Chocos...

[Xema]

Hello guys, first time posting here. I would like sharing with you some shoots of my Sphaerichtys osphromenoides.

[J House]

Welcome to ASW! Those are beautiful. We look forward to seeing your scapes as well.

[rit]

Very nice Photos !!

[Jur4ik]

they are beautiful - i love them

[XPLOSV]

very nice fish, i have never seen them before.

google time for me.

[Xema]

Thanks for your comments guys, rather appreciated.

These little fishes are really difficult to keep, I was some years ago, one of the first ones breeders to get bred them in captivity.

[mitrandirPL]

very interesting fish, nice photos too

[Dan Pellegrini]

What are your water params and how long have you had the fish? I have been looking to acquire some of these - and I hear they are very fragile.

[akmal]

very nice fish Xema

Chocolate Gouramis are from Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo region...although I've never seen them in the wild before (I need to go out more haha). They need low pH water (black water?) and quite difficult to keep, so I've heard. I wouldn't know since I've never kept this species before

anyhow, MAC did a biotope setup which was presented at our National Zoo on Earth Day. Photo coverage here--> MAC Forum 2.0 • View topic - Let's go to the Zoooo.. there's lots of things to do......

might be some help (not much tho) to those who wants to keep this fish...

[Guillermo]

Bienvenido a ASW Xema, que gusto leerte por acá. Tu experiencia con cryptos será de gran ayuda. Preciosos chocolates, gracias por compartir las fotos, son muy buenas.

Welcome to ASW Xema, glad to read you over here. Your experience maintaining cryptocorines will be very helpful. Beautiful chocolate gouramies, thanks for sharing the pics, they are awesome.

[Dan Pellegrini]

I have heard they will thrive in a pH as low as 4.0 !!!

[Xema]

Originally Posted by Dan Pellegrini

What are your water params and how long have you had the fish? I have been looking to acquire some of these - and I hear they are very fragile.

I keep them since 2003 or so, but with some lost and some year without them.
Currently I keep a group of 5 in a 50 liter exclusive tank. Parameter are difficult to keep, they are in really soft water -luckily my tap water is really soft-, pH near to 5,5 or 6 and a low EC around 100 microS/cm. Using soft water, with a acid-reaction soil as akadama you can get a nice environment for your chocos.

Akmal, thanks for the link, quite interesting, really my tank looks like.

If you are interested, I posted a video on youtube about the ritual breeding dance.

YouTube - Sphaerichtys dance

Originally Posted by Guillermo

Welcome to ASW Xema, glad to read you over here. Your experience maintaining cryptocorines will be very helpful. Beautiful chocolate gouramies, thanks for sharing the pics, they are awesome.

Pleasure is mine.
Precisely my love for the chocolates gouramis drove me into the crypts world...

Originally Posted by Dan Pellegrini

I have heard they will thrive in a pH as low as 4.0 !!!

Well, first time I got bred them, ph was near to 5,5. These fishes has a problem, as they lives in really acid eviroment, where bacteria and fungus can not proliferate, they have not defense against it, so really they can live at higher pH but bacteria and fungus will appear killing them.

Following an article I wrote for a local aquarium site -I think in 2003, sorry for the blurry images-.
articulogurami

And you have an english version here:
Chocolate Gourami Breeding, by Xema

Well, now, after this lesson of chocolate gourami 'culturing', some new shoots...

Eating flakes..


Showing its fins...



Lookign for some food between algae -where there are lots of -od bugs, ostracods, copopods, and so on-.


Watching above the surface...



I hope you enjoy it as me!!!