Dwarf Gourami with Zebra Danios?

[C. Andrew Nelson]

I have a question for the collective wisdom here on the forum...

Do you think it would work out to keep a Dwarf Gourami with Zebra Danios?

I have a 5.5 gallon tank on my desk that is currently home to 5 Zebra Danios and one Black Racer Nerite Snail. I also plan to add about three Asian Stone Catfish (Hara jerdoni). But I want one "centerpiece" fish with a bit of color. For those who remember me (good to be back on the forum, by the way) you'll recall that I get a bee in my bonnet about theming my tanks to a particular country. I don't do strict biotopes though. As a fun challenge to myself I simply try to stock each tank with fish, plants, and inverts that originate from the chosen country regardless of whether or not they all come from the same region in that country. This particular tank is themed around India.

What I'm asking is a) Do you think the Zebra Danios will leave the Dwarf Gourami alone, b) Do you think the Dwarf Gourami will leave the Zebra Danios alone, c) will the Zebra Danios out-compete the Dwarf Gourami for food, and d) is 5.5 gallons too small a tank for a Dwarf Gourami?

Any thoughts? Any suggestions?

[Schmidtsie]

5.5 gallons is a really small tank. Jamming that many fish in without over filtering the tank and doing regular large water changes likely would be asking for trouble.

Zebra danios, even a small group, should be in a 20 gallon long or a 29 gallon. They need a 30 x 12 inch base just for swimming needs.

Most dwarf gourami's need at least a 10 to 15 gallon to keep them happy.

a) Too many fish in too small a tank may cause peacefull fish to act out of character.
b) Some gourami's can be mean and in tight confines aggression can be sparked.
c) No chance to target feed in a 5.5 gallon.
d) It's likely too small a tank for the dwarf gourami let along the zebra danios.

In a 5.5 gallon I'd likely go with 5 chili/mosquito rasboras and possibly a scarlet badis if I was trying to get a small school and a center piece fish. With enough plants, monitoring of water parameters and regular water changes it could work.

Just my two cents.

[ScottFish]

Ditto.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

Thanks for the advice, guys. The Zebra Danios have been in this tank for about half a year and so far they seem to enjoy it. The filter is just a lousy little Top Fin HOB unit that came with the tank. I plan to replace with a better filter. At the present I'm doing 35% to 50% water changes every week. The tank is planted with Water Sprite along with some floating Hornwort and Dwarf Water Lettuce, all of which appear to be keeping the nitrates in check. I'm not going to consider adding anything else to this tank until I upgrade the filter.

The Zebras are incredibly entertaining. It had been decades since I owned any. Fascinating, fearless little fish. I will admit, though, that I almost wish that I had set this tank up with Dwarf Golden Barbs (Pethia gelius) instead. My LFS has started carrying them regularly now and they are adorable and also come from India (the main criteria for this tank). Not going to kick the five Zebras to the curb though.

I still feel I need a splash of color in there. Perhaps I'll consider a Scarlet Badis. There was some reason I had passed on that species, but I can't remember why now.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

Just to follow up, I eventually decided to add a Sunset Honey Gourami to the 5.5 gallon desktop tank with my five Zebra Danios. It's been working out fine so far. The danios pay absolutely no attention to the gourami, and the gourami steers clear of the danios. The five danios are usually up near the surface of the water and the little Honey Gourami toodles around the rest of the tank. He's the perfect splash of color that this tank needed.

[PVT-Kanaka]

Nice choice, Andrew! I defer to the others on the issue of whether this tank is too crowded. I usually go by the old adage "If it looks full, it is full," as that seems to cover the spectrum of size, activity, lifestyle, etc. for the critters I keep, anyway.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

Yeah, I don't think I'll add anything else to this tank. Even with lots of water sprite and dwarf water lettuce to help take care of nitrates, at 5.5 gallons I believe it's pretty much maxed out as far as bio-load is concerned...

5 Zebra Danios
1 Dwarf Sunset Honey Gourami
1 Black Racer Nerite Snail

Water sprite
Dwarf water lettuce
Vallesneria spiralis