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Hello! Can anyone tell me a little about the Dwarf Croaking Gourami. Is it rare? Is it best kept by itself, in pairs, etc.? And does a "pair" usually imply one male and one female, or can 2 males (or, similarly, 2 females) be kept together? Thanks so much!

if dwarf croaking gouramies are what i think they are(sparkling gouramies)

then they are uncommon, but if you find a really good fish store, that is fish only, then u can find somewhere. if u are by me, i can help u, i know a store that has some.

if u are talking about the reg croaking gourami, then i would say rare.

There are 3 species of gourami that commonly get called croaking gourami including the sparkling gourami. Luckily they are all quite similar and less than 1" different in size. It depends on your area as to which one is common or if you can even find any of them.
These guys prefer company and only occasionally get into arguments. Several males in a small tank especially with a few females around may tear each others fins. I've only had that problem when I put a few sparkling gouramis in a 5g tank and I saw croaking gouramis at the store in a 10g tank with the overstocking levels of the usual fish store and torn fins. With 8 in a 20g or when they were in my 55g or 90g I never had any fights. If your looking to breed them either a pair or trio(1m,2f) will work. They are quite a bit more difficult than some of the larger gouramis. Mine still seem set on not even making bubble nests. It's nearly impossible to tell the difference between males and females. Sometimes you can tell by shining a light at the fish and checking the shape of their internal organs but that hasn't worked on mine. Mostly because they won't sit still. If your not looking to breed at least a trio is probably the best so that you won't end up with 1 bully picking on 1 other fish. They are entirely peaceful to other fish except the rare occasion I've heard of and with inverts. Don't try to keep shrimp, snails, or clams with them. I've never had problems keeping them in peaceful community tanks.

Last edited by sham at 01-Oct-2005 18:39

I keep 4 in my 20g with a honey gourami, betta coccina, harlequins, and kuhlis. I've always found them to be peaceful and they keep to themselves. They'll eat anything offered, prefer a water temp in the higher 70°s, and like other labyrinth fish appreciate some floating plants. Most info written on them also says a lower pH is necessary; I haven't found that to be true for actually keeping them but it may be required for breeding.

Here's one of mine:



Theresa_M attached this image:


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