On Gouramis

hi i am new at gouramis.
bought three new ones this week. two turquoise and one flame dwarf gourami. i had the following questions:
-are they middle to bottom dwellers?
-do they need lots of food, i only feed them once a day.
-do they generate lots of waste? (i may have to do more frequent water changes)
- can they tolerate fast flowing water?

any other input would also be useful.

from what I know they are top/middle feeders.
but thats just what i see in pet stores.

feeding....like most fish they can't be fed tooo much. but if they seem to be hungry that means there healthy. You don't want buildup on the bottom or foggy water.

As for current and fast water movement.. It could be obvious just look at them for a little and see if the getting tossed around by the current.

I don't think you'll need more frequent water changes or larger but just in case lookout for a high nitrate level and high pH. Also keep an eye out for cloudy water.

hope this helps.

Dude,
I have/had a few gouramis. They are indeed top to middle feeders, occassionally dwelling to the bottom. Everyday I do a John Arthur, that is feed flake when I turn the lights on, and black worms, or bloodworms before I turn off the lights.

Their body structure emulates a fish that doesn't live in very fast moving waters because they are bigger, and slightly rounder. I believe that fast moving water fish are very torpedo like.

I recommend using this website if you have some basic questions about the fish. www.liveaquaria.com.

After reading about the flame dwarf, they before heavily vegetated waters which means slower movement, but they can tolerate it, as mine did. Check out my pic, you will see him.

Lots of aquarium shops sell only the male gouramis, because the females are usually not very colorful.

I think the blue gouramis may be an exception, but they can also get fairly large. The dwarf varieties can be housed in a ten gallon tank, but if the blue gourami is in fact the so called giant gourami, you're going to need some room. Gouramis are also sensitive to water conditions, so be sure to check water chemistry and temperature and do regular partial water changes.

To find suitable mates for the males, you may have to search around the local stores or check aquabid.com.

Thanks all. i checked the recommended websites. and both types of gouramis i got are dwarfs, so that is good. so far they are doing okay. my tank is heavily planted so slows the water. i may add some fake plants right at the pump outlet to slow it down..

hey Kx125rider572 checked your pics. looks very nice. well planted tanks. how do you keep it so green, do you have high power lights etc??

I was googling gouramis and it seems that they need a big tank.
so in my 12 gallon i have 4 blood fin tetra, 3 dwarf gourami and one golden algae eater. is this too much?

The amount of fish in your tank could be subjected to a yes answer and a no answer. 12 gallons means about 12 inches of fish to be a healthy aquarium. Your right on the border. If you have live plants than I would say that you are okay.

I used to have 2 blue dwarf gouramis and 2 honey gouramis. Yesterday the last of my honey dwarfs died, I had it for over a year. The fire gourami i believe that it is, is about 3 inches.

As for the plants being so green, I have had plants in my tank since 07 and have had ups and downs with the luck of them. Just recently a lot of ups. I have 2 65 watt light bulbs, plus co2 in the bigger tank. The light is a current satelite, and the co2 is a manual injection system with a diffuser.
During the week I dose with Seachems excel and flourish. Just to note, I bought most of these plants about 3 weeks ago, but some have been in there for months.
The 10 gallon hatchery that I have just has a 15 watt, but it puts out 10,000k and cost me 30 dollars. That gets the same dose, but once a week. And I just recently switched to Ro water.

pretty neat, some day i will setup a big plant tank....maybe once i retire....in a few decades....

I hear you on that one!!

I think of retirement as permanent vacation. The only problem is you have to take the vacation when you're old.

Thanks all. My Tank now is functional and has three gouramis..2 Nean blue Dwarf Gouramis and one Flame Dwarf gourami. pretty neat. the shimmering colors on these fishes are amazing. seen at an angle is even better. the tank is full of plants and duckweed...!! (i may have enough to make a duckweed candy...not soup) .these three fishes are doing well and eating a bit of duckweed too. i am working on taking pictures and upload them soon. once i figure it out.

Many exclusive restaurants, according to rumor, serve dollop of duckweed and call it water salad a la quack.