Trichogaster Pectoralis
Written by Administrator on 12th June 2010 and viewed 311 times
Profile - Freshwater Fish - Gouramies
| Latin | Trichogaster Pectoralis |
| Common | Snakeskin Gourami |
| Group | Freshwater Fish |
| Type | Gouramies |
| Family | Osphronemidae |
| Origin | These fish are found naturally in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam |
| Adult Size | In the wild they can grow up to 12 inches but are usually smaller in captivity |
| Lifespan | 5-6 years |
| Social | Peaceful |
| Tank level | Minimum of 48x12x12 |
| dGH | 2-10 |
| pH | 6.8-8.0 |
| Temperature | 23-28 °C (73.4-82.4 °F) |
| Sexing | Males have more pointed dorsal and anal fins and their ventral fins are orange or red, the females will have a plumper bodyshape |
| Breeding | For breeding purposes it is best to place the pair in a separate tank to prevent any aggression towards other tank mates. They are bubblenest builders so add plenty of plants to the breeding tank plus some floating plants to help the male build his nest. Lower the water level down to about 9 inches and raise the temperature up by two degrees, the parent fish will need conditioning for a couple of weeks with plenty of live or frozen foods. When ready, the pair will embrace and up to 2000 eggs will be layed which are fertilised immediately by the male, it can take up to 2 hours before the spawning has completed. The eggs will be placed in the nest and the male will assume the parental duties, tending the eggs and replacing any that may fall from the nest, remove the female at this stage as the male will be aggressive towards her. The eggs should hatch after 10 days and the fry will be free swimming a few days later, remove the male now as he may attempt to eat the fry. Feed the fry on infusoria 3-4 times per day until they have grown large enough to accept newly hatched brine shrimp or a commercial fry food. |
| Feeding | An omnivorous fish so it will accept all foods offered. Use a quality flake or small granules for the staple diet but this should be varied with treats of live or frozen foods once a week, blood worms, brine shrimp and mysis are ideal. |
| Care | In the wild these fish live in ponds or swamps that are full of plants and have very little water flow so replicate this in the aquarium by adding live plants but leave open swimming spaces and reduce the flow from the filters. They will look at smaller tank mates as food so keep these with similar sized species and do not add boisterous species as these fish can be skittish. |
| Notes | Quite often this fish is farmed in its native countries for food, it is suppossed to make quite a tasty soup. In the aquarium it can often be heard making clicking noises when spawning or disputing territories. These are one of the more peaceful species of Gouramies and in most cases even two males can be kept together. |
