So many people decide to purchase gouramis for their freshwater fish tanks. They’re excellent fish that are easy to keep in good health when you put in a little bit of effort.
You might have heard that these fish make excellent additions to community fish tanks. This is true, but you can’t just put them in a community aquarium with any fish that you want to.
It’s imperative to do a little bit of research to see if the fish will get along okay. Otherwise, you might wind up having several different problems.
There are plenty of good tank mates that you can choose from when you want to keep gouramis in your fish tank. You’ll be able to find some good options if you keep reading.
Once you’ve read about all of the best gourami tank mates, you’ll be able to choose which ones you’re interested in. You’ll have a fantastic community aquarium in your home that you can be proud of before you know it.
Are Gouramis Good Community Fish?
Yes, gouramis are indeed considered to be very good community fish. If you’re looking for fish that will get along well with gouramis, then you’re going to have many options.
Gouramis are generally going to be peaceful enough that they will make great additions to community aquariums. This doesn’t mean that you can just add the fish to whatever community tank without putting in the research, though.
There are plenty of fish that won’t be compatible with gouramis. As usual, you’re going to need to learn specific information in regards to compatible fish.
It’s also important to recognize that not all gouramis are the same. There are some types of gouramis that you can purchase that aren’t considered to be excellent community fish.
This means that it’s important for you to look up information about gouramis based on the specific species that you decided to purchase. Doing so helps to ensure that you don’t encounter problems in your community aquarium.
Don’t hesitate to use gouramis as community fish, though. The most popular types of gouramis that you find being sold at pet stores are generally excellent community fish tank members.
Below, you’re going to get a lot of information about gouramis and what fish they’re compatible with. Later, you’re going to get more specific information about recommended tank mates for some of the more popular types of gouramis.
Can Gouramis Live with Guppies?
Guppies and gouramis can indeed live together in a community tank setting. However, guppies won’t be good tank mates for every single type of gourami fish out there.
You’ll find that guppies are very peaceful fish overall. They’re often considered by enthusiasts to be stellar community aquarium fish.
If you want to have the best experience with guppies in a community tank, then you should try keeping them with honey gouramis. Honey gouramis have the right temperament since they’re less aggressive than many other gourami fish.
Also, the required water parameters match up pretty well. You should have a pretty easy time keeping these two fish together.
It’s also nice that guppies are common, fairly inexpensive fish. You won’t need to pay a lot of cash to get them and add them to your community aquarium.
Can Gouramis Live with Angelfish?
Angelfish are another common type of freshwater fish that you might be interested in. These fish are actually among the most popular pet fish in the world.
It makes sense that you would want to add angelfish to your community fish tank. Thankfully, they get along pretty well with certain types of gouramis.
For the best results, it’s recommended to pair angelfish with dwarf gouramis. They’re the right size and the two fish should get along pretty well.
Angelfish are mildly aggressive, but the dwarf gouramis can easily put up with them. The two types of fish should leave each other alone in a community tank setting.
Some types of gouramis such as the giant gouramis will be way too big for the freshwater angelfish. Sticking to the smaller gouramis will certainly be your best bet.
Can Gouramis Live with Cichlids?
Cichlids are a type of fish that spans a wide range of different species. As such, this question is hard to answer.
The best answer that you can get is that gouramis can live with certain types of cichlids. Some cichlids will be way too big and aggressive for the gouramis, though.
For example, oscars could easily hurt the gouramis if you decided to put them in the same tank. African cichlids would also be too large and aggressive for the poor gouramis to handle.
Angelfish are technically cichlids, and you just learned that they can get along with dwarf gouramis pretty well. Some of the smaller dwarf cichlids might be fine to be placed in the same tank as gouramis.
Just do your research before you make any final decisions. Ensure that you learn whether the specific type of cichlid is compatible with the species of gourami fish that you have in your aquarium.
Can Gouramis Live with Swordtails?
Swordtails will be great fish that you can pair with a good few different types of gouramis. If you think that swordtails look interesting, then you’ll definitely want to add them to your community tank.
Both kissing gourami fish and dwarf gourami fish get along fantastically with swordtails. You won’t encounter any problems in a community tank setting.
Of course, you do need to ensure that all of the fish have enough space. If you overcrowd the fish tank, then even compatible fish can wind up coming into conflict.
You’ll have a good time caring for swordtails in your community tank. They should look quite nice in the same aquarium as your gourami fish.
Can Gouramis Live with Tetras?
Tetra fish have proven to be very popular among freshwater fish tank owners. These fish are really stunning to look at, but can they live with gouramis?
They’re actually known to get along well with dwarf gouramis. You should have a good experience when putting dwarf gouramis and tetras in the same aquarium.
Just make sure that the water parameters match up before moving forward. Some types of tetras might have requirements that will put them outside of the recommended water parameters that dwarf gouramis need.
So long as you research the compatibility, you’ll be able to pair dwarf gouramis and tetras in a community tank. It’ll be fun to be able to enjoy both types of fish in the same fish tank.
It’s also notable that some types of tetras can live in a community tank with blue gouramis. This is good news because blue gouramis are kind of territorial and hard to find tank mates for.
Can Gouramis Live with Mollies?
Mollies can live with certain types of gouramis in a community tank. They do pretty well with both dwarf gouramis and blue gouramis.
As mentioned above, blue gouramis are considered to be pretty aggressive and territorial. This means that mollies will be one of the better options when looking for tank mates for those gourami fish.
Dwarf gouramis can technically live with mollies, but things might not be perfect. The two fish don’t line up 100% when it comes to preferred water hardness.
However, the fish are hardy enough that things should still be able to work out. Many people really love mollies, and they can be a great addition to a community aquarium.
Just research the type of gourami that you wish to put it with first. Also, ensure that the water parameters match up well before you go through with purchasing the fish.
Can Gouramis Live with Shrimp?
Some types of shrimp will be able to live with gouramis. Most shrimp won’t be able to survive living in the same tank as gouramis, though.
Amano shrimp are the ones that are known to fare the best with gouramis. Of course, they won’t survive if placed in a tank with very large gouramis such as giant gouramis.
When you put amano shrimp in a community tank with some of the smaller gouramis, things will work out just fine. The shrimp are just large enough to avoid getting eaten, and the fish shouldn’t try to nip at them constantly either.
Ghost shrimp can technically live with gouramis as well. However, these shrimp are more aggressive than many other types of shrimp, and sometimes this might stress the gouramis.
If you must have shrimp in your community fish tank, then it’d be better to go with amano shrimp. Just research the compatibility for the gourami fish type that you own first.
Can Gouramis Live with Bettas?
Betta fish will be very bad tank mates for gouramis. If you were to put gourami fish in the same tank as bettas, then the two fish would wind up fighting.
These fish are both too aggressive and territorial. They’ll just wind up fighting a lot over territory, and some of the fish might wind up getting injured or dying.
Some people say that certain bettas might do okay with dwarf gouramis, but it’s still not recommended. It’d be too much of a risk to even try to get this to work in your community tank.
If you wish to purchase some bettas, then you should keep them in a different tank. Betta fish and gouramis just don’t get along properly as a general rule.
Can Dwarf Gouramis Live with Bettas?
As mentioned above, some people say that dwarf gouramis can get along with betta fish. Even so, most enthusiasts say that it’s better to shy away from keeping the two fish in the same tank.
Since gouramis can be territorial, it’s very likely that the fish will wind up fighting. You don’t want the gourami fish or the bettas to get hurt.
Avoid keeping these fish in the same aquarium. As nice as it might sound to own betta fish, it’s just not going to be worth the hassle.
You can get a separate aquarium for your bettas if you really want to own them. There are many good tank mates that can go in the community aquarium with your dwarf gouramis.
What Fish Can Live with Gouramis?
So many different types of fish can live with gouramis in a community tank. When you’re looking for tank mates for these fish, it’s important to consider the specific species that you’re dealing with, though.
Some fish will only be able to live with dwarf gouramis safely. Others will do well with fish such as honey gouramis or kissing gouramis.
Below, you’ll find some information about recommended tank mates for each of the popular types of gourami fish. This should make it a lot easier for you to set up your ideal community fish tank.
What Fish Can Live with Dwarf Gouramis?
Dwarf gourami fish will be some of the easiest to find tank mates for. These fish aren’t quite as territorial and aggressive as many other types of gouramis.
If you want to have a good experience, then you can try putting tetras in the community tank with your dwarf gouramis. These two types of fish are commonly placed in community aquariums together.
Mollies are also known to work out nicely. Since mollies are such popular fish, you might want to look into including them in your new fish tank.
Swordtail fish do a good job of getting along with dwarf gouramis, too. You can add angelfish to the community tank as well.
Other options include certain types of catfish, rasboras, and loaches. You have plenty of nice fish that you can put in an aquarium with dwarf gouramis.
What Fish Can Live with Pearl Gouramis?
Pearl gouramis are some of the most popular types of gouramis that you find being sold at pet stores. These are very pretty gourami fish that will look fantastic in a community tank.
So which types of fish will be compatible with them? You have many options that you can consider, and that should make it easy to find fish that will match up with your sensibilities.
Neon tetras are among the most common tank mates for pearl gouramis. They get along nicely and both fish will look great in the same tank.
Cory catfish should be good tank mates for the pearl gouramis, too. These catfish are very peaceful and generally don’t bother the other fish in a community tank setting.
Kuhli loaches are popular choices for community tanks that feature pearl gouramis. They’re great when you want to have fish that are shaped differently and offer a contrast to the gourami fish.
You could also choose to put danios fish, cherry barbs, and bristlenose pleco fish in the community aquarium. Pearl gouramis have many different possible tank mates.
What Fish Can Live with Kissing Gouramis?
Kissing gouramis need to be put in community tanks with the right type of fish to avoid incidents. Luckily, there are some really appealing options for you to consider.
Pictus catfish do excellently in community tanks with these fish. Tiger barbs will be another solid choice that you can make.
Angelfish do a pretty good job of getting along with kissing gouramis. Congo tetras are commonly put in community aquariums with them as well.
Rosy barbs can work nicely as tank mates for these fish. Swordtails are also known to be able to get along with kissing gourami fish.
Some even choose to put Chinese algae eaters in the fish tank with kissing gouramis. There’s no shortage of good tank mates for these fish when you look into it.
What Fish Can Live with Honey Gouramis?
Honey gouramis are so pretty, and they truly do resemble their namesake. You learned earlier that honey gouramis can be placed in the same tank as guppies.
Aside from guppies, these fish will also get along well with ember tetras. Neon tetras can do well in a community tank with honey gourami fish, too.
Small barbs should be able to make good tank mates for these gouramis. Mollies are also going to be counted among the best tank mates for honey gourami fish.
Zebra danios fish will be an interesting tank mate choice to consider. Cory catfish will be a safe bet due to how peaceful they are.
You can even put honey gouramis in the same tank with sparkling gouramis if you want to. Normally, two different types of gouramis aren’t supposed to be placed in the same tank, but this is an exception.
What Fish Can Live with Giant Gouramis?
Giant gourami fish are a lot bigger than the standard types of gouramis that have been discussed so far. This means that you’ll need to pick out tank mates that are substantially larger for these fish.
Oscar fish have been known to be safe tank mates for giant gouramis. They’re big enough to survive and thrive in the same fish tank.
Clown loaches will be good choices as well. These big loaches will just do their own thing in the tank and they shouldn’t bother the giant gourami fish.
Pleco catfish and redtail catfish should be good tank mates for giant gourami fish. You could also try silver arowana fish or silver dollar fish.
Large cichlids such as blood parrot fish will work out fine. So will green terror fish.
What Fish Can Live with Sparkling Gouramis?
Sparkling gouramis will be very appealing fish to keep in a community aquarium. You learned earlier that they can be kept in the same fish tank as honey gouramis.
You might also want to keep them with neon tetras. Ember tetras will also be a fine option to consider.
Cory catfish get along great with sparkling gouramis due to their calm, peaceful nature. Small rasboras have also been known to work out well.
Dwarf pencilfish should be able to be kept as tank mates to the sparkling gouramis, too. Aquarium snails are commonly kept with these fish.
The amano shrimp should be able to thrive in a community aquarium with a sparkling gourami fish. Just take the time to research water parameter compatibility and there will be so many options to choose from when looking for good tank mates.
What Fish Can Live with Blue Gouramis?
Blue gourami fish can be pretty aggressive, but there are still many good tank mates for these fish. They’re able to be put in the same fish tank as many different types of tetras.
Several loaches will be compatible with blue gourami fish. There are barbs that you can put in the community aquarium as well.
Platies and mollies will be able to thrive in a tank with blue gouramis. Danios fish will be another very good choice.
Scavenger catfish should be perfect tank mates for blue gourami fish. Even though blue gouramis can be aggressive, they still have many potential tank mates.
Just avoid putting them in the same aquarium as angelfish, bettas, and guppies. That will lead to many issues such as fighting, and you don’t want any of your fish getting hurt.
Final Thoughts
Now you’ve been able to learn about many different tank mate options for gourami fish. There are many different types of gouramis out there, and compatibility depends on the species of the fish.
Some gouramis will be able to live with angelfish while others will not. You need to research the specific type of gourami fish that you own to be sure that it will be able to live with other fish in a community tank setting.
Luckily, gouramis have many different tank mate possibilities. You’ll likely be able to pair gourami fish with various types of catfish, loaches, and barbs.
Do your best to match up the water parameters of all of the fish when preparing to set up the community tank. You need to ensure that the needs of all of the fish are being met properly.
So long as you get everything figured out ahead of time, you should have a good experience. Enjoy your new community tank and be sure that you tell your friends and family what you learned if they’re looking for good gourami fish tank mates.
Jeff has always enjoyed having pets, but as a child, he was drawn to his family’s fish tank. Being able to maintain a small ecosystem and observe the behaviors and interactions in the underwater world peaked his interest early on and has kept him hooked until this day. On Avid Aquarist, Jeff shares everything he’s learned about helping aquatic life survive and thrive in a home aquarium.