About
Coming in a variety of extremely vibrant colors, along with their smaller size of about 3.5 inches, dwarf gouramis are among the most popular of the gourami species.
Don’t let their small size fool you though, these fish can often have big personalities, and on average they can live up to 5 years.
The dwarf gourami originates from slow moving waters in South Asia and are a type of labyrinth fish, meaning they are able to breathe air, so it is common to see them take the occasional gulp of air from the top of the tank.
They are a mid to top level dwelling fish, and with their bright brilliant colors, they make an excellent center piece for a community tank.
Tank Set Up
Dwarf gouramis minimum tank size is a 10-gallon tank, but of course, bigger is always better.
They technically have a wide temperature range of between 72°-82° but are healthiest and most active in warmer temperatures between 77°- 80°.
These fish originally come from soft acidic waters but can typically handle slightly hard water conditions with a pH of between 6-7.5.
The dwarf gourami will do best in a heavily planted aquarium with driftwood or rocks, low lighting, along with low flow filtration, and they do great in a blackwater tank.
Tank Mates
While dwarf gouramis in general are considered relatively peaceful fish, males tend to not get along well with each other. So, for beginners, it is recommended not to keep more than 1 male in a tank.
For those that are more experienced and have large heavily planted aquariums and wish to keep more than one male gourami, you will want to consider the male to female ratio. Shoals do best if a ratio of 1 male to 3 females is kept, to avoid males fighting.
When choosing tank mates for your dwarf gouramis you will want to pick small peaceful species such as neon tetras, harlequin rasboras, zebra danios, corydoras, or otocinclus. Larger faster fish or fish that are known to be fin nippers are best avoided as they could stress your gourami.
Diet
Dwarf gouramis are not usually picky eaters and are considered omnivores and because of this they do best on a varied diet.
Feeding a high-quality pellet or flake food, along with frozen or live foods such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and daphnia, will help to keep them happy and healthy.
Sexing
Male gouramis are usually smaller and thinner than females. Females have a more rounded belly than males. The dorsal fin is the biggest difference between males and females. The females have a short round fin, while the male has a longer dorsal fin that comes to a point.
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