Archivarium 2004

[dvdmovie1]

Long-time 10 gal owner, which had housed Golden Gouramis - at one point, had the goldens mated (an AMAZING sight, although hilariously, it was one of those "zoo" things where I was fairly young - early teens - and originally thought they were hurting each other and then went, "Ooooh....that's what they're doing.") and I was able to successfully raise a few young. The tank was with me in my room, but my parents did a lot of the real work with it (I chose the fish and fed them, essentially, although helped when the Goldens had kidlets)

Now in a new apartment, and decided about 1.5 weeks ago to get a 5 gal Hex (the Eclipse 5gal Hex) tank that I would do all the work on.

So far, have 2 opal gouramis (small right now, but if the Goldens are any indication, they have the potential to get big) and two corys (I don't know what kind they are, but they look like average corys (not panda or albino), only with a really tall, black top fin.

The corys have been getting along like Peanut Butter and Jelly (they rest literally right next to each other), but the Gouramis have been chasing each other on occasion and doing a little bumping/shoving when the food is given (the Goldens chased each other, but they never shoved each other while feeding like these). So far, it's only occasional and does not seem harmful (no one has nipped fins, and they do not *appear* stressed. There are plenty of hiding spots if a fish in the tank feels like some alone time.

Decoration-wise, the tank has been split in half - one half has been pretty densely populated with plastic plants, in order to give the fish places to hide. On the other side, there is a very large piece of fake driftwood, with entrances towards the top (Gouramis) and bottom (the corys occasionally stop in)

I've started feeding them spirulina algae flakes (which the gouramis are just okay with), regular flake food (which they like) and freeze-dried brine shimp (San Fran Bay - the gouramis are ravenous for it). I have tablets for the corys and I also am getting some New Life Spectrum food, as I've seen it recommended. I'm currently feeding a fairly decent amount 2-3 times a day, but giving the fish the occasional tiny snack (an amount they can eat in one gulp) once or twice a day. I want to give the fish a fairly steady diet w/o overfeeding, and vary things up a LOT, introducing them to new treats/food fairly often. In other words, spoil them while not overfeeding. Any other commonly available treats people recommend for these kinds of fish?

I did my first water change/gravel vaccum last night, and plan to do it approximately once per week, and maybe even slightly more frequently.

Any thoughts/comments? Can this tank hold another cory? Are snails or shrimp an option I should look into? Should I hold with what I've got?

I've had this tank for a week and I'm already thinking about another one. I spent the entire afternoon and evening yesterday browsing this site.

[kimura]

honestly I think that tank is a bit too small for either the groumis or the cories. even if you keep up on you maintence there is a small margin for error. the cories would be happier with a few more but I think that tank is overstocked as it is. the groumis will definately get too big for that tank and are already showing a bit of aggresion. when they get bigger watch out.

personally I'd get a bigger tank or maybe a single dwarf groumi/betta and 3 pygmy cories.

[Pi]

As was said before, save your money for a bigger tank, as the gouramis are going to need a bigger one (fairly soon based on their behavior) and the cories would probably like another, but I wouldn't add it until you have a bigger tank.

Bigger tanks are easier to maintain, and now you are in a fairly precarious position.

I feed all my fish frozen food, they adore it

Pi

[Huntress]

You have a 5g hex tank with 2 gourami's that are going to push 6" and one will most definitely kill off the other when they hit sexual maturity if not before. My question is why? Especially when there are plenty of fish combinaions that you can use to properly stock this type of tank. Opaline gouramis need at bare minimum 20 gallons of swimming space. If you really like gouramis for this tank then go with sparkling gouramis and a few pygmy cories.
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