Spitting Gourami

[Gogi]

Last month I got a dwarf neon Gourami. He is currently living in a 10 gallon tank all by himself. The tank has a glass lid, a piece of driftwood, ceramic pot, and a fake plant. Lately he has started doping something really wierd. He spits at the glass lid!! Today he even spat at me!!! Went to feed him and he came right up to me and spat!!!

Has this happen to anyone else? Is this normal behaviour?

My only conclusion is that maybe in the wild this fish spits water at bugs right above the water surface to bring em down. I really dont know Im just speculating.

I feed him twica day, and i make sure he eats everything. So he should not be hungry. Oh he also makes a loud clicking noise when he eats.

[fishmommie]

First - just let me get this out

Maybe he has some camel blood in him.
Okay. got that out of my system.
My gourami's click when then eat flakes off the surface but I've never had one spit. You may be on to something regarding bugs. And you have to admit ... it's funny :o)

[~firefly~]

I've heard of this before. Not that unusual. I think they are closely related to archer fish (well known for spitting water at insects to dislodge them from their perches). You have yourself a gourami full of character I'd be interested to see if it will spit for food rewards!

[Gogi]

@ fishmommie- thanks. Yea its funny. He made my day this morning. Lol

Yea firefly he def is a character. Whenever i put my finger on the glass he puts his feeler right on the glass. I call it the DG handshake.

[Shidohari]

i love my powder blue dwarf gourami. He's a character as well, a bit more subdued i think than your neon one, but i am so glad i bought him.

post pictures if you got him. also you can see pictures of mine in my tank journals.

[Gogi]

Here you go...


This was taken when i first got him. He was in a 20 gal, but i had to remove him because he is a bully.

[fishmommie]

pretty boy - even if he has no manners. I have one like him and a powder blue like shidohari's. they used to be in the same tank but I had to seperate them about almost 10 months of getting along just fine. when it went bad, it went really bad :o( but both are fine and happily patrolling the corners they've staked out in my 2 community tanks. they don't bother any other fish - just each other

[Gogi]

Happy it worked out for you. This guy was going after everyone. I had to draw the line when he started going after the oto cats. He is going to be rehome in March. I am giving him to a member of my local fish club. I will miss him but I feel like he needs a bigger home.

[Shidohari]

But least, with him going to a member of your local fish club, you know he will be well taken care of...but OMG i love his color. The water must be just right to bring out his colors like that. I know mine will never be a true color because of my water quality but his colors are still awesome the way they are. (my tap water is consistantly hard water and i don't bother changing the ph because it's so much above what's recommended it'd be too much of a shock)

[Gogi]

Yea he is a handsome bully. I think its a good idea not to mess with your ph. Mine is on the low side ph 6.4 and soft water 2-4 dkh(is this the right unit of measurement?)