# Dwarf Gouramis and Hemianthus CalliTrichoides (HC)



## demen45 (Mar 6, 2009)

I have 3 dwarf gouramis in my tank with HC and everyday after work I come home with HC floating around in my tank. Is this normal behavior of gouramis to nip on HC and yank it from the substrate? They also chase each other around and all of them have ripped whiskers from these fights. I don't know how to sex these fish. Any insights on their behavior?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi demen45,

Dwarf Gourami are normally fairly quiet and peaceful. Locally, most of the time in LFS all I see are males for sale in the aquariums. I suspect you are correct, that you may have all males in your tank. The male is larger, much more colorful, and has a longer dorsal fin.
Male: http://www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish/colisa-lalia.jpg 
Female: http://www.petfish.net/pix/artskb1/dg_AiWen_2.jpg


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## saram521 (May 3, 2008)

anabantoid fish like to build their bubblenests with the help of plant bits and things like that, so I imagine the gourami(s) pulling out the hemianthus is doing so because there are no floating plants already to be added to a nest. The females are very drab in color when compared to the males.


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## cah925 (Jun 23, 2007)

My Dwarf Gouramis always tore up my plants, from ground cover to stems. I eventually caught them all and returned them to the LFS.


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