Omnivore (flakes, pellets, frozen foods, some veg)
Time
Low-moderate
Cost
Low
Overview
The dwarf gourami is a small, brightly coloured labyrinth fish from the slow waters of South Asia, able to breathe air at the surface through a labyrinth organ.
Males are especially colourful in shades of blue and red.
Widely sold and inexpensive, they are nonetheless affected by farmed-stock health problems that catch out beginners, which places them at the intermediate level.
Calm and personable, they make good centrepieces for peaceful, planted community tanks when sourced carefully.
Housing
Provide a planted tank of at least 60L with a calm water surface, warm at 24-28C and soft to moderately hard around neutral pH.
As air-breathers they need access to the surface, so avoid strong flow and keep a warm, humid air gap above the water.
Floating plants, gentle filtration and plenty of cover suit their shy nature.
Keep water well cycled with zero ammonia and nitrite.
A tight-fitting lid preserves the warm surface air their labyrinth organ relies on and prevents jumping.
Diet
Dwarf gouramis are omnivores that accept quality flakes and micro-pellets as a staple, enriched with frozen and live foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia, plus occasional vegetable matter.
In the wild they also pick small insects from the surface.
Feed modest amounts once or twice daily.
A varied diet supports colour and immune health, which matters given their disease susceptibility.
Avoid overfeeding, and offer a mix of floating and sinking foods to suit their mid-to-upper feeding habits.
Health
Dwarf gouramis are notably affected by Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus and a bacterial dwarf gourami disease, both common in mass-farmed stock and largely untreatable, causing wasting, sores and death.
Many fish carry these without obvious early symptoms.
The best protection is sourcing from reputable breeders, quarantining, and keeping warm, stable, clean water with low stress.
Watch for loss of colour, lesions and emaciation.
Because so much farmed stock is compromised, careful purchasing matters more here than for almost any other community fish.
Temperament
Dwarf gouramis are generally peaceful and somewhat shy, but males can be territorial toward each other and toward similar-looking fish, so keep a single male or a genuine male-female pair rather than rival males.
They appreciate planted cover to retreat into.
Suitable tankmates include peaceful tetras, rasboras and corydoras; avoid fin-nippers and boisterous species that stress them.
Males may court and build bubble-nests.
Their calm disposition makes them a good community fish provided rival males and aggressive companions are avoided.
A good fit for
Peaceful planted community tanks
Keepers wanting a colourful surface-dweller
Those who research and source healthy stock
Aquarists with calm, low-flow setups
Common mistakes to avoid
Buying virus-prone mass-farmed stock
Keeping multiple rival males together
Strong flow stressing this calm-water fish
No lid, risking chilled labyrinth organ and jumping
Is your enclosure big enough?
Minimum volume60 litres (16 US gallons)
CompanyFine alone or with company. Best singly or as a true pair; males clash
In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat — dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.
Go now
Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.
Now
Fish gasping at the surface, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface agitation immediately, then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems.
Now
Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths point at the water or the equipment, not at a pathogen.
Now
Today
Flashing — repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.
Today
White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.
Today
Soon
Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.
A few days
Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
What it really costs
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
Beginner
Beginner
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate