Care Guide for Dwarf Gouramis – Feisty Relative of Betta Fish
Are you looking for an attractive fish that’s not a betta? The dwarf gourami is a very popular alternative because of its vibrant colors, bold personality, and hardiness. It is not always the most peaceful fish in a community, despite its popularity as a beginner-friendly species. Let’s discuss the care requirements for your dwarf gourami, including housing, possible tank mates, food, and breeding.
What is a Dwarf Gourami?
Trichogaster lalius is a gourami with the classic oblong silhouette and two whisker-like pelvic fins that help the fish navigate through obstacles. Growing up to 3 inches (8 cm) long, it is one of the smaller gouramis available in the aquarium hobby and is part of the same family as betta fish and paradise fish. It is a labyrinth (or anabantoid), and it has a lung-like labyrinth or labyrinth organ to take oxygen directly from the atmosphere. This adaptation allows it to survive in the oxygen-deficient waters of South Asia, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Bangladesh.
What is the difference between dwarf gouramis? With its bright, shiny body and red vertical stripes, the regular variety is already striking. The powder blue dwarf goesurami is all blue with no red stripes. While the flame dwarf gourami’s body has iridescent-blue fins and has a red-orange color, it has iridescent-blue fins.
How easy is it to care for dwarf gouramis? This species is resilient and can tolerate a wide range water parameters. With good care and diet, they tend to live about 2-4 years. There are many articles online about Iridovirus dwarf Gourami Disease. It is a viral infection that is difficult to treat and can lead to high mortality rates. After many years of purchasing thousands of dwarf gouramis to stock our fish store, this disease has never been seen in person. That being said, we occasionally get batches that have genetic deformities caused by overbreeding, so if you are buying a dwarf gourami at the fish store, just make sure it looks and acts healthy before you bring it home.
Pet shop: Dwarf gouramis
How to Set Up an Aquarium for Dwarf Gouramis
Dwarf gouramis are used to dwelling in slow-moving waterways and ditches that are filled with dense vegetation, so they would appreciate a 10-gallon or larger aquarium with slow flow and live aquarium plants. They can survive in areas where there is frequent flooding by monsoons.
How do I decide how many dwarf gouramis to keep together? They are often sold as a community fish and many online sources suggest keeping them together. However, in reality, almost all of the dwarf gouramis you see at the pet store are male and they can be territorial bullies. You can expect lots of squabbling, chase, fin nipping and other damage when you put them together. Yes, a group of dwarf gouramis might work in a huge tank where the males have space to establish their own space and can’t find each other, but in general, we recommend getting one as a centerpiece fish with other community tank mates.
Which fish can live with dwarf guramis? It doesn’t matter if there is only one dwarf gourami. Their personalities will determine if it can live in a tank. While some are calm and will not bother others, others can be quite aggressive and attack anyone who crosses their territory. We love female powder blue dwarf gouramis if we can find them. They are peacefulr than males, but still have that same brilliant blue color.
If your dwarf gourami has a calm temperament, you might consider keeping them with other peaceful fish such as corydoras catfish or tetras. They tend to not get along with other labyrinth fish (like bettas), but again, it all depends on the individual’s disposition. They will snack on any food that is available to them, including baby fish and cherry shrimp, just like other fish.
Flame dwarf urami in a planted aquarium
What do Dwarf Gouramis Eat?
Anabantoids usually hang out in the top half of the aquarium, but we find that dwarf gouramis swim at all levels and will go after both sinking and floating foods. They are eager eaters that may try to chase away other fish and eat the lion’s share of the food, so watch out for slower species getting outcompeted during mealtimes. Your gourami will be healthy and happy if they are fed a variety of prepared, frozen, frozen, and live foods. They love fish flakes, floating Betta pellets and community pellets. Sometimes, they like to eat alga.
How to Breed Dwarf Gouramis
If you have never bred a bubble nester before, dwarf gouramis are relatively easy to reproduce. Finding a female is the most difficult part of breeding bubble nesters, as many stores don’t carry them. Males are more colorful, and have a pointed dorsal tip. Females are more round. Start with conditioning the adults by feeding them lots of high-quality foods. You will need a 10-gallon tank that holds shallow water, between 6-8 inches (15-20cm), and warmer temperatures of 80-82 degrees F (27-28c). Use a sponge filter with gentle flow, and add floating plants (like floating water sprite) to reduce the surface agitation and give the male a foundation to build his bubble nest. Some hobbyists also like to cover the aquarium with plastic cellophane wrap to keep the humidity as high as possible for proper labyrinth organ development in the babies.
Once the male has built his bubble nest, it will court the female by wrapping himself around him, causing the latter to release a cloud of tiny white sand grains-like eggs. This behavior will be repeated several times until hundreds are released. Each time, the male will pick up the eggs with his mouth and spit them back out into his bubble nest. Once the pair are done mating, remove the female because the male will relentlessly chase her away as he guards the nest. The male will keep the fry safe for a few more days, until they hatch and can swim freely. The male should be removed so that he doesn’t predate on the females. The baby fish should be given tiny foods, such as vinegar eels, infusoria, and powdered fried food, for the first few weeks. When they reach adult size, you can switch to baby brine shrimp. This will allow them to grow quickly and stay healthy.
A couple of powder-blue dwarf gouramis for courting
If you like the look of gouramis and want to learn about other peaceful species you can keep, check out our article on the Top 5 Peaceful Gouramis for a Community Tank.