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Blue Gourami
The Blue Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) is also referred to as the Three Spot Gourami and sometimes
even the Opaline Gourami. It's called the three spot because of the three spots on its body. The first two are visible (one
on the middle of the body and one near the caudal fin) and the third spot is the eye. This fish is like the Betta Splendens
in that it needs access to the water surface for using its specialized labyrinth organ in case of low oxygen levels. They
can become aggressive and territorial with other tank mates and may be even more aggressive with other male blue gouramis.
Once acclimated to your tank, they can be fairly hardy and can grow to a size of 6 inches (15 cm).
Even though many of the available Blue Gouramis are tank raised it's always a good idea to keep any new fish in a Quarantine
Tank for a few weeks for monitoring before introducing them into your main tank.
The Blue Gourami will accept smaller fish food including flakes, frozen, freeze dried and live foods.
Dwarf Gourami
More Common Names: Blue Dwarf Gourami, Sunset Gourami, Powder Blue Gourami, Neon Dwarf Gouramis
Originating in the
waters of India, the Dwarf Gourami is not only beautiful but they can be particularly hardy as well. The male is more colorful
while the females are less colorful. Usually the female Dwarf Gourami is gray in appearance. There are a couple of color varieties
including the Blue and the Flame Red.
They make a great addition to a fully cycled community tank and are easy to care for. They should accept most fish food
including flakes, freeze-dried, frozen and live foods.
If you notice the coloration on your dwarf gouramis starting to fade, try supplementing their diet with freeze dried
blood worms or live foods once in a while. They are not picky eaters.
Kissing Gourami
The Kissing Gourami gets its name from the way it will "kiss" other gouramis and other fish in your tank. They are not
kissing but they are in fact acting aggressive and having a showdown. When they do this, one is trying to establish dominance
over the other.
They can get quite large, often 10 - 12 inches in length. We do not recommend them for the beginner because
of their potential adult size and because they can become very territorial in a community tank. They will often chase your
other fish around the tank, especially after food has entered the aquarium. This behavior can get very annoying.
They are not picky eaters and will go after flakes, pellets, frozen, freeze dried and live foods.
Mahachai Betta
The Mahachai Betta is a wild caught betta. The Mahachai Betta is one of the newest
additions to the Betta world. Scientists don't have as much information on these little fish as other fish, because they are
still studying their behavior, water conditions, and they still need to verify that it is in fact a Betta and not some other
type of fish.
Unlike the Betta everyone is used to seeing, Betta Splendens, this little fish is found in a brackish swamp just about
20km, or a half hour drive, outside of Bangkok, Thailand and their habitat is shrinking all the time due to commercial developments.
This little fish resembles two other bettas in behavior and in appearance, and those Bettas are Betta Smaragdina and Betta
Imbellis. The males of this species is very dark, almost black and covered in metallic green. The females are more brown with
some of the metallic green. The mature males almost always have red eyes and a spade-shaped tail. Both the male and female
have a little red tint on their fins, it isn't as bright as the regular betta everyone is used too. They grow to be one of
the largest Splendens members, with slender and longer bodies than even the common betta. They reach a total of 2 inches when
they are fully grown. Their body resembles more of a dolphin or orca than a common betta.
This is one of the most peaceful bettas with the males being able to live in the same aquarium with the occasional territorial
dispute. They are extremely terrified of people and if you turn on the light in the room where they are held, they will be
seen darting to a dark corner of the tank. Unlike the common betta, these little bettas can't be kept in the tradional jar,
which some people still use but shouldn't. They will become totally stressed out and may even die due to it or not accept
food because they feel threatened.
They should be kept in a 10 gallon tank that, like other bettas, should not be completely filled to the top. They do
best in slightly hard, slightly brackish, with tannins. The substrate should be fine gravel or silica sand. They like lots
of hiding places made out of artificial or natural means. With leaf litter on the bottom, mostly Indian Almond Leaf, makes
the water better by way of tannins for this fish. Clear water will cause lots of unneeded stress to the fish. Some of the
best plants for the tank would be those that do well in brackish water.
The way they spawn is the same as with other betta species, just the female can stay in the same tank and doesn't need
to be removed. If there are one male and many females, the male will mate with all the females and have all the fry and eggs
in the same nest. The adults will ignore the free-swimming fry since they present no threat to the adults. The raising of
the fry is the same as with the common betta, it just will take a lot longer than with the common betta. They would have trouble
eating BBS so they should be fed vinegar eels, microworms, etc. or micro-organisms in the tank. To compare the difference
in growth rate between the common and the Mahachai; in 4-5 months, the common will be almost fully grown and will be able
to be told if a male or female, while the Mahachai is still less then an inch in length and may be able to tell the genders
apart.
Pearl Gourami
This gourami has many different common names such as the Pearl Gourami, the Lace Gourami, the Leeri Gourami, etc. They
are all referring to the same fish - Trichogaster leeri.
For a gourami, it is considered peaceful and will share a tank
with most community fish types. However, male pearls may fight with each other, especially if there are females in the tank
and it's spawning time. Be ready to use a tank divider or take the other males back to the store and only keep one male with
the females in your tank. Even after doing this, the male may still harass the other female pearl gouramis. Take the appropriate
action if this happens.
The originate from swampy areas in Asia where the water can be on the acidic side of the pH scale. While it would be
good to keep them in similar conditions you should know that they will tolerate a wide range of water parameters. They are
a very nice looking fish with tons of tiny white "pearl" shapes dotting its body. There is a horizontal black bar that runs
the length of the body. Males are easy to distinguish from females because they will develop a red breast and their dorsal
fins will be longer.
Feeding them should pose no problems since they will eat nearly every sort of fish food you put in the tank. Give them
a quality flake food and supplement with live or frozen freshwater fish cubes. Feeding live foods becomes even more important
if you're planning on breeding this beauty. If you've successfully bred livebearers you should find that this fish is not
that much harder to breed assuming that you can acquire a male and female. Females seem to not be as commonly available at
the fish store as the males.
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