# Dwarf Gourami



## fishy77 (May 18, 2012)

Hi, i was recently told on here that having 5 dwarf gourami would result in them fighting each other to the death... So how can i have them??? What about 5 females would that work?? ok, thx!!


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Well I'm not quite sure how your counting system works, but I believe that 5 of anything equals 5. And if 5 doesn't work, don't have 5.


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## fishy77 (May 18, 2012)

But apparently 1 male with 4 femals _may_ work ??? plz i need to know all i can about this


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Here's my take on things.
5= bad
5 = 5 = bad
1 + 4 = 5 = bad. 

Yes, having a larger ratio of females to males may help, but there's several members on here who had good ratios, and still had either females killing males, or males killing females. I would stick to just *one* per tank if you desperately want one.

It also depends on tank size and shape. I wouldn't put one in less than 5 gallons, and considering how much they fight, give each one 10 gallons worth of space to itself, very densely planted, so they can't see from one side of the tank to another, LOTS of hiding spots, and most importantly, be ready to separate them at any moment, even if they seem to do well for weeks.


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## Hannah_wc (May 21, 2012)

I have 4 male dwarf gouramis with no issues...... though dont try to add any blue gouramis with them..... I added two banded gouramis to the mix and all doing well.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

More than one male Dwarf Gourami is a bad idea. If you want to increase your chances maybe a female or females would work. Why so many of one type fish? A smaller tank will decrease the likelihood of success as well.


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## JonJonHobbyist (Aug 24, 2011)

I keep a male sunset gourami with a female sunset plus some tetras and corries in a 30 gallon and I have no problem. I definitely wouldn't add anymore males as one can get slightly aggressive when protecting his bubble nest let alone multiple fighting for top water real estate. Also I probably wouldn't personally try to house them in any smaller of a tank than 30g either but that's just me. I realize your talking dwarf gouramis but from what I can tell the sunset's only get slightly larger and have similar temperaments.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

The local Big Box store carries only males and they seem to get along fine. They need to be in at least a 10G tank with lots of plants. My experience with Dwarfs isn't very good, they seem to die fast. Blues, Lace and Sunset Gouramiis seem to be much tougher.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I think the answer is it could go either way. It depends on your tank setup and the personality of the fish you end up with. 

Tank size is important, no way 5 are going to work in a 10 gallon. What size is your tank?

Some people have found keeping them in larger groups works fine. Some fish are less aggressive in a group than when you just have two or three, and it seems that this can be the case with Dwarf Gourami. 

Males will tend to be more aggressive with each other than females but people have experienced males killing females, females killing males and females killing females so it is not a sure thing. 

It's been said the original wild Dwarf Gourami are less aggressive than many of the Dwarf Gourami we now have available in the hobby. It would seem that all that line breeding to get the many color variations has also bred in some aggressive traits. Some color strains may be more aggressive than others, blue have a bad reputation. This variation in temperament will lead to people having different experiences and giving different advice.

It is really good that you are doing your research before buying fish, that can save many headaches . In this case I don't think you are going to find a definite yes or no answer. The answer is that it could be possible but it's risky. If you do want to try it consider what you will do if it doesn't work, you will potentially be stuck with 5 fish that need their own tanks. You will need a backup plan, maybe you can arrange to return the fish to the store if it doesn't work. Even then, if you do not have much experience keeping fish it may be hard for you to know if it is working or not. You may see outright fighting but it seems that in some cases there isn't much physical contact, it just causes high stress levels. The first you know about it may be a sick or dead fish.

Summary:
Can it work? Yes. 
Does it always work? No.
Will it work for you? There is no way to be sure.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Maybe look into honey gourami, they are similar but I've read they are not as aggressive. I also really like the smaller sparkling gourami.


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