Recommend Small Gourami

[sillyme]

Hi,

I am thinking of adding a few gourami in my tank. I have a 2x1x1ft tank, so I am only looking at small breeds.

Need some suggestions of the different gourami breeds available in SG.

Currently my tank has Endler's Guppy, Yamato Shrimp and Horned Nerite Snail.

Thank you!

[johannes]

Hi,

very small ones would be sparkling gourami (Trichopsis pumilus), licorice gourami (Parosphromenus sp.) and eye spot gourami (Parasphaerichthys ocellatus).
*sparkling and eyespot are more readily available at our lfs, currently C328 has eyespot gouramie.

medium small would be chocolate gourami (Sphaerichthys osphromenoides), samurai gourami (Sphaerichthys vaillanti), and croaking gourami (Trichopsis vittatus).
*chocolate gourami is very very sensitive, you can try your hands on them as midori stocks them at the moment. Y934 has croaking gouramie.

medium would be honey gourami (Colisa chuna)

[Mudskipper]

Damn, Jo. You are just a walking encyclopaedia! Thank goodness we have you online on our side.

[johannes]

haha, i am just trying to help.... most of the time, the common name is there (at the back of your head) but need to check on the scientific names...

[vinz]

Damn, Jo. You are just a walking encyclopaedia! Thank goodness we have you online on our side.

Why do you think we recruited him.

[sillyme]

Thank you, Johannes.

I think I look more into Sparkling and Croaking Gourami.

I read that some do not like high current tank. Is that true?

[johannes]

yes, you are right, gourami and other labyrinths prefer slow flowing filtration

[sillyme]

Hmm. Maybe I should look at other fish.

I do have Endler's Guppy in my tank now. Now sure if lowering the flowrate will have any effect.

[sillyme]

by the way, how do we know what is 'low-current'? Or how do we know if the gourami likes the water flow?

[johannes]

as long as the output does not cause your tank to turn upside down (the fish can swim normally/gracefully and not get pushed/need to go against the current) should be fine, by the way, what filtration are you using? are there plants, is it planted tank?

[sillyme]

I'm using Eheim Eco Pro 130 with a rainbar moving water from the back to the front of the tank.

It's planted moderately. Maybe I'll post a picture later tonight.

[apistomaster]

Trichopsis pumilis, Sparkling Pygmy Gourami and Colisa chuna, Honey Dwarf Gourami, wild type only are my first picks. I would avoid the artificial golden morph of the honey dwarf Gourami. They aren't right. They rarely breed and seem to be permanently stunted. At least that has been my experience.

A little flow without any in any one direction is fine. Spray bars tend to create that type of a condition.

But if trying to breed either species only, a slight amount of aeration is best. Such a fine and gentle amount so as not to damage the surface nests Honey dwarf gourami build between floating plants.
The under water nests built by sparkling pygmy gourami can withstand a bit more current if the nest is built inside a empty 35 mm film canister or well protected small clay pot or curved leaf.

I guess since this is a community tank, breeding doesn't matter.

[sillyme]

Hi apistomaster,

How do I tell if the honey dwarf gourami is a golden morph version?

Breeding is a bonus. I would be delighted to see them multiplying

[apistomaster]

Best I could do for you is use Google image search.
Here is a link to the "Yellow/Golden " Morph. Looks like a female. Males have a red "throat" color.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/aqual...ids/honey3.jpg

In this link, all the forms are shown. The largest photo show a wild type male in breeding color and top right shows the plain color wild female; note her horizontal stripe.
The other photos show the Gold Morph as well as several other color varieties.
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fishimage...ey_gourami.jpg
These others and even perhaps the Gold variety are the result of hybridizing with the Dwarf Gourami, Colisa lalia, the classic dwarf gourami.
Besides hybridization much selective breeding has been done to develop these varieties.

If you can possibly obtain wild caught specimens of either Colisa sota(Correct name) aka chuna, or wild Colisa lalia, The "original" Dwarf Gourami, you will get fish which are superior to any of the breeding forms.
These ever increasing varieties of dwarf gourami hybrids are often exported to the USA as only males or if mixed sexes, they have been treated with a testosterone-like hormone which masculinizes the females, renders them infertile and very prone to internal bacterial diseases which exhibit symptoms like bloating or wasting.

Only a handful of importers in the USA are taking pains to import wild caught specimens which are flawless, much less prone to disease and most important for a breeder, fertile.

Before these hybrids and hormone treated fish began appearing in the USA, breeding the common Dwarf Gourami was a rite of passage for nearly every aspiring fish breeding hobbyist but now only the very few who have sought out an on-line dealer specializing in bringing in pure bred wild species can provide fish which one can breed.
The vast majority of casual fish keepers merely buy these Gouramis based on how brightly colored they are which makes them stand out in a fish shop tank and of course, their home tank. The hybrids are usually larger than what is normal for the wild fish except he line of Gold Honey Dwarf Gourami which seem to be stunted.

Something like this happened decades ago when US importers began relying on sourcing cheap but very fancy Guppies raised on farms in SE Asia. The females were hormone treated, masculinized and infertile. These females did not live long. So to preserve the continued dependence of our importers on very nice fancy guppies raised in SE Asia the farmers/exporters adopted a different strategy. The began breeding pure line of fancy guppies but when they sold them they mismatched the females to the males so these guppies cannot breed true to color. At least they breed and develop nice delta tail but the colors fit no standard strain.

One other fish which is a favorite to tamper with are the Discus farmed for mass consumption. The infertilty rates are as high as 90% yet if one does ever manage to get some young from one pair out of many, if those fry are raised, those fish are all fertile. It is North American hobbyists demand for cheap but colorful Discus which drives these practices but it has made us very dependent on these cheap Discus. Domestic Discus are actually quite easily bred and raised when they are hormone free. But if we received fish like that our dependence on imported domestic discus would plummet. Many more hobbyist breeders would exist but they would need to sell Discus at a higher price because heating and lighting expenses are higher in the temperate zones. It is not possible to keep and breed Discus in unheated buildings as it is through much of SE Asia.
Breeders are shrewd enough to hide behind the myth that Discus are difficult to breed so hobbyists blame themselves. That was and still is true of wild Discus but domestic discus should be easily raised by anyone who has bred and raised Angelfish or any Apistogramma species.
When Discus were first being raised commercially they were being sold at only about 2.5 cm in diameter. Hormones would be used on some of these to partially bring out their adult colors but these fish would all eventually die. Then the practice became much more sophisticated. Discus would be raised and true to the many domestic color strains so they are very pretty but then they are more lightly dosed with hormones when they are 5-6 cm in diameter. They remain quite healthy but mostly infertile.

I have been involved with all phases of the tropical fish business; retail, wholesale, breeder and hobbyist since 1964. I began breeding wild Discus in 1969 and I am merely reporting what is history to me.

[sillyme]

I made a trip to C328 this afternoon.

I think I bought the golden morph variant (four of them). The fish I bought have a pale throat colour. I think they are all male.

The lady told me she did not know how to differentiate the sex. I thought I saw some with a horizontal banding. Being inexperienced, I did not want to take a chance to buy it.

I tried to Google for more information on the spot, but didn't have much time to check more.

But it's a good lesson learnt. Might try to get the females at a later stage.

Thank you, apistomaster, for taking the time to write such detailed information Very much enlightened and blessed.

[apistomaster]

Hi sillyme,

I was also surprised at how difficult it was to come up with more information about the Yelloe/Gold morph of Honey Dwarf Gourami.
I may have had more luck if I used their correct name with is now Colisa sota instead of their former name C. chuna.
Even the gold morph females stile show a hint of her sexes' horizontal line, especially when they are not in breeding color. Those specimens showing a different color on their throats are indeed males. Do you think the shop would be willing to exchange a couple of their females for a couple of your males so you could keep 2 pairs?

I wanted to say I was not criticizing SE Asian fish breeders. I am criticizing only those who use some of the modern testosterone analogs to deliberately reduce the fertility among a few popular fish species. It is a practice used mainly on a small group of fish and it is the ignorance of the problem and demand for cheap but high quality fancy Discus buy us which causes this practice to continue. I hope everyone understood that part of my post and did not take it personally. Except Discus, the manipulation and very low price killed off the once large numbers of regular Dwarf Gouramis once raised in Florida. People have always wanted to buy the colorful males so half of what was bred was not selling well except to those few hobbyists who may want to breed them sometime but they are primartly sought only for their bright colors.

[sillyme]

Hi again,

I am not sure about the others, but I have truly benefitted from your posts.

If I am not wrong, most LFS in Singapore do not allow returns on lifestock. I'd probably keep them for now and wait for an opportunity to buy them in pairs.

I think my tank is fairly well-stocked (12 Endler's Livebearers, 4 Honey Gourami, 3 Horned Nerite Snails and 3 Yamato Shrimps).

The fish have adapted well in my tank so far