Dwarf Gourami

Colisa lalia

Common Name(s): Powder Blue Gourami, Coral Blue Dwarf Gourami, Dwarf Gourami, Neon Dwarf Gourami, Sunset Dwarf Gourami

Family: Belontiidae

Species Type: Labyrinth Fish

Maximum Size: 3.5 inches

Life Span: 5 years

Natural Habitat: Ganges Delta, India

Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons

Tank Region: Middle to top of aquarium

Possible Tank Mates: Does well with most community fish.

Description: The Powder Blue Gourami is one of several different color varieties of the Dwarf Gourami. Aside from their coloration they are the same as far as their temperament and care requirements.
Powder Blue Gouramis are peaceful fish that do well in most community aquariums. They are usually found swimming on the middle to top regions of the aquarium. This is not surprising since, like all Gouramis, the Power Blue Gourami is a labrinyth breather. That is, they can breathe oxygen from the air through their labyrinth (like the Betta) if necessary. Therefore, it is important that the surface of the water be exposed to fresh air. This is usually accomplished by useing a hood that allows air ventilation. If you are using good air pumps this is not always needed, since the air pumps will refresh the air above the water.
Powder Blue Gouramis are attractive fish. They have an almost translucent blue color, with vertical red to dark orange stripes.

Breeding Information: Use a breeding tank with the following parameters: 77°F, pH 6,5-7,0, dH 4-10, well-planted, lid closed, ideally with daphnia for natural filtering. Condition the breeding pair with (see FAQ) then raise temp. to 28C over a few days to trigger breeding. After nesting the female will be chased away and must be taken out. After the eggs have hatched (1-2 days), take out the male. Feed the fry with soluble baby fish food for 4 days, then use smallest size artemia twice a day. Dust food only works later on.

Sexing Information: Males tend to be more brightly colored.

Diet: Omnivorous – their diet should be varied and include fresh zucchini, lettuce, peas, spinach, live brine shrimp, bloodworms, glass worms, tubifex worms and frozen, freeze dried and flakes. A varying diet is very important to the Powder Blue Gourami.

Temperament: Generally peaceful but two or males may fight with one another. If keeping multiple males, a larger tank should be used to minimize territorial disputes.

Common Diseases: None specific to species

The dwarf gourami can be found swimming in the canals, irrigation and drainage ditches, rice paddies and other slow-flowing shallow bodies of water of India. This water is warm, muddy, choked with vegetation and often devoid of oxygen.

To survive in this harsh environment, the dwarf gourami has evolved with an auxiliary breathing apparatus known as the labyrinth organ. This organ functions similarly to a lung. The fish takes in gulps of air from the surface and passes the air into the labyrinth. Here, the myriad of capillaries extracts oxygen from the air and gets rid of carbon dioxide. It has become so dependant upon this ability to extract atmospheric oxygen from gulps of air that it can actually drown if unable to reach the surface.

Until recently, the dwarf gourami was known as Colisa lalia, but as often happens with scientific names, it was renamed to Polyacanthus lalius. Whatever the scientists want to call it, we hobbyists have given it a place in our aquariums for more than 75 years. They are beautiful, undemanding, peaceful, and they can be encouraged to spawn without too much work on the part of the aquarist. In the past decade, several color variants have become extremely popular: These are various shades of metallic green, light blue, orange, red, yellow and even cream. They have become so popular that it has become difficult to find wild-type fish–but whatever the color, they are still all the same fish.

Wild dwarf gourami males are a sight to see. They are stocky, heavy-bodied fish. A really big male will top out at about 2 ½ inches. Big adult females are about half an inch shorter; but what really makes the males stand out is the series of at least 12 rust-colored bands starting at the head and ending at the tail. Between these rust bands are a series of bright metallic blue-green bands that in the right light can make him look like he’s glowing. This blue-green color extends into the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. Females also have a series of bars along their flanks, only they are silver and pale gray. The female coloration is so pale compared to the males that often only males are shipped because dealers complain that they can’t sell the plain females. As you can imagine, this can often makes finding a pair a real challenge.

In a dealer’s bare aquariums, it’s easy to overlook dwarf gouramis. They’ll be pale because they’ll be frightened (even the normally colorful males can be a washed-out silver and dull red in this state). Because they may be uncomfortable in bare shop aquariums, they will be trying to hide wherever they can. Bring them home and give them an aquarium full of hiding places and with a lot of aquatic plants, and they’ll be out in the open, showing off their coloration all the time; even wild-type females will become quite a bit more colorful.

You may notice that these gouramis spend a lot of time exploring their aquarium and touching everything (including other fish) with their threadlike pelvic fins. These fins are very sensitive and help the gouramis find food, mates and even the way through the muddy waters of their home in the wild. In our clean, clear aquariums, the gouramis still appear to use this interesting behavior continuously. These fish should not share their aquariums with likely fin-nippers. Smaller rasboras, danios, tetras and small barbs (i.e., cherry barbs and checkerboard barbs) are ideal.