Would love feedback on adding to my 29 gallon community tank!

[doink]

In my 29 gallon low-tech planted tech, I currently have:

7 harlequin rasboras (I wanted to 6, but owner threw in an extra one eyed rasbora)
6 panda corydoras
1 bolivian ram
1 honey gourami
1 juvenile male guppy (accidentally included in my bag of corydoras when a very small fry)

So far, everyone seems healthy and happy. I am thinking of getting 3 otos to feed on the algae growing on plants and glass. 

My questions are: 

I previously got a female tetra who actually got the gourami (who typically hides) out swimming confidentally. Unfortunately, I had to return the tetra since the guppy was harrassing her cosntanltly. Would getting another honey gourami be a good idea to help my gourami be more confident? Does gender matter? (I'm not sure of my current honey gourami's gender).

I know guppies are social and like to be with their own kind. He also seems pretty happy right now, sometimes kinda schooling with the rasboras, and confidentally swimming everywhere. I'm surprised he even survived this long considering how small he was, but he's probably comfortable with the fish that have always been there. Should I still get one or two more male guppy friends (I really don't want future fry)? I'm a little hesitant to introduce potential aggression or squabbling in what's so far been a pretty chill and peaceful tank. I'm also worried one or two more guppies may bully my still very small male guppy.  

If I end up getting the 3 otos, another honey gourami and 2 more male guppies, that'd be me at 93% aquarium stocking level according to aqadvisor. I was hoping to have a bit more breathing room, but I want everyone to be happy. I currently do weekly 25% water changes.
Thanks so much!

 

[Miranda Marie]

I know people say guppies "should" have company, but I have always just experienced them picking on each other *constantly* unless there is a large group of them. I've sworn off having anything short of 10 of them at one time. It stresses me out to watch them constantly fight, and the fighting tends to stress the fish, too.

So my advice would be, if he seems fine and isn't constantly hiding/stressed, adding 2 more is likely just going to add to the little dude's stress rather than relieve it. 3 guppies, in my experience, is not a good number. I'd personally just let him live his life out with his rasbora friends. You don't have room (or the desire, it seems) to add a bunch more, so he'll likely be happier alone.

[Lennie]

That is a lovely tank with a nice stock. 
 

I think gouramis like taking naps and we may mistake is with being shy. I have been keeping my honey gourami about 2 years by now and when Im not around the tank he likes to take a nap somewhere from time to time. This is not honey gourami specific. I sometimes see my gold gouramis doing this too! Can it be a this sort of action that make you consider it as shy? Does it hide a lot or just take a nap somewhere dont see?

I surely agree that honey gouramis like action going around tho. Mine usually easily feels stressed if there is not enough fish around. I have kept him in quite big tanks with very little stocking and he was glass surfing all the time but it directly changes when he is introduced to a tank with lots of fish.

If I were you I would add more to the rasbora school maybe up to 15 in total, and don’t add anything else. And I would try to breed panda cories myself in the future because easy to do and would be cute to increase your own school with the babies you raise.

I did not advice to increase the school of panda cories directly as I am unsure how your ram would like it now or in the future. My gbr and male apisto cacatuoides is not a fan of having bottom dwellers around and can be bullies. I saw mine bullying cories and red lizard whiptails in the past.

adding more guppies is pointless IMO if you dont wanna add female. They are not meant to be kept in male only groups anyway, and since you dont wanna keep them really, you will be obliged to add more and more gradually due to losing some in the future at least due to old age.

[Robert K]

I kept a male and a female honey gourami once in a 10-ish gallon tank and it didn't work out. The male chased and stressed her too much. You could try a pair in your tank but personally I'd prefer it to be more densely planted for that to give the female places to escape to.

Another option could be to go for Cory's advice of "one or three or more". 🙂. Maybe a group of 3-4? I'm sure the tank size is fine for that. For example, I keep 5 opaline/blue gouramis in my 100 gallon community and there is no agression or any other issues at all, neither within the group or with other fish.

BUT☝️ to avoid any potential stress (both to you and the fish) one single honey gourami as a centerpiece fish is perfectly fine.

[macdaddy36]

I keep 2 honey gouramis in my 20 gallon and they never have any aggression and do great together. I think that they are male and female as well. Mine are not particularly shy, but like @Lennie's experience, mine have started to take "naps" as they get older. They sit on a plant leaf, sponge filter, or sand and perch on their 'feeler' fins together. I originally wanted a group of 3 but the fish store only had 2 at the time. If I were you I would get more 2-3 honey gourami. I also have 7 Harlequin Rasboras in the tank with the gourami, but I want to increase their group size when I get a bigger tank.

As for the male guppies, I also have a group of 3. I originally had 2m/1f (on accident) but the female died and only one fry survived. They do chase each other sometimes but they don't do any damage so its up to you.

 

[doink]

On 1/1/2024 at 12:40 AM, Lennie said:

That is a lovely tank with a nice stock. 
 

I think gouramis like taking naps and we may mistake is with being shy. I have been keeping my honey gourami about 2 years by now and when Im not around the tank he likes to take a nap somewhere from time to time. This is not honey gourami specific. I sometimes see my gold gouramis doing this too! Can it be a this sort of action that make you consider it as shy? Does it hide a lot or just take a nap somewhere dont see?

I surely agree that honey gouramis like action going around tho. Mine usually easily feels stressed if there is not enough fish around. I have kept him in quite big tanks with very little stocking and he was glass surfing all the time but it directly changes when he is introduced to a tank with lots of fish.

If I were you I would add more to the rasbora school maybe up to 15 in total, and don’t add anything else. And I would try to breed panda cories myself in the future because easy to do and would be cute to increase your own school with the babies you raise.

I did not advice to increase the school of panda cories directly as I am unsure how your ram would like it now or in the future. My gbr and male apisto cacatuoides is not a fan of having bottom dwellers around and can be bullies. I saw mine bullying cories and red lizard whiptails in the past.

adding more guppies is pointless IMO if you dont wanna add female. They are not meant to be kept in male only groups anyway, and since you dont wanna keep them really, you will be obliged to add more and more gradually due to losing some in the future at least due to old age.

Thanks for the advice! I think my honey gourami is definitely more shy than just napping. I can usually spot him/her swimming around from the corner of my eye..but when I approach the tank, s/he quickly retreats behind a rock or some plants. The one time I saw him/her swimming around more confidently was when I had a Mickey Mouse platy (that I returned since she was harassed by the guppy). So…I was thinking my honey gourami would appreciate a similarly sized (and maybe looking?) friend. Do you know if honey gouramis do well in pairs? 

On 1/1/2024 at 2:16 AM, Robert K said:

I kept a male and a female honey gourami once in a 10-ish gallon tank and it didn't work out. The male chased and stressed her too much. You could try a pair in your tank but personally I'd prefer it to be more densely planted for that to give the female places to escape to.

Another option could be to go for Cory's advice of "one or three or more". 🙂. Maybe a group of 3-4? I'm sure the tank size is fine for that. For example, I keep 5 opaline/blue gouramis in my 100 gallon community and there is no agression or any other issues at all, neither within the group or with other fish.

BUT☝️ to avoid any potential stress (both to you and the fish) one single honey gourami as a centerpiece fish is perfectly fine.

Sorry, to clarifying, you mean getting not just one additional honey gourami, but 2 or 3 more? It would make sense that getting more more mitigate any potential stress/aggression. But since honey gouramis aren’t considered shoaling/schooling fish, I was wondering if a pair would be enough. It may help for me to know the gender of my gourami then…any way to tell?

 

[doink]

On 1/1/2024 at 6:52 PM, macdaddy36 said:

I keep 2 honey gouramis in my 20 gallon and they never have any aggression and do great together. I think that they are male and female as well. Mine are not particularly shy, but like @Lennie's experience, mine have started to take "naps" as they get older. They sit on a plant leaf, sponge filter, or sand and perch on their 'feeler' fins together. I originally wanted a group of 3 but the fish store only had 2 at the time. If I were you I would get more 2-3 honey gourami. I also have 7 Harlequin Rasboras in the tank with the gourami, but I want to increase their group size when I get a bigger tank.

As for the male guppies, I also have a group of 3. I originally had 2m/1f (on accident) but the female died and only one fry survived. They do chase each other sometimes but they don't do any damage so its up to you.

 

If you have a male/female gourami…I’m assuming the male isn’t harassing the female, the same way live bearers do? When I had the female platy, the male guppy was harassing her so much, I felt really bad and had to return the platy. Have they ever tried to breed?

Yea..I’ve heard mixed things about guppies…that if there is no female, then the males will get along. But I’ve also heard of them causing a ruckus, and I wouldn’t want to add any conflict to the tank. 

[Robert K]

On 1/3/2024 at 5:24 AM, doink said:

Sorry, to clarifying, you mean getting not just one additional honey gourami, but 2 or 3 more? It would make sense that getting more more mitigate any potential stress/aggression. But since honey gouramis aren’t considered shoaling/schooling fish, I was wondering if a pair would be enough. It may help for me to know the gender of my gourami then…any way to tell?

 

Yeah, I meant 3-4 in total. Like I said, i have a group of 5 opaline gouramis and they are great together. They hang out in a loose group, they interact with each other and the rest of the tank without any issues.

Honey gouramis are generally easy to sex. The males are typically more colorful and they tend to get a dark throat/belly. Females tend to be more plain/pale.