Re: Dwarf Gourami

Mr. Gardener wrote:
On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:14:28 GMT, Altum <pt.altum@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

dc wrote:
Marco Schwarz <marco_s@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:dun6pk$h7f$00$1@xxxxxxx
online.com:

Their home are the Indian lowlands, the plant-rich shallow
water zones of natural lakes, influenced by the rhythm of
monsoon.
...

Very cool. Thanks for all that info on their wild behaviour.

In my experience they live much longer than a year or so in aquaria. Perhaps that is a reflection of better breeding and different suppliers of these fish in North America.
Another thanks! That was an interesting read, Marco.

I had a friend with a wild-type dwarf gourami that was at least two years old after purchase. The color variants like the solid blue ones always seemed less sturdy.

Yeah, it was better than reading about it in Tropical Fish Hobbyist.
This sorta touches on an area I'm becoming curiouser and curiouser
about - the effect that the giant fish farms has had on the hobby, as
well as the environment, and also the practice of "wild caught" fish
that are shipped to our suppliers and our aquariums. I know that the
farming practice has been going on for a long time, a well established
industry, and I've heard and read the horror stories of popular
species like angelfish and guppies being ruined by this mass
production. I'm curious to know where this is all at today. Is the way
we do things now, depending on the overseas and Florida farms, a good
thing or a bad thing. I picked up a small school of tiny "Esby" (can't
find it on the web, but the sign said Esby) rasboras this afternoon,
and I just love them, they are perfect for the tank I dumped them in.
My lfs told me that these are wild caught, and his supplier is only
able to get them during one small part of the year. Which brings up my
other questions, how well regulated is the "wild caught" industry and
is it having a negative impact on the environment or the species. And
finally, are wild caught specimens inherently "better" than farm
raised? Or are they weaker.

-- Mister Gardener

You have Espei rasboras or lambchop rasboras. Trigonostigma espei. I have some. They're more colorful than harlequins and stay smaller.

As for fish sources, it really depends on the species. Some wild caught fish like cardinals and clown loaches are a major cottage industry and are in no danger. Cardinals live in flooded rain forests and are considered a renewable resource so buying wild-caught cardinals discourages deforestation.

Others, like white cloud minnows and a number of killifish, are critically endangered or even extinct from habitat loss. Many Cyprinodon spp. only exist in the tanks of public aquaria and hobbyists. White clouds are all farmed now, and the nearly extinct species has found a new home in the aquarium hobby.

OTOH, the aquarium trade has driven other fish like Botia sidthimunki (dwarf chained loaches) and Balantiocheilos melanopterus (bala sharks) onto the IUCN redlist. Bala sharks are endangered and dwarf loaches critically endangered. If you want more info, have a look at the CITES and IUCN Red lists. Fishbase also has some population informaion.

Wild-caught vs. farmed also depends on the species. Wild-caught fish have better genetic diversity and so are better suited for breeding. Aquarium strains are more likely to be free of parasites like worms and flukes and are considerably easier to acclimate to aquarium conditions.

--
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.

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