B
BettaBettas
Guest
Has anyone ever had one?
Any tips or tricks to raise them, he or she would be in a planted tank
Any tips or tricks to raise them, he or she would be in a planted tank
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I presently have a group of seven in a tank along with a group of dwarf rasbora (Boraras brigittae). I have had this fish twice before, last time was six years ago, and I raised several fry from spawnings then.
There are four species in the genus Sphaerichthys. S. osphromenoides is the most commonly seen. S. selatanensis is near-identical but has an additional vertical white/cream stripe and is much less common. S. vaillanti is very rare in the hobby. Fourth is S. acrostoma, larger and also rarely seen in the hobby. I have S. osphromenoides and you may have seen this recently available (which may be why you've asked,
); being wild caught (unless one has a local breeder), these fish will be available probably once a year, during the collecting season.
Always buy a group; they are social fish, with interactive behaviours that are enjoyable to observe. And you will likely get male/female--these are easy fish to spawn and raise. I have severn now, but I would say six is minimum.
This is a delicate and sensitive fish. First requirement is very soft water, on the acidic side. Zero GH and KH, or close, and let the pH drop naturally. Warmth is also essential, in the high 70's to low 80's. I have mine at 78-80F. If the source water parameters differ significantly from the parameters of the established tank water, do smaller and more frequent water changes rather than larger weekly. I'm lucky to have very soft water out of the tap, so I change half the tank weekly.
A planted tank is good, provided the light is not strong. Especially important are floating plants, the surface can be thick with floating plants. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris cornuta) is ideal, as it will easily cover the surface and the root masses will get large. Like all gourami, this species loves to cruise among dangling roots and branches, continually looking for microscopic food. And a good cover of floating plants with thick roots will mean fry if you have male/female. The first two species I mentioned are maternal mouthbrooders, the second two paternal mouthbrooders. I've only had my present seven for a few weeks, but I have noticed an obvious pairing happening, so hopefully I will see spawning like I did six years ago. I'll go into this more if you ask.
Lighting should be on the dim side, so either have lower plants that are good with less light (mosses, Java Fern, crypts, pygmy chain swords) or you can go true blackwater with no lower plants and lots and lots of wood and branches and leaves and thick floating plants. I have my group in a 29g, photo attached. Quiet filtration (I have a dual sponge filter) to avoid water currents; these are after all fish from ditches, swamps, peat marshes.
Lots of wood is good. And dried leaves. Autumn is upon us, and a good time to collect fallen dead leaves from a safe location (the back garden if no insecticides are used, or a forest). Oak, maple, beech are safe; I believe pretty much any common hardwood tree is OK. I have an oak tree and every autumn I collect hundreds of fallen leaves, dry them, and bag them to use in various tanks. These also provide excellent first foods (infusoria) for all fry whatever species. Organic matter will add essential substances and bacteria to the water that are beneficial in preventing skin disease too, something common with these fish.
Keep the tank well covered to maintain warmth in the moist air above the water; like all gourami, these breathe air as well as normal gill respiration.
Feeding shouldnot be difficult; mine have always eagerly consumed dried foods (good quality flake), frozen daphnia, and frozen bloodworms once a week. I've never bothered with live foods, but if you can, fine. Daphnia and wingless fruit flies would be ideal. These fish do naturally feed from the surface, but they will browse the substrate and every surface searching for food, and usually eat any that manages to sink to the bottom.
Tankmates are OK but they must be very peaceful, small and sedate. Many of the rasbora work well. I mentioned Boraras brigittae, and previously I had a shoal of Trigonostigma hengeli. T. espei is another good rasbora. The third in this genus, T. heteromorpha (common Harlequin) is a bit large in my view, and perhaps a bit more active. If space is sufficient, other small gourami can be added, like the pygmy sparkling gourami (I've had these and the Chocolates in my 70g, both spawning regularly), eyespot gourami, licorice gourami; but avoid any of the "common" gourami species as they can be more rambunctious, larger, and more of a disease threat.
Feel free to ask questions.
Byron.
There are four species in the genus Sphaerichthys. S. osphromenoides is the most commonly seen. S. selatanensis is near-identical but has an additional vertical white/cream stripe and is much less common. S. vaillanti is very rare in the hobby. Fourth is S. acrostoma, larger and also rarely seen in the hobby. I have S. osphromenoides and you may have seen this recently available (which may be why you've asked,
Always buy a group; they are social fish, with interactive behaviours that are enjoyable to observe. And you will likely get male/female--these are easy fish to spawn and raise. I have severn now, but I would say six is minimum.
This is a delicate and sensitive fish. First requirement is very soft water, on the acidic side. Zero GH and KH, or close, and let the pH drop naturally. Warmth is also essential, in the high 70's to low 80's. I have mine at 78-80F. If the source water parameters differ significantly from the parameters of the established tank water, do smaller and more frequent water changes rather than larger weekly. I'm lucky to have very soft water out of the tap, so I change half the tank weekly.
A planted tank is good, provided the light is not strong. Especially important are floating plants, the surface can be thick with floating plants. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris cornuta) is ideal, as it will easily cover the surface and the root masses will get large. Like all gourami, this species loves to cruise among dangling roots and branches, continually looking for microscopic food. And a good cover of floating plants with thick roots will mean fry if you have male/female. The first two species I mentioned are maternal mouthbrooders, the second two paternal mouthbrooders. I've only had my present seven for a few weeks, but I have noticed an obvious pairing happening, so hopefully I will see spawning like I did six years ago. I'll go into this more if you ask.
Lighting should be on the dim side, so either have lower plants that are good with less light (mosses, Java Fern, crypts, pygmy chain swords) or you can go true blackwater with no lower plants and lots and lots of wood and branches and leaves and thick floating plants. I have my group in a 29g, photo attached. Quiet filtration (I have a dual sponge filter) to avoid water currents; these are after all fish from ditches, swamps, peat marshes.
Lots of wood is good. And dried leaves. Autumn is upon us, and a good time to collect fallen dead leaves from a safe location (the back garden if no insecticides are used, or a forest). Oak, maple, beech are safe; I believe pretty much any common hardwood tree is OK. I have an oak tree and every autumn I collect hundreds of fallen leaves, dry them, and bag them to use in various tanks. These also provide excellent first foods (infusoria) for all fry whatever species. Organic matter will add essential substances and bacteria to the water that are beneficial in preventing skin disease too, something common with these fish.
Keep the tank well covered to maintain warmth in the moist air above the water; like all gourami, these breathe air as well as normal gill respiration.
Feeding shouldnot be difficult; mine have always eagerly consumed dried foods (good quality flake), frozen daphnia, and frozen bloodworms once a week. I've never bothered with live foods, but if you can, fine. Daphnia and wingless fruit flies would be ideal. These fish do naturally feed from the surface, but they will browse the substrate and every surface searching for food, and usually eat any that manages to sink to the bottom.
Tankmates are OK but they must be very peaceful, small and sedate. Many of the rasbora work well. I mentioned Boraras brigittae, and previously I had a shoal of Trigonostigma hengeli. T. espei is another good rasbora. The third in this genus, T. heteromorpha (common Harlequin) is a bit large in my view, and perhaps a bit more active. If space is sufficient, other small gourami can be added, like the pygmy sparkling gourami (I've had these and the Chocolates in my 70g, both spawning regularly), eyespot gourami, licorice gourami; but avoid any of the "common" gourami species as they can be more rambunctious, larger, and more of a disease threat.
Feel free to ask questions.
Byron.
Attachments
julielynn47
Fishaholic
I have a couple of questions. (Maybe they should be in another thread, if so, please forgive me)
You say you use oak leaves in your tank, I have never thought of doing something like that. Do the fish eat them or are they just good for the water?
And about the gourami's...you say you have 7 in one tank. I thought they were kinda territorial. I have a sunset gourami and I have not gotten him any little gourami friends because I thought I could only have one. Does more than one in a tank apply to all gourami's or just the chocolate ones?
You say you use oak leaves in your tank, I have never thought of doing something like that. Do the fish eat them or are they just good for the water?
And about the gourami's...you say you have 7 in one tank. I thought they were kinda territorial. I have a sunset gourami and I have not gotten him any little gourami friends because I thought I could only have one. Does more than one in a tank apply to all gourami's or just the chocolate ones?
OP
OP
BettaBettas
Guest
not all are territorial, I have 3 in a five gallon that bond with each other all the time (no not chase around lol) although some can be territorial some can be best friends so to speak
They are related to the OP's question, to clarify points, so I doubt Nate will mind.
There are several reasons to use dried leaves. They are natural to many if not most habitats of our fish (the streams and creeks of SA are covered in fallen leaves, not to mention the forest floor during the wet season when it is flooded). They release tannins which are beneficial to such fish (blackwater) and bacteria which are believed to be beneficial in other ways. As they decompose (which is usually slowly, over several weeks) they provide infusoria which is food for fry, and many fish will graze leaves for this food; it is now determined that fry will grow faster when leaves are present. Some fish will eat them...I am amazed that my tank of Black Ruby Barbs will devour all the leaves I put in the tank within a few days. As they decompose (when not eaten, lol) they will release organics which can soften the water and lower pH, much the same as peat will, so again in soft water fish tanks they are very beneficial. If one collects them, they are certainly as inexpensive as any decor we use.
Deciduous hardwood tree leaves are generally safe.
Yes, all gourami males are territorial. Some species very much so, others less. With some species, one would not want more than one male, unless a very large tank, while with other species one can have smallish groups. This tends to work generally speaking for the rarer species, like the Chocolates, licorice, eyespot, pygmy sparkling, etc. Provided the tank is suitably aquascaped and provides sufficient space to begin with, a group of these delicate species will be healthier than single fish, and they often have lovely interactive behaviours.
My male Chocolates tend to get feisty at feeding time, but this is part of the natural behaviour of the species and just about never results in physical damage. Like so many fish--many tetras, pencilfish, etc--the males can be rather domineering and "threatening" to each other, but it is part of their inherent behaviours and the fish will tend to be much "happier" which means healthier if they are able to exercise these natural traits. It is when we have physically aggressive fish, or when this behaviour goes outside the species and they begin to pester other species, that we can have problems.
I have 7 Chocolates now, and aside from feeding time they tend to cruise around in a shoal. Two of them seem to be pairing off, as periodically they will go down to the substrate and "dance" in a circle, fins spread. One of them is clearly the male, as he is intolerant of any of the other fish during these dances, and the female stays put as the male drives the others further away before coming back to continue the dance. Observing these sort of behaviours is one of the great joys of the hobby, so one should provide the opportunity.
To your sunset, if the tank is large enough, a group of 2 males and 3-4 females could work. If space is not sufficient, then one male and 2 females is a better aim. Just be sure you can distinguish male/female, as two males in smallish quarters might well fight.
Byron.
julielynn47
Fishaholic
I have oak trees all around me. Pin oaks and saw tooth oaks. I think I will pick up some leaves this year and try this.
As for my sunset I think he is male. He is very colorful. I might try to find a couple of females to put in with him. I will research first to try to make sure he is a male and how to tell one from the other first though. I do know that I had a dwarf blue and the sunset chased him, did not like him in there at all. I don't have him anymore due to the disease that strikes those poor little things. This is one reason I suspect my sunset is a male...the territorial trait I witnessed.
As for my sunset I think he is male. He is very colorful. I might try to find a couple of females to put in with him. I will research first to try to make sure he is a male and how to tell one from the other first though. I do know that I had a dwarf blue and the sunset chased him, did not like him in there at all. I don't have him anymore due to the disease that strikes those poor little things. This is one reason I suspect my sunset is a male...the territorial trait I witnessed.
julielynn47 said:
There is a "Sunset" variety of the Dwarf Gourami and the Honey Gourami. The Dwarf is a risk for disease, and a bit more fesity than the Honey. If this were me, and you have a Sunset Dwarf, I would leave him on his own. If it is a Sunset Honey, it might (I say "might") accept others. Another thing that enters here is the individual fish being on their own. They do not always welcome others after a time. And given its previous aggressive behaviour, I would not risk it whichever species.
julielynn47
Fishaholic
Not even females?
AaronRogers
New Member
I have never had one
If the sunset gourami in question is the one in the photo in this thread http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/442493-my-gourami-is-having-an-issue/ it is a male dwarf gourami. This is one of the more aggressive gourami species. I would go with Byron's advice and not get any more, even females.
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/442493-my-gourami-is-having-an-issue/ it is a male dwarf gourami. This is one of the more aggressive gourami species. I would go with Byron's advice and not get any more, even females.
julielynn47
Fishaholic
Yes, that is my gourami. So I will just keep him by himself.
OP
OP
BettaBettas
Guest
sounds good julielynn 
good luck with him to! he's really pretty
good luck with him to! he's really prettySimilar threads
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