Chocolate gouramis

[budak]

i was at Lam Hong last week, and the uncle told me new stock of regular chocos will be in this week..... suggest those interested call first to check.... also opening hours in weekends may be irregular....

[Cactus]

Hey many thanks for the lead, budak..

[Nannostomuss]

Oops sorrie veri pu hao yi shi!!!![:] just slips my mind
wont do it again!!

[Cactus]

An update here..
I finally got my choco gouramis from TB a mth ago. Till date only 1 out of 3 survived. The first two perished about 2 weeks ago, had no idea what went wrong, or was it bcos I didnt net the healthy enuff ones? they had clamped fins (esp the tail) and the fins slowly rotted abit off as they wasted away.

pH was hovering at 6-6.2 range. Didnt have the kits for NH4/NO2/3, but am doing 25% changes twice a week to the matured 2 ft comm. tank.
rosy barbs, blunthead cichlid and tetras,panchax were doing great all along. would like to add that surprisingly, non of the fishes bullied the chocos. the remaining fellar's doing quite ok now thought. Hope he does so for a long time to come.

Am really fascinated and intrigued by these little labyrinths. They always seemed so enigmatic and interesting. I plan to set up a small 1.5 ft for choclate/licorice/sparkling gouramis. But before I meet with any deaths again, any bro /sis out there with experience in these fellars care to share? water and dietary requirements ,anything to look out etc...
also geting interested in asian rasboras.. will Boraras brigittae or maculatus be good tankmates? was at choong sua yesterday and saw a tankful of wat i believed is B. maculatus. The boss said they just came yesterday only.

Thanks...

[Nowornever]

Tropica Aquarium had a batch of Chocolate gouramis coming in last wk but now only left less than a dozen. But they are very figety so that may not be a good sign of health. But if you want you can get them ASAP.

[stormhawk]

budak, benny, its spelt as Parasphaerichthys not Paraspharictys By the way, the vaillanti is pretty easy to handle. I have a pair myself and the female's really beautiful. budak, you should give them a try.

Cactus, chocolate gouramis will form a pecking order and bully weaker ones to death. Don't doubt this info as I've experienced it myself. A 1.5ft tank is simply too small to keep a small group of chocolate gouramis together.

Those from Lam Hong are quite healthy (bought from there before) but that doesn't mean they're that hardy. Give them the right conditions and they will reward you with great colours.

[Nowornever]

Blk22 Tiong Bahru there selling Sphaerichthys vaillianti for 10 or 15 bucks pp. Can check it out. Pretty ex but much alive.

[Limos]

hi... both types of gouramis, lots of them available at kf for the past 2 months

[hwchoy]

[quote:304aabd53b="Nowornever"]Blk22 Tiong Bahru there selling Sphaerichthys vaillianti for 10 or 15 bucks pp. Can check it out. Pretty ex but much alive.[/quote:304aabd53b]

I suppose this is TB Ben.

[stormhawk]

The vaillanti are everywhere, not just at Ben's. I saw 3 pieces at C328 earlier today and several big ones elsewhere. Choy should know where.

Just one problem, it seems that this batch has alot of females but very few males.

[Nowornever]

Well, the 1st time i see vailliant's chocolate gouramis. Going down to clem328's area today want to get something. Chocolate gouramis looking really healthy in Alwyeen Trading blah Teck Whye there behind the NTUC fairprice. How come valliant choco so expensive if so common? Too bad they got big mouths or i'll get them for my tank/

[stormhawk]

Nowornever, these are seasonal fishes and are available only during the dry season. The cost involved in collecting and shipping these fish more than justifies the price tag of the fish. You may think they're common but they're not. Maybe for now yes but over the next few months the supply will run dry and then you'll be wondering where they went.

If the price is too steep for you there's always the common choco but these are much harder to handle compared to the vaillanti. In the end it boils down to a person's preference. And what may I ask, gave you the idea that they have big mouths? They have a very narrow pointed mouth which at best can only swallow one worm at a time. To me, that's a very SMALL mouth.

[MrTree]

Early September last year, a group of us obtained the S.vaillanti. Among the group of us, only Francis's pair successfully bred. Spawning wasn't difficult, but the mouthbrooding period was the killer to the others.

As for the shipment of S.vaillanti, dry season is only part of the reasons. The mood of the exporter also very important.