Chocolate Gourami

[steeler58]

Has anybody kept this attractive little fish?

Are they as sensative and hard to keep as most literature on them says? I thought they would look nice in a thirty gallon tank with a school of Micro-boras.

[sheamurai]

I tried keeping them twice, in a tank that was too rowdy for them. They are very delicate little guys and won't pony up to get their food if anyone else is in their way.

I have none idea how active micro's are, but I imagine they would be easy for an experienced aquarist to keep given a nice quiet tank for them.

[steeler58]

I was thinking of the Green Kubotai but I saw this video of them with Green Neons that looked interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=0tZLIChQW-0

[Rue]

I researched them a long time ago...I agree that they're gorgeous fish...

Maybe they're best off in a dedicated tank?

[koaladarshana]

I kept four chocolate gouramis for about a year...

First I kept a pair in a 5 gallon heavily planted tank, soon thereafter I upgraded to a 10 gallon heavily planted tank and added two more plus dwarf cories. Eventually I upgraded to a 50 gallon planted where they shared tank space with (though not all these species at once): cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, cories, rummy nose tetras, praecox rainbows, galaxy rasboras, and cardinal tetras.

The water I kept them in had a PH of 7.6-7.8 (I'm the slightest bit color blind when it comes to reading those darn tubes) which I know is not ideal (perhaps that is why they never spawned) but they survived and I would even say were quite happy as they never showed stress coloration (except after being netted out).

I kept a strict regimen of 50% water changes bi-weekly and threw in a large sponge filter (three in my 50 gallon) as added filtration/aeration.

They are very picky eaters! Mine ate only freeze-dried and frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, though they also liked to nibble on algae wafers.

One thing I would add is that they love heavily planted tanks and floating plants. I kept plenty of guppy weed and floating hornworts in my tanks. They seemed to enjoy searching through the hornwort for their food and getting lost among the plants.

Overall they are some of the cutest fish I have ever kept and they have such personalities!

I would still have had them but unfortunately while moving houses I kept them in a large plastic container (filter running, heater running, air pump running) without a lid for about four hours while I was out running errands; when I came home I found them dried out on the floor... apparently they are jumpers. I had no idea... :_(

[steeler58]

Thanks for the great info.

[Red]

Good info from Koala, I kept them and bred them in a 15gal heavily planted tank with no other fish and 5 indian almond leaves. Water was brown, they don't do go in traditional community tanks and are hard to keep when you buy from a petstore.

[steeler58]

Thanks Red. I have a great dealer I can order them from.