but that is the fish that is generally reffered to as a giant gourami.


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

dwarfpike said:


> Why not the giant gourami? They are the prettiest of the _Colisa_ genus and just about as large as a pearl gourami. In a 42" tank, I'd avoid the snakeskin gouramis ... they are the largest of the _Trichogaster_ species by quite a bit.


Giant gouramis......doesnt TFG have a giant gourami thats over a foot in length?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

_Colisa fasciata_ of course ... the one that's an actual gourami, not the hulking beast that's in it's own family (all true gouramis are family Belontiidae, while those giants are family Osphronemidae). And I thought the big ones were spelled goramy instead of gourami ... at least that's what their keepers keep telling me!!! :lol:


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

Colisa fasciata = great choice. Haven't seen any around here in a long time...


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

mok3t said:


> Giant gouramis......doesnt TFG have a giant gourami thats over a foot in length?


That's a giant goramy, not a giant gourami ... confusing wot? :wink:



Afishionado said:


> Colisa fasciata = great choice. Haven't seen any around here in a long time...


Deffinately one of the prettiest gouramis I think. The only time I see them now a days are males at the Petsmart sadly.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

dwarfpike said:


> That's a giant goramy, not a giant gourami ... confusing wot? :wink:


Confusing, yes, when more then one fish has the same common name. But O. goramy has always been known as Giant GOURAMI ----any book I have ever seen them in, it's been spelled that way; Google Giant gourami and you will see pictures of O. goramy; even wikipedia has it written that way for O. goramy. Just because the fish is no longer in the same family as other gouramis, doesn't mean the spelling of the common name, in common useage, suddenely changes.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

As I've said, the keepers on other sites tend to correct you if you spell it gourami. They are quite pushy about it actually. *lol*

But yes, if you google giant gourami both species appear, though the _Colisa_ less frequently becuase it isn't as popular sadly. The copper and emerald bands are even prettier than the dwarf gourami IMO.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

dwarfpike said:


> (all true gouramis are family Belontiidae, while those giants are family Osphronemidae). :lol:


I don't beleive it's true, as from what I have just read on the internet, Belontiidae has been demoted to sub-family status of the gourami family, Osphronemidae. Such is the way of the ever changing world of fish classification :lol: Not only that, this sub-family doesn't even include most gouramis, nor the genus Collisa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Belontiidae

That some keepers of O. goramy prefer it too be spelled giant goramy, in order to distinguish it from the Colissa species you refer to, may very well be, but it doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of people refer to O. goramy as the giant gourami, and maybe completely unaware that there is another gourami also called that as well. At least I was unaware of it, as I am unfamilliar with Collissa species and have known them in general, as a group, to be called dwarf gouramis ----sort of odd that one of these dwarf gouramis would actually be called a giant :lol:


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

My GF prefers the pearls and i really like the blues. we'll have to see whats around when we come to buy them.

Breeding is not the plan here, so would a 3 female group be a better idea than 1m/2fm?


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