Welcome to The World of Freshwater Tropical Fish
All you need to know about a freshwater tropical fish aquarium and how to buy tropical fish online. Here you can find all general tropical fish information in a easy to understand and practical to implement manner.
To set up and take care of your own fish tank is both very satisfying and rewarding. By following a few very simple guidelines you can maintain live aquarium fish easily and it only requires a couple of minutes each week.
When you want to breed with fish a higher level of maintenance and care is required. Generally because water quality needs to be better and fish needs to be separated at certain stages of breeding.
Get some tips on Tropical Fish Care that will keep your fish healthy and happy. The basis of good aquarium maintenance is a balance between over cleaning and under cleaning your fish tank.
Main types of tropical fish species suitable for a freshwater tropical fish aquarium.
Knowing the different types of tropical fish species when setting up a new aquarium or adding fish to your existing fish tank is important for the success of your home aquarium.
Freshwater tropical fish can range from very peaceful fish to very aggressive fish and everything in between. Something else to consider are the water parameters in which each individual type of fish is the most comfortable with.
Some fish when bought are very small but quickly grows to a very large size which can become a problem if you do not have a large enough aquarium for them. Feeding and breeding patterns are also different for almost each species.
Below is a list of the most common types of fish listed by family group.
| LABYRINTH FISH – Gouramis and Bettas(fish that also breath air) |
| Dwarf Gourami |
| Betta Fish (Siamese Fighting Fish) |
| BICHIRS and REEDFISH – Butterflyfish |
| BUTTERFLYFISH |
| African Butterfly Fish |
| CATFISH – Cory Cats and Plecos |
| CORYDORAS |
| Bronze Corydoras |
| Panda Cory |
| Peppered Cory |
| SUCKERMOUTH CATFISH |
| Common Pleco |
| CHARACINS – Tetras, Hatchetfish and the Silver Dollar Fish |
| TETRAS |
| Black Neon Tetra |
| Black Skirt Tetra |
| Bleeding Heart Tetra |
| Bloodfin Tetra |
| Cardinal Tetra |
| Glowlight Tetras |
| Neon Tetra |
| Rummy Nose Tetra |
| Serpae Tetra |
| HATCHETFISH |
| Marble Hatchet Fish |
| SERRASALMINAE |
| Silver Dollar Fish |
| CICHLIDS – Dwarf Cichlids and Large Cichlids |
| Angel Fish |
| Bolivian Ram Cichlid |
| Discus Fish |
| Convict Cichlids |
| Firemouth Cichlid |
| German Blue Ram |
| Jack Dempsey Fish |
| Kribensis |
| CYPRINIDS – Barbs, Danios and Rasboras |
| BARBS |
| Rosy Barb |
| Tiger Barb |
| Tinfoil Barb |
| DANIOS |
| Giant Danio |
| Zebra Danio |
| RASBORAS |
| Harlequin Rasbora |
| OTHER CYPRINIDS |
| Bala Shark |
| Chinese Algae Eater |
| LIVE-BEARERS |
| Guppies |
| LOACHES |
| Clown Loach |
Dwarf Gourami
| Dwarf Gourami | Aquarium Care |
| Size | Up to 3 inches or 8 cm |
| Fish Hardiness | Fairly easy to keep |
| Water Temperature | 77 to 82.4°F or 25 to 28°C |
| Water Ph | 6.0 to 8.0 pH |
| Water Hardness | 5 to 20 dH |
| Peaceful or Aggressive | Peaceful, males can show some aggression in their territory especially during spawning but they don’t really do any harm |
| Number of same species in tank | Two or more |
| Community Fish | Yes, with fish of similar temperament |
| Sexes | Males are much more colorful than females |
| Strata | Top to middle |
| Food | Flake food, blood worms and supplement with live foods |
| Breeding | Easy to breed |
| Breeding temperature | 82.4°F or 28°C |
| Other names | Neon Dwarf Gourami for the original. Powder Blue, Neon Blue or Coral Blue Gourami for the blue variety and Sunset, Fire or Flame Red Gourami for the red variety |
| Scientific name | Colisa lalia |
| Lifespan | 4 years |
Ideal Conditions for this Aquarium Fish
The Dwarf Gourami is another species from my tropical fish index. A few variants are available in Red, Blue and Neon Blue. The original has a light blue main body color with irregular red stripes running vertical over the body increasing towards the tail.
Appearance The dorsal and anal fins are very prominent in size in relation to body size. The pelvic fins are very distinct because of its thin long shape.
Peaceful, Community These are peaceful fish well suited to be placed with other smaller peaceful fish in a community aquarium setup.
Strata They are fairly calm and shy fish that will explore all areas of fish tanks but mainly stay in the top to middle regions.
Feeding In general they do well on flake food and blood worms supplemented with the occasional live food like brine shrimp.
Breeding them is reasonably easy provided that you take some extra care. Isolating a pair of Gouramis in their own tank, supplementing their food with live food like brine shrimp and increasing the temperature to 80.6°F or 27°C should trigger breeding.
The male will build a bubble nest in which the eggs will remain until they hatch after about a day. After the eggs are laid remove the female and after the fry have hatched remove the male.
Lifespan They can live for up to four years and beyond when they are kept in the most ideal conditions with regular water changes.