Chocolate Gourami

The chocolate gourami takes its name from a warm mahogany-brown body crossed by pale vertical bars that brighten or fade with the fish's mood. Deep-bodied, laterally compressed and sharp-snouted, it is a small osphronemid of around 5 cm, related to the gouramis and bettas and sharing their labyrinth organ, which lets it breathe atmospheric air at the surface. Unlike its bubble-nesting cousins, this species is a maternal mouthbrooder, a genuine rarity among labyrinth fishes. It lives in the peat swamps of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo: shaded blackwater stained by humic acids, so mineral-poor that the pH can fall below 5. Leaf litter and submerged wood carpet the bottom, light barely penetrates, and conductivity is close to nil. These forests are shrinking fast under plantation clearance, which puts wild populations under real pressure. In the aquarium it needs a group of at least six in a well-planted 100-litre tank with gentle filtration, catappa leaves and dim light. It has a firm reputation for being demanding: very soft, acidic and above all stable water is essential, since swings in parameters quickly invite bacterial infection. Slow and easily intimidated, it will be outcompeted by boisterous tankmates. Feed small live or frozen fare such as Artemia nauplii, Daphnia and grindal worm. The female broods her eggs in her mouth for one to three weeks before releasing a handful of fully formed fry.