# Chocolate gouramis



## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Has anyone had success with these fish? I want to get some for my peaceful community tank but I hear they are really hard to keep.


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## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

I've been keeping 4 of these for a few months now, and haven't had a single problem. They are wonderful fish. I'm keeping them in a heavily planted high tech tank with very soft water and 50% wcs weekly.

Prior to purchasing, I was assured by store workers and friends that the reputation these fish have of being difficult comes from inexperienced hobbyists that would keep them in improper conditions or slack on basic maintenance. So far, my experience is that they can be kept in great health with soft, clean water.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The vast majority of LFS get their fish from importers that unload them from the airplane, rebag the fish, and rush it to the store. There is no quarantine. You, the customer, quarantine the fish without knowing it. It's still hard for me to understand how can all that be that way, but it is.

Chocolate gouramies are not hard to keep IF you get them healthy. From what I understand 1 in 3 shipments makes it fine. And not all fish from the "good" shipment make it fine. The ones that do live are bulletproof.

It appears that using Kanamycin on these (and other fish) really keeps diseases at bay.

--Nikolay


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

niko said:


> The vast majority of LFS get their fish from importers that unload them from the airplane, rebag the fish, and rush it to the store. There is no quarantine. You, the customer, quarantine the fish without knowing it. It's still hard for me to understand how can all that be that way, but it is.
> 
> Chocolate gouramies are not hard to keep IF you get them healthy. From what I understand 1 in 3 shipments makes it fine. And not all fish from the "good" shipment make it fine. The ones that do live are bulletproof.
> 
> ...


They don't QT because it is costly and timely. Plus even if they did, you should always QT your fish into your local water and monitor them for anything before adding them to your tank. Frankly, I'd rather pay less for the fish and QT them myself than pay a premium for a place to QT when it really doesn't do much anyways.

I really don't think suggesting a antibacterial med as a premptive solution to disease outbreak is a good idea. Bacteria can grow resistant to medications and using them without need is risky and not worth the money and effort. Plus it's stressful on the fish as it also effects the bacteria population in the aquarium and the "good" bacteria that benefit the fish in other ways (digestion, etc).

HTHs!


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Ok thanks for the info. 

Do you know of a good source to get them?

Also, should they be in a species only tank or could they go in a peaceful community aquarium?


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## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

My LFS ships them.
http://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/store.php

They do well in peaceful community tanks. I would recommend a minimum of 4 to curb aggression.


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Do live aquaria sell quality chocolate gouramis?


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

They might, but I never buy live stock I can't see a pic of what I'm actually getting.


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Do you think I should ask my lfs to specialty order it. Im kind of worried about this tho cuz i dont know if they are just going to end up dieing. Plus they are expensive enough as it is.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Right now this guy has Chocolate and Valianty gouramies on Aquabid. We asked him what he does to keep the Chocolates alive. He said that the temp is 82 and the pH is believe it or not 7-7.5 and they have been fine.

I'd order from him in a flash. His Chocolates are the bulletproof kind for sure. Ordering from the LFS will bring you a nice bunch of non-quarantined fish. You decide.

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwanabantoid&

--Nikolay


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks alot niko those do look really nice!


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## Minsc (May 7, 2006)

Heh, same person I linked


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## jmhart (Nov 13, 2007)

I have been keeping chocolates for almost a year now. Fantastic fish. I started out with 2, then upped to 6. Somewhere around July 2 mysteriously disappeared.

Since July, the remaining four are doing great. I even saw two attempting to spawn the other day. It's a community tank with snails and shrimp, so no chance of a successful breeding, but still nice to see.

Conditions are co2 induced pH of 6.4, KH=4, GH=6, temp is 27C, I feed them a mixture of Hikari FD Bloodworms, live Black worms, and Aquadine tropical mix throughout the day,everyday. They go crazy for the worms.


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

jmhart, thanks for that info... when you say you feed them throughout the day what do you mean by that. Like 2 or 3 times?


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## jmhart (Nov 13, 2007)

Short answer: 2 x day, sometimes 3 if it's a short day for me at work.

Long answer: Generally, I feed them the FD bloodworms in the morning, at that same time, I feed the Aquadine for my other fish in that tank. The Chocolates go after the bloodworms first, but they'll munch on the Aquadine too.

When I get home from work, I feed the live worms for the entire tank. And then right before bed, sometimes, I'll throw in some of the Aquadine again.


And just for the record, I got mine from two LFS here in the Bay Area. I got my first two from Aqua Forest, and the latter four from Albany Aq. I don't know which four are remaining, because the two from AF did great for months before I added the other 4, and then they all did great for a few months together.


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

ok thanks


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