# Bolivian Ram and Gourami



## winn0923 (Oct 8, 2008)

Would bolivian ram be suitable with a single dwarf or honey gourami?!


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## jack lover (Aug 12, 2008)

ya it will but rams arent realy solitary fish so buy a few more


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## winn0923 (Oct 8, 2008)

yea i got 3 bolivian rams and they kinda form a hierarchy system already. the only reason why i ask was bc one of my buddies actually have a dwarf gourami with his rams and the gourami was very territorial and would chase the rams away from the pellets and his rams were stressed out by the gourami.


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## jack lover (Aug 12, 2008)

Also what is the tank size,What other inhabitants are in the tank?Is it planted or not?And how long has it been setup?


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

something like a honey gourami or pearl gourami should work fine, some gouramis like the blues, golds, opaline, moonlight etc are very aggressive fish, and can definitely hold there own, they are not the peaceful fish they are let off to be.

though even though they are fairly aggressive, i couldnt see a bolivian of an appropriate size running away from it, my bolivians in the past were no push overs, and could hold there own with larger cichlids pretty well, maybe mine was just crazy lol.


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## winn0923 (Oct 8, 2008)

I see

Tank size is 20 gallon, densely planted (>80% ground cover):

6 pristella tetra
3 otos
3 bolivian rams


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

I see no problem at all in the mix of blue gouramis and Bolivians or the mix of Blue gouramis and apisto's like A. cacatuoides. Gage,....I have kept 2 blues and 2 diamond gouramis with 7 Bolivians and can't confirm aggression. The blue gouramis are a bit odd in their behaviour. Just like most fish they claim their territory and in my case this was the entire tank. When defending their space they swim rapid towards the opponent and make a sharp turn just in front of the opponent and blowing small bubbles of air out of their guts. This opponent sees a large cloud of of bubbles coming straight to him and feels the movement of the water and becomes frightened. This is how Blue grams defend them selves. If they show "aggression" it is often towards the female. The lifespan of dwarf gouramis like the Colisa lalia and Colisa fabiosa is often very short. Males do well in most of the cases but females tend to die quit easy. Often this has to do with eggs in the female body while the male didn't succeed in building a nest. You definitely need some rooted floating plants for this tank and low currents at the water surface so the male Gouramis can build a nest. The air abouve the water surface should be around the same temperature as the water. If it is to hot or to cold the Gouramis can die. Gouramis swallow air from the surface. In their guts the oxygen and gasses from their blood are switched. The gas will be pooped out. Gouramis can breath with their intestins.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

youve never had your blues become aggressive? mine was a killer, which is why i said they can be very aggressive.

they are like cichlids in this way and this proves it, each individual will have its own personality, whether it be a peace keeper, or a peace disturber.

i like your stocking list, but id go with 6 instead of 3 otos personally, they are fun to watch when in groups.


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Gage,...no I had the blues with the dark speckles all over,...I don't know how it is labeled over there, sorry. I indeed can't confirm the aggression. Blues (and gold) can be boisterous and skittish and have the odd behaviour I told abouth but I never seen real aggression and definitely no killings. I kept them in the mentioned set up in a 50 gallon and also in a 180 gallon (tank I maintained in a rest home) without aggression issues.

I agrea on you that some behaviour of Gouramis is in line with behaviour of cichlids. Maybe you are right and is the temperament of each individual diferent. This might explain our totally diferent experiences. It might be that the set up also make a diference. Mine were in heavy planted tanks with lots of large leaved plants like echinodorus and of course floating plants.

To the OP,....absolutely no aggression issues with the dwarf Gouramis and pearl Gouramis (labeled over here as diamond gouramis) of that I'm sure. The only thing abouth those are that the females die easy and their overall lifespan is quit short.


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## Eriefish (Nov 4, 2008)

Honey Gouramis make great tank mates for the Rams. they arent pigs and aggressive for food and actually are top to mid level swimmers and will make your rams feel safe and you will see them more often.

The Dwarf gouramis can get a little pushy but i have only ever seen present at feeding time and by the more robust ones.


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## michelle767 (Jun 17, 2004)

My vote would be no. I have a dwarf sunset gourami in my 29G who is absolutely evil to both my bolivian rams and the little rotkeil sevs I'm growing out. My rams were a breeding trio before he came along, and now they can't swim up above about 6 inches off the tank floor. I'm actually taking the gourami to the LFS this weekend.


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