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| FAQs on
Colisa lalia "Dwarf" Gouramis
of Many Names, Honey, Flames, Neon Blue, Sunset Fire... Selection Related Articles: Anabantoids/Gouramis
& Relatives, Genera
Ctenopoma & Microctenopoma,
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Fighting Fish,
Related FAQs: Dwarf
Gouramis, Dwarf Gourami Identification,
Dwarf Gourami Behavior,
Dwarf Gourami Compatibility, Dwarf Gourami
Systems, Dwarf Gourami Feeding,
Dwarf Gourami Disease,
Dwarf Gourami Reproduction, & FAQs on: Gouramis 1,
Gouramis 2,
Gourami Identification,
Gourami Behavior,
Gourami Compatibility,
Gourami Selection,
Gourami Systems,
Gourami Feeding,
Gourami Disease,
Gourami Reproduction,
Betta splendens/Siamese
Fighting Fish, |
Buy locally produced stocks only... the vast majority of
what is available are imported from the Far East... and don't live. RMF
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Excerpted from:
Five Almost Perfect Fishes; Great
fish for the community aquarium, except for one little thing… by Neale Monks
2 Dwarf gourami, Colisa lalia
The good:
Friendly, colourful, and just the right size for the community tank
The bad:
Peculiarly sensitive to bacterial infections
Few
aquarists haven’t tried keeping these fish at some point, and they
remain staples of the hobby thanks to their wide availability, bright
colours, sweet dispositions, and willingness to take a range of foods
including flake and pellets. Numerous artificial forms exist, such as
the “red dwarf gourami” that lacks the blue strips typical of the wild
morph. However, being widely sold doesn’t mean that are easy to keep,
and these fish all too frequently sicken and die within a few months of
being purchased. Dwarf gouramis appear to be among the fish most likely
to contract bacterial infections if water quality or water chemistry
isn’t exactly right. The symptoms are bloody sores on the body and a
loss of appetite, and short of veterinarian help (i.e.,
antibiotics), nothing much seems to help.
Even with antibiotics, the prognosis isn’t particularly good, and you
should definitely never buy dwarf gouramis from a tank containing
specimens showing any signs of this type of infection. But even starting
off with healthy fish might not help, as some aquarists believe that
virtually all commercially-bred dwarf gouramis (and probably other
gouramis as well) carry the bacteria, so the issue isn’t keeping the
bacteria out of the tank but making sure it doesn’t become a problem.
The best approach is to quarantine dwarf gouramis for a few weeks before
being adding them to a tank that already contains other, hardier,
gouramis.
It
is just as important to make sure that water conditions and filtration
are optimal. For the dwarf gourami that means soft, acidic water
conditions, preferably filtered through peat and zero levels of nitrite
and ammonium. Frequent water changes to keep the nitrates down is a good
idea, and using a hood or cover glass at the top of the tank to keep the
humidity of the air just above the water level high is also to be
recommended. Feeding presents few problems, but what you don’t want to
do is introduce anything that might make the fish sick, such as live
Tubifex worms. In short, these are quite demanding fish that need a
lot of care if they are to succeed in a community tank. |
Gourami question
06/15/08
Hi,
And thanks for your support and very informative web site.
I went through a quite to few trouble - try to keep dwarf Gouramis, but never
had any luck.
I love that fishes and would like to try again.
Is any of Gouramis ( smaller size is preferable) easy to keep, will tolerate pH
8.1 -8.2 ?
I really would like to have a couple in my 55g.
Thanks
Larissa
<Hello Larissa. Most of the "other" Gouramis will do well in your aquarium.
Dwarf Gouramis are uniquely feeble and worth avoiding. If you want something
similar to the Dwarf Gourami, both Colisa fasciata (the Banded Gourami) and
Colisa labiosus (the Thick-Lipped Gourami) have the same red/blue stripes. Both
are in the trade, though not as widely sold as Dwarf Gouramis. The Three-Spot
Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) is another hardy species, though males can
be aggressive. The yellow ("Golden Gourami") and blue ("Blue Gourami") are the
two widely traded varieties of this species. Personally I have a great fondness
for the Moonlight Gourami (Trichogaster microlepis), a peaceful, all-silver
species that looks great in a shady tank with lots of plants. It is very hardy
and doesn't become as territorial as the Three-Spot Gourami; on the other hand,
it does get a little bigger. All of these would be perfectly at home in a 55
gallon system. I hope this helps, Neale.>
Gourami disease, eggs?
-03/28/08
hi,
I have just got 4 dwarf Gouramis and 2 are the opalescent blue and the other 2
are orange with stripes. my one striped one has a dark brown appearance on its
head and at the top to,? and appears to be dull and slimy. and the other one
appears to have this too along with a dark blue almost navy stripe near the end
of its belly. is this normal or a disease.
<Not normal, and yes, likely a disease. In particular check your symptoms
against 'Dwarf Gourami Disease', an extremely common and contagious problem
among Colisa lalia imports from Singapore especially.
http://208.112.95.51/FWSubWebIndex/dwfgdis.htm
There is no cure. I would simply advise people NEVER to buy these fish unless
from a local breeder.>
and finally the last question I have is my blue Gourami is larger than the rest
of the tank mates and has been hanging out at the top of the tank. but I have
noticed very small,? white circular things near my heater and every now and then
the swollen fish will go up near that part of the tank. what is wrong with my
fish and what are these things, are they eggs?
<Impossible to say. Quite possibly eggs, through whether from the Gouramis or
something else, e.g., snails, is difficult to say. Gouramis are bubble-nest
builders and don't normally stick their eggs to the glass. On the other hand
Corydoras catfish and some snails do this all the time. If you think they're
eggs, then by all means carefully remove them to a breeding trap and see what
happens! Fish eggs tend to be about 1 mm across and small round spheres; snail
eggs are usually laid in clumps, often in blobs of jelly about 5 mm or so
across.>
thank you
<Next time, please send messages with proper capitalization of sentences! Makes
e-mails easier to read, share. Cheers, Neale.>
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Dwarf Gourami problem –
03/18/08
Hi.
I have 3 dwarf Gourami's, I took one of them out and put it in a small 1.5
gallon tank as it had a swollen upper body and seems to spend a lot of time at
the bottom
<Dwarf Gourami Disease; caused by a virus. Incurable. See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/dwfgdis.htm
I cannot state this more clearly: People, stop buying these fish!>
The other tank is all out of whack chemically .75ppm No2, 20 ppm No3, 1.00
ammonia and 7.5 PH. I am really new at this and can't figure out what to do.
<Buy a book, read about fishkeeping. Obviously you've added a bunch of fish to
an immature aquarium. Nitrite and ammonia at these levels will quickly kill your
fish. Start here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
>
The small tank I set up is 00ppm No2, 5 No3, .15 Ammonia and 7.6 PH. The temp in
both is 78. I tried putting in Rid·Ich+ which is supposed to help with a variety
of problems.
<Yes, but doesn't "cure" bad fishkeeping. Nor does it help deal with viral
infections. The ammonia in here will kill this Gourami even before the virus. Go
here to see how to painlessly destroy this fish:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/euthanasiafaqs.htm
>
I hope I'm not to late as he looks worse and is staying at the bottom. I noticed
while in the other tank he did not eat anytime I was watching.
<Doomed.>
Sorry for the anxiety. I just hope to be able to be better at this whole thing.
<You can be, but you have to read. You also need to make sensible decisions. For
beginners, buying tanks smaller than 20 gallons is stupid. They're too difficult
to maintain and choose stock for. So I'm hoping you have a tank 20 gallons or
larger. Next up, you choose hardy fish, not "pretty" fish you pick without
research. Dwarf Gouramis for example are among the WORST choices for beginners
because they are plagued with disease and weren't even all that hardy in the
first place. Danios and peppered Corydoras for example would make much better
choices.>
Please help.
<Have done so.>
Thanks. Tina
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Dwarf Gourami
problem 03/19/2008
Thank you Neale
<You're welcome.>
I really was not properly informed when I was given the tank (70 gallon)
I should never have taken it without doing more reading. The people who
had it wanted it gone. I have however been reading instead of taking
anymore advice from the tank donors.
<Very good!>
The fish that were in it were not my choice.
<I see.>
I am very thankful for the information that you have given. I am glad I
came to you for help. I hope that no more fish die because of my lack of
knowledge.
<So do I!>
Thanks again and I'm hoping the readings on the tank will clear up soon
as I do more water changes.
Tina
<Good luck, and happy fishkeeping! Neale.> |
No question, just a thank
you... and Colisa lalia sel. – 10/28/07
Dear Crew,
I am very new to the hobby, starting a 30 gal FW tank about 2 months ago. In
doing research before putting the tank together, I stumbled upon your web site
and have found it to be extremely informative and helpful. I believe that the
reason my fish are happy and healthy can be directly attributed to finding the
answers to any questions I had by searching for them and reading your site. I
find myself coming here everyday and reading the Daily FAQ's, even if the
question doesn't pertain to my particular situation. I have also found many of
the articles you have posted very interesting. I can't begin to tell you how
much I have learned about keeping fish since I've started visiting your web
site.
<Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you're enjoying the site.>
So, while I have no question for you today, I would like to extend a huge THANK
YOU to all you do for us that love our "wet pets". I have complete confidence
that if I ever have a question that can't be answered by a search , I can ask
and know that you will offer your knowledge and expert opinion, which I trust
emphatically.
<We appreciate you taking the time to pass on these thoughts.>
My little community tank:
7 Red Eye Tetras
2 Dwarf Gouramis
3 Zebra Danios
3 Julii Corys
1 Banjo Catfish
ammonia-0 ppm
nitrite-0 ppm
nitrate-20 ppm
Respectfully yours,
Jennifer
<A nice collection of fish. The only possible problems are the Dwarf Gouramis
and the Banjo cat. The Dwarf Gouramis are a fine species if healthy, but the
quality of stock is very poor, and a high proportion of specimens from Southeast
Asian fish farms are infected with an incurable viral disease. Keep an eye out
for this. Optimising water quality and providing a healthy, balanced diet will
go some way to ensuring success, but if things do go wrong, don't blame
yourself. I personally recommend against Dwarf Gouramis *unless* sourced from a
local breeder. Banded Gouramis and Thick-lipped Gouramis are, in my opinion,
better bets. Banjo cats are lovely animals, but resolutely nocturnal and often
starve to death in home aquaria. So do feed at night time, and do provide a
mixed diet not just catfish pellets. Frozen bloodworms and frozen Tubifex are
probably the ideal, but small bits of chopped seafood would be useful too. Good
luck, Neale>
Dwarf Gourami 1/5/07
Hey Crew,
<Jessica>
I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but I couldn't find the answer to my
question.
I have a 29 gallon well planted (plenty of hiding places) aquarium with no fish
yet. I want to get some Dwarf Gouramis (Colisa lalia), Dwarf Loaches (Botia
sidthimunki), and a school Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha).
<A nice mix>
I would like to have as many of the male Gourami as possible because they're the
most colorful. How many of these Dwarf Gourami could I have in my aquarium
without increased fighting due to lack of territory space?
<Mmm, likely six... perhaps two males, four females...>
Or if necessary, how many females would I need to keep also to decrease
fighting?
<A few more than the males>
Also, will the smaller Rasboras be eaten??
<Not unless they were much smaller, no>
Or are they ok to go with Dwarf Gouramis?
<Highly unlikely>
Thank you,
Erin
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
I will setting up a 15 gal tank and plan on having neon blue dwarf Gouramis
in it and was wondering how many I should have. I know that the
Gouramis are very territorial in nature and should I plan to put only 5 or 6 in
them. I will have a lot of hiding places and will solve the problem
of them beginning territorial.
<These are called "Dwarf Gouramis" but they can still get 2-3
inches long so even 5 or 6 is probably too many. The blues do tend to be one of
the least aggressive but in a 15 gallon tank, no more than 3 or 4 is
recommended. Ronni>
Gouramis In A Group
Dear Anthony (just a wild guess here),
<Oops- Anthony's cheerful(?) colleague- Scott F. here>
My 30 gallon freshwater tank finished cycling almost 3 weeks ago. It
now houses 3 platys, 1 balloon molly, and one female Betta. pH is
7.8, temp is 79 F, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0. By choice I
have only artificial plants. I would like to add two male dwarf
Gouramis - are the Gouramis a good choice?
<Dwarf Gouramis are among the most peaceful of all fishes-great choice for a
mellow community aquarium.>
Will two males live together peacefully (I want two males because they are
prettier than the females and I'm not interested in having the Gouramis
reproduce)?
<Well, in my experience, it's better to keep these fishes in small groups,
like 2 females and 1 male, or 3 females and two males. Keeping two males
together seems to result in one harassing the other into submission, in my
experience. There also might be some occasional aggression between the Betta and
your Gouramis.>
I've read they like plants floating on the surface - I'd rather not have this
(even artificial ones). Will they be miserable without that?
<No- they should be fine. In nature (and in the aquarium), they often rely on
floating plants to provide an area for building their nests and depositing eggs.
They appreciate the cover, but it is certainly not necessary to have floating
plants for these fishes.>
Should I add some aquarium salt to the water? How
much? What brand?
<Personally, I'd skip the salt>
I thought I'd also get 2 or 3 Corydoras sterbai as scavengers - are
they suitable tankmates for this group?
<sure- these are great fish in their own right!>
I would not plan to get the new additions all at once.
<Good plan-build up your population slowly>
Thought I'd start with the Gouramis if you give me the go ahead. Any
thoughts would be appreciated.
<With the above caveats, I'd say that they would make great additions to your
tank! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>
Judy
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