Dwarf gourami - Colisa lalia

Contributed by: Puffy»15»

On: January 28, 2008, 9:11 pm

Would dwarf gouramis make good fish because I'm thinking of one for my sister's birthday on 26 of FEB?

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: January 30, 2008, 2:26 pm

@Puffy: The Dwarf Gourami is very beautiful and interesting fish for sure! I definitely recommend them especially for species aquariums. If you keep a pair, you’ll enjoy how they mate and how they live together.

They’re much less aggressive than Blue Gouramis and thanks to their size, it’s possible to keep them in 50 L aquariums too.

Recommended!

Contributed by: Alita»4»

On: November 25, 2008, 7:33 am

Hi, I have a question about my dwarf gourami fish. I purchased two powder blue dwarf gourami females from you but have been unable to breed them. I put in a powder blue male and he blew a few bubbles and then continually chased them toward the nest for hours! I then took out one of the females, thinking maybe two was too much for him, but the same thing insued. It went on for three days so thought I had better can the project!

I tried three other male dwarf gouramies and then didn’t even blow bubbles.

What am I doing wrong. I have increased water temperature and lowered the water and the lights.

Thanks.

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: November 25, 2008, 10:15 pm

@Alita: Well, there are a few possible reasons that led to failure...

Firstly, are females adults already? Do they carry eggs? They should be very rounded if they’re ready to spawn. Otherwise only a few eggs can be released (if any). I think that this is the problem, but let’s analyse other potential causes...

1) The males aren’t adult.
2) There are not enough plants that make fishes feel comfortable. In fact, plants (floating and normal too) are necessary to make these gouramies feel well. Only when they feel fine, they can breed.
3) How big is your aquarium? I’d let them breed in bigger tanks only since during the spawning period males may be little aggressive toward females, thus females won’t feel well.
4) Female or male is old. In such a case they won’t breed.

Also try to change water (up to 50%) as this is a good trigger of spawning.

Contributed by: Alita»4»

On: November 28, 2008, 3:06 pm

Hi, someone replied to my post about trying to breed my powder blue gouramies, but I am not sure who.

Here is what I posted:

"Hi, I have a question about my dwarf gourami fish. I purchased two powder blue dwarf gourami females from you but have been unable to breed them. I put in a powder blue male and he blew a few bubbles and then continually chased them toward the nest for hours! I then took out one of the females, thinking maybe two was too much for him, but the same thing insued. It went on for three days so thought I had better can the project!

I tried three other male dwarf gouramies and then didn’t even blow bubbles.

What am I doing wrong. I have increased water temperature and lowered the water and the lights."

In answer to the comments you made...
Yes, the females both carried a lot of eggs. I hope they aren’t too old, I purchased them from Aqua-Fish Net and I had no problem with the female paradise they sent me.

Yes, all my males are well into adulthood but not old. There are a bunch of plants too, both floating and normal.

My breeding aquarium is 10 gallon, the paradise did fine in that size and so did a former gourami pair that I bred, but they are not around anymore.

I also changed the water too.

I don’t know what else to do but suggestions are very helpful to me.

Thanks so much.

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: December 14, 2008, 6:46 am

@Alita: Thanks for your email in which we made things clear :) .

Now it comes to my mind that pH could be maybe the problem. If water is too hard, these fish won’t breed (or will experience difficulties while trying to breed).

I cannot find anything else what could be the reason of this delay. Sometimes it’s just time which solves the problem.

Contributed by: Alita»4»

On: December 14, 2008, 7:57 am

Hi,

I wrote to you before about my dwarf gourami not breeding after several attempts.

I am sorry I got your company mixed up with another one with almost exactly the same name, so no I didn’t purchase them from you.

Anyway, I did check the PH and find it is way too low (soft) and am remeding that now so hope it does the trick.

Thanks for all the advice.

Alita

Contributed by: AK»8»

On: May 29, 2009, 3:21 am

I bought a Gourami the other day and he is doing really well.

At the moment he is swimming around at the back against the glass. Is this normal? I have presumed up until now that he was playing.

All other vitals are fine, with proper eating etc, and he is not being bullied. It is just him.... on his own having a good ’old swim!

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: May 31, 2009, 3:59 pm

@AK: Such a kind of swimming isn’t normal. Sometimes this is caused by disorientation, sometimes by damage of the nerve system. There may be more reasons why your fish is swimming this way, of course.

Contributed by: AK»8»

On: June 2, 2009, 5:35 am

OK thanks.

He has started to calm down a bit now, so it may have been the shock of getting in a new tank. A shame as I introduced him over a long period, but then sometimes fish do react differently!

Thanks for the heads up. I shall keep an eye out for any more strange behaviour.

Contributed by: Anonymous»157»

On: February 18, 2010, 7:03 am

I would like to have 6 Neon Tetras, 4 Panda Corys, 2 OtoCinclus and 2 Dwarf Gourami. The tank is 16 gal. and I do have small plants but none floating. The temperature is between 77 and 78 F and a 7.2 pH.

I am not looking at breeding and wondering if these conditions are fine for them (male and female) to live happily and not breed because the smaller fishes could be harmed if they breed.

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: February 20, 2010, 11:15 pm

@Anonymous: The conditions are OK. Just make sure that the water stream isn’t too strong, because Dwarf Gouramis prefer still waters.

Contributed by: Anonymous»157»

On: February 21, 2010, 2:36 am

Thanks for the info on the Dwarf Gouramis. I have a filter that creates a bit of a stir on the surface so I’ll have to reconsider. Thanks again!

Contributed by: Anonymous»157»

On: May 23, 2010, 6:11 pm

I have two red dwarf gouramies I bought the other day. One of them seems to chase the other and I have manged to spot out which fish is doing the chasing. This doesn’t seem to occur the other way round and it’s just the one fish chasing the other fish (they are both males however and I am not sure if this makes a difference). Is this normal? Should I do something about it?

Contributed by: admin»784»

On: July 17, 2010, 7:14 pm

@Anonymous: It is not a problem as long as the bullied specimen can hide, and as long as the fish tank is big enough. Some people reported that their Dwarf Gouramies even killed each other, however it’s very rare. Keep adding plants until they can’t see each other every time.