German Blue Ram or Dwarf Gourami?

[Cannonbolt]

I would be housing a single fish with 7-8 (dwarf) Cory hastatus and 6 Celestial Pearl Danio. The tank will likely also be home to a couple Oto cats and a few Amano shrimp.
I don't know too much about either fish - which would be a better fit with the inhabitants that I've listed?

[OVT]

IMHO: Neither.
If you must have one of the above, then Dwarf Gourami is your better choice.

[Cannonbolt]

Can you elaborate on why you think neither are suitable?

[OVT]

GBRs are cichlids, with all the good and bad that it entails. They are pretty sociable fish and tend to hang at the lower 1/3 of the tank, right where your hard-to-find C. hastatus should be. With most C. hastaus still being wild-caught, I did not find them the easiest fish to keep in a comunity tank. You do not mention the tank size, but I assume that a single GBR will be bored to death and make itself a nuisance to the cories. Will it go after Amanos would be my other concern.

Dwarf Gouramies can get pretty nasty, especially as it will be the largest fish and a male to boot. They do well solo and yours will most likely spend the time sleeping in the upper branches. They are also a lot more tolerant to water conditions and smaller spaces. Therefore, it would be my personal choice if you have to have one of the two.

[Elppan]

Oh! Get a Bolivian Ram! Not quite as colorful, but they are super sweet fish. Mine swims around everywhere, doesn't bother anyone, and interacts with me when I go to the tank. Even takes food from me, he'll swim to the top of the tank when he realizes I have food so I can give him the best bits. lol :-D

[james1542]

Bolivian rams are very cool. I had 6 once in a 30 gallon. Got them to spawn too but the water was just too hard for the eggs..They are not as colorful as a german blue, but they are much much tougher (always see dead/dying rams at the LFS), and get a little bigger(and they don't have a mean bone in them).

I'd go with the german blue over the dwarf gourami, they have more personality IMO, and if it's a lone cichlid, usually the agression is not a problem. For Rams the trouble starts when they decide to breed and usually it's ram on ram violence.

[Andrew H]

Haha. "Ram on ram violence" sounds funny.

I have always like gbrs over gouramis

[wheatiesl337]

Gouramis are a crap shoot. Some people will swear gouramis get along fine in a community setting, while others have problems with agression. I would stay away from gouramis in a community setting.

[Cannonbolt]

Thanks for the replies and opinions.

How large do the Bolivian Rams get?

[OVT]

Originally Posted by cannonbolt

thanks for the replies and opinions.

How large do the bolivian rams get?

~2.5"

[Elppan]

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...-altispinosus/

[james1542]

I had about 7 or 8 in a 30 gallon. They are very hard to sex, so if you want breeding, plan on getting a bunch, fortunately they are one of the most harmless cichlids I've come across, probably the only thing less dangerous is a blood parrot, and only because the blood parrot has no functional mouth(more like a deformed triangle). When they get cranky all they can really do is push each other around.

[mitchfish9]

Im thinking a lone GBR would be okay. They all have different personalities though.