Chocolate gouramis

Z

zazz

AC Members
Mar 29, 2005
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Hi
I am new to these fish, but I think I am in love with them. :D
I have been reading up, but would love to hear from anyone with personal experience.
How did you keep them, How did you like them, did you need to adjust your water hardness... etc.
Thanks
 
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Anyone?
I neglected to mention that I have three of them. I know they are sensitive little fellows and I'd really like to keep them alive. so any info at all would be appreciated.
they appearred to be doing very well for the first 24 hrs or so. they now seem to be going rather pale. I retested the water and turned off the light for the night. Temp 82F
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate around 10
ph 7.6 (same as they came from)
hardness numbers unknown
 
i use to have a few gouramis, guessing they all the same when it comes to ways to take care of them, and to me they seem like pretty hardy fish, i plan on getting a few to add to my 29gal. But i heard that they do good in even numbers so i guess getting 4 should make them happyer.
 
TipStylez said:
i use to have a few gouramis, guessing they all the same when it comes to ways to take care of them, and to me they seem like pretty hardy fish, i plan on getting a few to add to my 29gal. But i heard that they do good in even numbers so i guess getting 4 should make them happyer.
Click to expand...

All gouramis are not created equal. Your everyday petstore gourami is much different than the species that aren't frequently seen for sale. Licorice gouramis are a good example. NOT beginner fish!

Zazz - You probably won't find many members on here that keep chocolate gouramis, and for good reason. Not only are they hard to find, but they tend to be hard to keep alive. I haven't had the "regular" chocolate gouramis before, but I do have some Burmese chocolates. From the very limited info I have found, it seems that the Burmese are a bit more hardy than the "regular" (I hope you follow, I don't wish to get into scientific names) chocolates.

My Burmese are doing well, but they are extremely shy fish. They are also extremely finnicky about food. They love frozen bloodworms and live microworms, but they are hard to train to accept flake. They do like to nibble on fresh veggies, but only when their preferred foods aren't available.

FWIW, I have seen countless articles stating that the chocolate gourami shouldn't be kept in hobbyist's aquariums. Apparently they don't adapt to life in a tank very well. However, if you give them the best possible conditions (through research), then you should do well I think.
 
Thank you TipStylez for not leavin me hangin :thm: .
Thank you Aqualung.
I didn't realize that Burmese chocolates were actually a diferent sort. I had seen them referenced only a couple of times and assumed that it was just a different common name for the same fish.
I am pretty sure that these are "regular" ones, but I'll double check the scientific names. thanks.
Every thing I read says that they are difficult to keep, picky eaters and sensitive to water quality. I frequently see the recommendation that they be kept in a species tank.
I have them in with some small rainbow fish who enjoy similar conditions and who so far don't seem to be too active for them
The man who sold these to me did stress that they were not 'easy' fish. He also said that he kept them without messing with the hardness or ph of his tapwater and did fine. ( I am going to get back to him to find out how Long he kept them that way *s)
I am going to need to really understand about dkh/tds/ph and all that just in case I need to address that for them.
I will also have to keep live food. Although these particular individuals have eaten freeze dried,flake And frozen so far. ( No I promise I am not over feeding them. They have had One flake One freezedried tubifex worm and One froozen bloodworm each, since they have arrived, about 40 hrs ago.)
Yes I am obsessing on them, but you would too if you met them!
They are just the most lovable fish! They are really mellow and curious, always gently swimming around the tank poking around appearing to investigate. They also seem to have some social interaction, or something, going on that involves some chasing and some exchanging of dirty looks. They are also beautiful and cool looking. Now if I can just keep from killing the little buggers...
EDIT: in case anyone cares:
Sphaerichthys osphromenoides Chocolate gourami ( "common" chocolate according to the forum in singapore!lol)
Parasphaerichthys ocellatus = Burmese chocolate gouramis
 
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