blue guarami question

[pdubs20]

i ahve 2 and on one of them, the front fins (dunno what they are called) turned pinkish/red was wondering what that is and how i get rid of it

 

[napkinman]

i don't know about blue gouramis but i have a dwarf and a opaline (sp?) in my 55g and i know that both of them go through frequent color changes. not complete color changes but my dwarf has developed a very bright blue to him lately. they're both very active happy fish that i've had for quite a while now. hope this helps. also check up on some of the diseases that fish can contract. that may help as well.

 

[vato]

The fins that they use to feel and taste with are called pelvic fins. And as to your other question about the redish coloration, first of all this means that he is a male (but I'm assuming you already know that) and he is coming into breeding condition. So this is a good thing not a bad thing. Also napkinman, just for referance the opaline gourami is Trichogaster trichopterus And is the same thing as a the blue gourami that pdubs20 is talking about. They can also be called three-spot gouramis(that is if they are the variety that has three spots) and they also come i a gold veriety that can be called the gold/golden/ golden opaline gourami.

 

[pdubs20]

No actually, i didn't know that. I'm assuming the other gourami is a female since her/his fins are still clear/blue.

Is this the reason HE(red fins) has been extremely aggressive to the other gourami? Thre are no signs of damaged fins or bite marks and they both have their feelers, they are extremely colorful and have grown almost half an inch since i got them. I also have a couple of small schooling tetras and cat fish. They seem not to bother him and vice versa.

So say these two spawn, is there anything i should do to prepare? should i invest in a small 10 gallon and start cycling?

One other thing. I stopped by the pet store to get some veriaty in the diet. I've been feeding them flake food and picked up a can of dried blood worm sand freshwater shrimp. The male guorami seems to be very interested but is having a little trouble. Is there anything I can do to make it easier on him? Any other home made things i can feed these guys.

 

[vato]

Well, generally gouramis don't like the company of their own kind. I once had one in one of my tanks, then added another. Five minutes later the establishe gourami took a bite at the other's tail, and spit out a mouth full of scales!!! Needless to say the gourami died soon after the viscous attack on him. they are not that hard to sex because the male has a pointed pelvic fin. The male will probably be very aggresive towards the female, because they generally are that way. It is kind of hard to know if they are ready to mate but if you do decide to put them in a mating tank, then it has to have a divider in it so that the male doesn't kill the female. Once you have seen that their courting has started, then remove the divider, don't worry about a little aggression, but if it gets rather violent shove the divider back in! Gouramis also don't like flake food too much they are VERY picky eaters.(obviously if falkes is all there is to eat then they will it it, by all means) They do best with frozen or live food, and it will bealmost impossible to get them to mate without live food. If you decide to breed them give me a shout, and I can help you out, I've bredd these guys a couple times.

 

[vato]

one thing I also forgot to mention is that the male will show that he is ready for mating by building a bubble nest. Once he has done this he is ready(but that isn't saying anything to the female). The presence of the female( be hind the divider as I said before) may encourage him to build away.

 

[pdubs20]

Vato: i was doing some observation today, and yes they are male and female. The females belly sweleld up and she's been eating ok and relatively active, but today the male isn't letting her out of the driftwood. That area of the tank is populated with a lot of plants and things (hiding spots) This a sign of something? They have both turned a dark blue color and like I said, seem really happy. Should I seperate the female from the rest of the tank or keep them together but in a seperate aquarium? Any other signs I should look for in the female?

EDIT: he hasn't started building a bubble nest though.

 

[vato]

The fact that the male is chasing the female doesn't mean to much, they are usually aggressive to females. The fact that they have turned a dark blue is another story. This CAN be an indicator, it's not a sure thing, but they usually don't get to have very dark coloration if they are just happy in their tank. If the female is getting plump, this means she has eggs (obviously) and is coming into breeding condidtion. The male, can, get very amazing color when he is in breeding condition, such as yellows and blues and purples on his pelvic fin. He will also develop a high dorsal fin. The fact that they both seem to be ready to breed, and the male hasn't built a bubble nest, shows me that the male might not be mature enough. If this is the case, it could take up to a few months to come into breeding condition. But chances are, because he is changing color and all, says to me that he isn't too far off.It could also be that he is just not willing to breed right now bcause they only breed about 3 times a year. The way you can help him out is by feeding them live foods, (frozen if you can't get live, but live is best) They also like some vegitables, like lettuce. One last thing is that they like water tempature at about 78-80 degrees. Hope this helps, any other questions, I'd be happy to try and get you the answers.

 

[pdubs20]

i have a 10 gallon tank, should i seperate them from the rest fo the community?

 

[vato]

for breeding yes. once he builds his nest he will protect it aggressively from any other fishes. So they don't do well in a community. The divider is a good idea because it prevents the added aggression from the male. Make sure they can see each other though.