Video:How to Care for Gourami Fish

Transcript:How to Care for Gourami Fish

Hi, I am Dan Thornton, owner of Reef Encounters in Erie, Colorado and I am here today for About.com to tell you how to care for Gourami fish.

Gourami Fish Aquarium Conditions

There are over twelve species of Gourami. All of the species come from Africa and Asia. Most of what you get in aquariums have been captive bred, so not directly from either of those areas. They are a very hearty fish, a very easy fish to care for, a pretty good beginner fish. They accept a wide range of water conditions. They would prefer to have something that is a little lower than neutral pH, between 6.5 and 7, would be ideal. Except any extremes, they can tolerate a variety of water conditions. And they like the water to be a little bit softer, temperature anywhere between 75 and 80 degrees is good for gouramis. If you are trying to breed the gouramis, then you need to pay more attention to the water chemistry and trying to get a lower pH and softer water.

Characteristis of Gourami Fish

Gouramis are pretty good community fish for the most part, although the different species are slightly different. Some of them are a little bit more aggressive. I find the Three Spot Gouramis to be more aggressive, and Blue Gouramis, sometimes. They are aggressive towards each other  a lot of times, especially if you have two males, the males will fight. They do best in a pair, or a male with multiple females. The females generally don't fight with each other. There is a huge variety of sizes. The actual Gourami species can get up to two feet in length, and there are some like the Dwarf gourami that really only get to a couple of inches and can do better in smaller aquariums.

Diet of Gourami Fish

 A Gourami will eat almost any food you put in the fish tank. It's good to feed them a variety of foods, so a flake food is good mixed in with some safe live foods like Brine shrimp, or Blood worms. Frozen food is good too. The same, Brine shrimp, Blood worms. They will eat some vegetables too. You can feed them peas, and lettuce, if you chop them up, so they would be considered an Omnivore. All Gouramis are a labyrinth fish, and they all possess a special breathing organ, which allows them to breathe air from the surface of the water, which makes them great fish for lower oxygen tanks. Gouramis are in turn a good high elevation fish.

Thanks so much for watching. For more information on fish, please visit us at About.com.