New Blue Gourami

[tnrsmomma]

I have this gorgeous boy hangin out in my QT at the moment and I'm so excited! Feels like I've had to wait forever before the tank was finally ready for my "centerpiece" fish. The kids and I decided to name him Zeus. Pretty fitting for a silvery sky blue fish and who will presumably rule the tank. He is my first GouramI ever and I'm utterly enamoured. Lol He seems pretty confident so far and usually comes out to investigate anytime I am near the tank. If I make too sudden of a move he bolts, but always comes back. I'm not good at guessing size but I'd say hes about 2.5 inches from nose to tip of the tail. Seems healthy so far even although the corydoras I bought with him (who are in the same QT tank with him) are flashing and super jittery. At this point I treat almost all new fish automatically with Ich-X and General Cure. 3 days in and Zeus is still looking great so I am hopeful. The lfs I bought him from isn't the worst but it's not the best either so I'm crossing my fingers the corys pull through and Zeus doesn't catch it! Anyways, I don't have questions or anything, just wanted to share my excitement and, of course, pictures of my gorgeous boy.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Beautiful fish
Which tank is it going in?
One thing, I highly recommend keeping them in a group, they are social and when kept on their own can become very shy or very aggressive.

 

[tnrsmomma]

Beautiful fish
Which tank is it going in?
One thing, I highly recommend keeping them in a group, they are social and when kept on their own can become very shy or very aggressive.

He'll go in the 29 for now, and I'll upgrade if it starts to seem too cramped as he grows. I'd like to turn the 29 into a 40 gallon breeder within the next year anyways.

I'm super confused about how many gouramis to have!! I keep seeing posts about how they will fight too much if you have more than one, and read articles that said it's best to keep a single male, but then people keep telling me the total opposite too.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

He'll go in the 29 for now, and I'll upgrade if it starts to seem too cramped as he grows. I'd like to turn the 29 into a 40 gallon breeder within the next year anyways.

I'm super confused about how many gouramis to have!! I keep seeing posts about how they will fight too much if you have more than one, and read articles that said it's best to keep a single male, but then people keep telling me the total opposite too.

To confuse you more it's all true

So I kept my male on his own for over a year, he seemed fine at first but he started to become very shy around me. Whenever I approached he'd bolt away and hide, even with food. A few months past and he was clearly too big for my 28, so I moved him into my 52 with a couple of Cichlids. He attacked and killed one and went after the other. I put him back, then in a couple of weeks I tried again, he was still aggressive but it was manageable however he was still super shy around me

Fast forward to 3/4 months ago I decided to turn my 60 into a Three Spot community after seeing a video of Leipzig Zoo and a huge group of Three Spots. I planned on adding my adult male but obviously was hesitant, however after adding him the difference in behavior was incredible. I could finally get close to my beloved fish without him bolting away I've even been able to feed him by hand on a couple of occasions.

I truly believe they should be kept in a group, they aren't 100% peaceful but these displays of nipping or chasing are completely normal and I believe to be important. Keep in mind in the wild they live in groups.

I recommend keeping them in a group of 4 as a minimum, 40 is probably a bit on the small side but i'm not sure of the dimensions on a breeder. If it's over 100cm or 40" i'd say it's ok but a 120cm/48" is better.
Keep either 4 females or 1 male to 3 females. Males have more reason to fight but females can be just as aggressive.

I also have a thread about my Three Spot community if your interested? It's not super detailed but offers some of my observations and insight

Here's my male...

 

[GlennO]

I don't know much about Gouramis. The fish in those pics look like what they sell here as Opaline Gouramis. What's the difference between Three Spot, Blue and Opaline?

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

I don't know much about Gouramis. The fish in those pics look like what they sell here as Opaline Gouramis. What's the difference between Three Spot, Blue and Opaline?

They are the same fish. Each has been breed to show one of those traits.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

I don't know much about Gouramis. The fish in those pics look like what they sell here as Opaline Gouramis. What's the difference between Three Spot, Blue and Opaline?

The Black pigment that makes up the Spots down the lateral line. They're the same species it's just the colour, the black pigment is spread throughout the body.

Edit: Mines actually a Blue and not a "Opaline" the are capable of changing colour or shade to an extent but the Black pigment remains solid in a healthy fish.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

The Black pigment that makes up the Spots down the lateral line. They're the same species it's just the colour, the black pigment is spread throughout the body.

I assuming that they can breed with each other since they are the same species. However I've always wondered how the gold/yellow opaline was created. How was it?

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

I assuming that they can breed with each other since they are the same species. However I've always wondered how the gold/yellow opaline was created. How was it?

Not sure exactly as breeding/genetics are above me atm but wild Three Spots are brownish in colour, i'm not sure if there's a wild Blue but I imagine there is and the colour morphs likely came from mixing them. Some assumption there but I think that's about right

There's actually a few colour morphs like Lavender and Platinum that I believe come from mixing Blue/Gold.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

Not sure exactly as breeding/genetics are above me atm but wild Three Spots are brownish in colour, i'm not sure if there's a wild Blue but I imagine there is and the colour morphs likely came from mixing them. Some assumption there but I think that's about right

There's actually a few colour morphs like Lavender and Platinum that I believe come from mixing Blue/Gold.

cool! Interesting info. I didnt know that the wilds were brownish.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

cool! Interesting info. I didnt know that the wilds were brownish.

They're really cool, i'd love to get hold of some.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

They're really cool, i'd love to get hold of some.

Can I see a pic? I couldnt find one on google.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Can I see a pic? I couldnt find one on google.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

Ah, cool. Thx. Pretty plain if you ask me. I like the other strains better. Good night. (Oh yeah, it's already 6 in the moring over there ). Yes it is currently 11pm here. Arizona.

 

[tnrsmomma]

Zeus graduated from QT tonight! Here he is getting right into the dinnertime feeding frenzy.