Gourami identification 12/22/08 Hi crew, I currently have two gouramis in my 60 liter tank. I first bought the yellow one (Gourami 2.jpg) sold as "gold Gourami" with another gold Gourami. The second gold Gourami became very aggressive (it was a male) and I returned it to the shop in exchange for the blue Gourami (Gourami 1.jpg). Interestingly, after I removed the aggressive gold Gourami, the remaining gold one turned from pale yellow/white into the colour pattern as shown on the picture. I believe I have two females now and the blue Gourami is a "Trichogaster trichopterus - Opaline". Can you help me identifying what type my gold Gourami is? I was led to believe that two females can peacefully live together, but the blue Gourami has become very aggressive to the gold Gourami as well. Is that normal behaviour or should I remove the aggressor? Thanks, Michiel <These are both Trichogaster trichopterus, a species available in multiple natural and artificial colour/pattern varieties. Colours may, in some cases, be enhanced by fish farmers through the use of various food supplements. Carotene and algae-rich foods will do the trick under aquarium conditions, for example brine shrimp and Spirulina flake. There's no real need to use "colour enhancing" flake food if the diet is varied, and the effects are likely to be minimal anyway. In any case, females have smaller dorsal fins than males, so sexing is generally easy. On males, the dorsal fin extends as far back as the caudal peduncle (the "root" of the tail fin) whereas on the females the dorsal fin is much smaller and has a rounded edge. Both your specimens appear to be females, the blue one certainly so. Trichogaster trichopterus is an aggressive species, and not a species I personally consider a good community tank resident. This species often becomes a bully, especially in small tanks. 60 litres (15 US gallons) is FAR TOO SMALL for this species, and yes, they are going to fight. I'd recommend a tank of at least 115 l (30 US gallons) for Trichogaster trichopterus. Cheers, Neale.>

Gouramis weird behavior  8/5/07
My wife came home last week with a surprise birthday present... a 5-gal tank setup, with everything the (supposedly knowledgeable) pet store ppl said she would need, plus 2 Gouramis, which after looking at a lot of online pictures seem like they're blue Gouramis, although they look silver to me. She doesn't know the first thing about fishkeeping, but she knows I am into fish so she spent the 80 bucks on this whole thing, which is an Eclipse hex5 complete aquarium kit, plus gravel, a heater, and a couple of plastic plants. Fine. So I set everything up as carefully as I could, added warm water and conditioner, started the filter going, the temp was in the high 70s, floated the fish in the bag and added them after 45-50 minutes. Temp stays between 77-80 even though heater is only set to 73. Basically, since then they've been exhibiting really weird behavior. First of all, one of them has from the beginning been chasing and nipping at the other one. They alternate between floating at the top, hiding behind the filter intake - or at the bottom behind a plant. When they're not fighting they're usually separate, one in each of the aforementioned locations. They picked-on one looks like its dorsal and tailfins are starting to get ripped. I still have one day left on the return policy. Is the best thing to just let them be; return one (and hope to get some other kind of compatible fish); or return both and start with some other fish? Thanks so much.
-Moshe
<Hello Moshe, Although the fish you have may well be blue Gouramis -- Trichogaster trichopterus -- this name "blue Gourami" is merely applied to one variety within the species. The natural forms are silvery, brownish, or light blue; the artificial varieties come in bright yellow, lavender, and dark blue. The give-away clue for most varieties is that there are three dark spots on each flank: one spot is the eye, the second is halfway along the body, and the third close to the tail. Right, now, having solved the identity of the fish: heating. Ignore the number of the heater-thermostat. These devices are very simple bi-metallic strips used to cut off the power above a certain temperature. I remember learning about how these worked at school in physics class, and I'm sure you do to. All that happens is above a certain temperature one of the metals in the strip expands further than the other, bending it away from the contacts, breaking the circuit. These devices are very inaccurate. So, if your heater is heating the tank too much, trust the thermometer, and set the heater lower. In summer, I turn my heaters to their minimum settings: the day/night cycle between around 25-18C / 77-64F is absolutely fine for most tropical fish and far closer to the "wild" than the constant temperatures we usually aim for. Second, the fighting: what you describe is 100% normal for Trichogaster trichopterus. Males of this species are mutually antagonistic, and males also tend to be bullies towards any other Gouramis or even Gourami-looking fishes such as small cichlids or Bettas. Males can be identified by their orange (rather than white) pelvic fins (the "feelers") and their dorsal fins (which are longer than those on the females). Thirdly, fin damage should be treated *on sight* with anti-Finrot/fungus medication pre-emptively. Failing to do this often leads to Finrot and fungus, and once you start having sick fish, the hobby becomes a lot less fun. Finally, you have a 5 gallon tank. I assume 5 US gallons, but 5 Imperial gallons would make any difference to this comment either: Your tank is FAR TOO SMALL for anything much, let alone a pair of Gouramis. With respect to your wife who doubtless was trying to buy you a nice, fun present -- there's nothing more difficult in this hobby than trying to make a stable aquarium in 5 gallons. It's too small. Conditions easily slip from safe to dangerous, and very, very few fish are inactive and small enough to be content in such tiny living quarters. Thing about it, 5 gallons is the size of a bucket. Can you imagine many fishes living in such a small "pond" in the wild? At best, you could keep a few gobies and shrimps. Gobies are small (most around an inch) and don't stray far from their chosen cave (like a seashell). Bumblebee gobies (Brachygobius spp.) are the most popular gobies in the hobby, though they will not eat flake and so come under the heading of "fish for semi-experienced hobbyists" in all fairness. On the shrimp front, there are these darling little cherry shrimps (Neocaridina denticulata sinensis) that are bright red and very easy to breed, and kept on their own with a few aquarium plants can make enchanting pets. But other small things like guppies or Neons won't be happy in a 5 gallon tank, whatever your pet store tells you. Now, if you ask me why do pet shops sell tanks for $80 that can't be used to keep fish, the answer is simple -- people buy them as impulse presents or without knowing anything else about the hobby. But 99 times out of a 100, these 5 gallon tanks end up sinking into a morass of dead fish and bad water, and the would-be hobbyist gives up. So, anyway, I hope this helps. Cheers, Neale>