# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Anabantoids >  Chocolate gouramis

## Cactus

Chocolate gouramis (in my avartar)..Been keeping a lookout for this very elusive fish for quite some time now, but still cant find it. Visited Lam Hong at AMK last wkend (used to find them there), but didnt see any in their tanks. Any bros and sis out there know where can find?

Also if anyone happen to be kepping them successfully do share with me yah? 

Thannks alot
Phil

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## budak

apart from Lam Hong which stocks them fairly regularly (you should call in advance to check), I have only seen chocos at Red Sea Aquarium (the one downtown at Peace Centre).

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## benny

There's a few variant of this fish around. I usually see them at Tiong Bahru. Occasionally, Choong Sua Aquarium at Bukit Timah also has them. Variant vallanti was recently seen at quite a few places, including Lorong Harlus.

Cheers,

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## budak

some lfs are now stocking Sphaericthys vaillanti, the Samurai Chocolate Gourami. Costs a bomb though, this beauty.

There is also S. osphromenoides selatanensis, which is very similar to the chocolate gourami, but has a more pointerd head and more vertical striping on the flank. 

The rare S. acrostoma is the Giant Chocolate Gourami, which simply means it gets somewhat larger than its close relatives, at about 9 cm.

There are also the &amp;quot;chocolate gouramis&amp;quot; from Myanmar: Paraspharichtys ocellatus and P. sp. The former looks like a miniature (1.5 inch) and chubby three-spot gourami, but at night and when stressed, the colour changes into the chocolate gourami marbled pattern. P. sp. is even smaller (liquorice gourami size) and illusive.

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## Cactus

Hey guys tanks 4 the prompt replies..
didnt know we can get so many varieties even locally...
ehee.. but i guess they will cost much more than the &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; choco (sphaerichthys osphromenoides) im toking abt? tink i got them oni $1 each long time ago. hee..

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## benny

Hi guys,

Some pictures....


Sphaericthys vaillanti, the Samurai Chocolate Gourami


Sphaerichthys osphromenoides 


Paraspharichtys sp., burmese chocolate gourami

Cheers,

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## Cactus

samurai have markings similar to paradisefish ...nice but looks very fragile...i reckon the whole lot are notoriously difficult fishes?

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## ZaZ

Kind of agree 'bout the fragility. Few weeks ago I caught 4 juveniles (? spp) from a swamp near Kuala Terengganu - an inch long. I brought back together with some Betta pi and B maculatus. All 4 died by the time I reached home. It was only 1/2 hour drive. Other fishes are still OK. By the ways, saw S vaillanti in Aquatic International, KL. RM 24 each!! Expensive... B brigittae and B maculatus cost only RM 1 per fish.

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## MrTree

vaillanti is easier to keep compare to normal chocolate gouramy.

especially for chocolate gouramy, the key point to keep them successfully is to buy the fish's &amp;quot;condition&amp;quot;. don't waste money on the unhealthy fish in the LFS.

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## budak

benny, i think your P. sp is actually P. ocellatus. P sp is smaller, displays more variegated patterning and has a pointier snout. But both are very nice...

If the vallianti is supposed to be hardier, I am tempted to give them a shot.... I find that for regular chocolates, some will die on you within a week or two - the survivors are quite hardy though.

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## Nannostomuss

For those interested proabably you can come down to our place Location : Pasir ris Fish Farmway 2 

Direction:

Step 1
when you start touring the place you will definitely pass by the 1st fish shop which sells Tibit and snacks.

Step 2 
In that Particular area there are 4 blue roofed shop houses
-Go- to the toliets which are located right at the back

Step 3 
while moving towards the toliet,you will need to turn right 
and you will see us upon turn right :Smile:  

Step 4 
Happy Looking 
btw always Keep an eye on each and every single tanks there could be surprising discovery.Which might interest you! :Wink:   :Wink:  

We Places a couple of our Sphaerichthys vaillanti in their Natural Biotope artificially create by us.Natural Black water from diftwood and Nice clear cooling water under air-condition.

We Open From
11am - 7.30pm (Mon-Thur and Sunday)
11am - 8.30pm (Fri and Sat)

For convenience
We Choose and Deliver fishes to Tampines Interchange/MRT
We Guarantee the fishes will be of good quaity and condition
upon delivery.
No Delivery Charge or Xtra charges 
Purely Customer Service :Wink:

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## MdmBudak

Nannostomuss,

Is the chocolate gourami in stock? How much is a pair(male and female)? Any red pencil coral fish?

Went to ah hock but could not find it 2 weeks ago.

If possible, pls PM me the price.

Thanks

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## budak

mdmbudak,

the proprietor has kindly given his number to facilitate your communication with him. Why not use that instead? Few people, other than full-time goofers like myself, are on-line 24/7.

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## Nowornever

Hi, Cactus. U can try Choa Chu Kang's Aquarium Tropica. They stock on the Sphaerichthys selatenensis/ osphronemoides (dunno which) thrice this year already for $1-$1.20 each. N they had e 3rd batch last month. Too bad now dun haf anymore. Muz wait.

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## Cactus

Thanks bro... but where is the exact location of the shop? didnt find it in the LFS list here. hmm.. thrice a yr? means i still gotta wait awhile more lor. u havin any success keeping them?

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## Nowornever

The shop is just beside the Choa Chu Kang interchange. You would have to walk a couple of minutes from the MRT through the bus interchange till you arrive at the place where the bus drivers have their meals (their common canteen). Exit the interchange at that point. And you should see an aquarium shop across the road. The built up areas behind the row of shophouses the LFS is located in are known for domestic quarrel and murder that have been publicised in Xing Ming Ri Bao. Interesting, ain't it? hahax.  :Smile:  
&amp;gt;&amp;gt;Unfortunately, I don't have the time and skills needed to take care of Chocolate gouramis; they can be difficult to maintain. So I settled for a Honey gourami and a Croaking Gourami (i got one with a personality!). Tropica also sells beautiful veiltail angelfish [:0] and good-quality tetras. I got my Pygmy rasboras from there too. Unfortunately, it doesn't sell Killifish...
&amp;gt;&amp;gt;There are no Chocolate gouramis now though. You just got a wait a few months before these beauties come in. Bye!  :Wink:   :Angel:   :Smug:

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## Cactus

Oh that lfs!!! I happen to b there last tues leh..was loitering ard the area.. ive always popped by once every few mths there..but never saw any chocs b4 man... 
but they've got a nice planted tank for display there..thanks man!

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## Nowornever

Oh, I have observed that their chocolate gourami stocks are exhausted in a few days after arrival. Very fast one.

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## Nannostomuss

Haiz......dear potential Customers pls kindly call me la.
Dont be shy lor.Buy or dun buy ask ask onli No problem i dun mind at all but if you called too many times i will get pissed off cos my hp bill will be hikIMG.  :Mad:  :Smug:  
ENQUIRES 98301423 (CALLING AVALIABLE AFTER 7PM)

JUST 2 TELL YOU GUYS WE ARE NOT ADVANCE PROFESSIONAL BUT WE WILL LEARN FROM YOU AND PASS ALL KNOWLEDGE TO NEWBIES.

---&amp;quot;REMAKING SINGAPORE&amp;quot; CAPTIAL FOR EXOTIC FISHY--- 

FOR SINGAPORE,CHEERS :Razz:  

[ :Grin: ]

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## sherchoo

> ----------------
> On 10/7/2003 1:12:56 AM 
> 
> Haiz......dear potential Customers pls kindly call me la.
> Dont be shy lor.Buy or dun buy ask ask onli No problem i dun mind at all but if you called too many times i will get pissed off cos my hp bill will be hikIMG.  
> ENQUIRES 98301423 (CALLING AVALIABLE AFTER 7PM)
> 
> JUST 2 TELL YOU GUYS WE ARE NOT ADVANCE PROFESSIONAL BUT WE WILL LEARN FROM YOU AND PASS ALL KNOWLEDGE TO NEWBIES.
> 
> ...


Dear Sir/Madam,
Since you're not an ADVANCE PROFESSIONAL, I would gently advise that sales pitch like this should be conducted in the Buy, Sell &amp;amp; Trade section. Thank you for your cooperation.

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## budak

i was at Lam Hong last week, and the uncle told me new stock of regular chocos will be in this week..... suggest those interested call first to check.... also opening hours in weekends may be irregular....

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## Cactus

Hey many thanks for the lead, budak..

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## Nannostomuss

Oops sorrie veri pu hao yi shi!!!![: :Smile: ] just slips my mind
wont do it again!!

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## Cactus

An update here..
I finally got my choco gouramis from TB a mth ago. Till date only 1 out of 3 survived. The first two perished about 2 weeks ago, had no idea what went wrong, or was it bcos I didnt net the healthy enuff ones? they had clamped fins (esp the tail) and the fins slowly rotted abit off as they wasted away. 

pH was hovering at 6-6.2 range. Didnt have the kits for NH4/NO2/3, but am doing 25% changes twice a week to the matured 2 ft comm. tank. 
rosy barbs, blunthead cichlid and tetras,panchax were doing great all along. would like to add that surprisingly, non of the fishes bullied the chocos. the remaining fellar's doing quite ok now thought. Hope he does so for a long time to come.

Am really fascinated and intrigued by these little labyrinths. They always seemed so enigmatic and interesting. I plan to set up a small 1.5 ft for choclate/licorice/sparkling gouramis. But before I meet with any deaths again, any bro /sis out there with experience in these fellars care to share? water and dietary requirements ,anything to look out etc...
also geting interested in asian rasboras.. will Boraras brigittae or maculatus be good tankmates? was at choong sua yesterday and saw a tankful of wat i believed is B. maculatus. The boss said they just came yesterday only.

Thanks...

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## Nowornever

Tropica Aquarium had a batch of Chocolate gouramis coming in last wk but now only left less than a dozen. But they are very figety so that may not be a good sign of health. But if you want you can get them ASAP.

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## stormhawk

budak, benny, its spelt as Parasphaerichthys not Paraspharictys  :Smile:  By the way, the vaillanti is pretty easy to handle. I have a pair myself and the female's really beautiful. budak, you should give them a try.  :Wink:  

Cactus, chocolate gouramis will form a pecking order and bully weaker ones to death. Don't doubt this info as I've experienced it myself.  :Sad:  A 1.5ft tank is simply too small to keep a small group of chocolate gouramis together. 

Those from Lam Hong are quite healthy (bought from there before) but that doesn't mean they're that hardy. Give them the right conditions and they will reward you with great colours.  :Smile:

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## Nowornever

Blk22 Tiong Bahru there selling Sphaerichthys vaillianti for 10 or 15 bucks pp. Can check it out. Pretty ex but much alive.

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## Limos

hi... both types of gouramis, lots of them available at kf for the past 2 months  :Cool:

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## hwchoy

[quote:304aabd53b="Nowornever"]Blk22 Tiong Bahru there selling Sphaerichthys vaillianti for 10 or 15 bucks pp. Can check it out. Pretty ex but much alive.[/quote:304aabd53b]

I suppose this is TB Ben.

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## stormhawk

The vaillanti are everywhere, not just at Ben's. I saw 3 pieces at C328 earlier today and several big ones elsewhere. Choy should know where.  :Grin:  

Just one problem, it seems that this batch has alot of females but very few males.  :Confused:

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## Nowornever

Well, the 1st time i see vailliant's chocolate gouramis. Going down to clem328's area today want to get something. Chocolate gouramis looking really healthy in Alwyeen Trading blah Teck Whye there behind the NTUC fairprice. How come valliant choco so expensive if so common? Too bad they got big mouths or i'll get them for my tank/

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## stormhawk

Nowornever, these are seasonal fishes and are available only during the dry season. The cost involved in collecting and shipping these fish more than justifies the price tag of the fish. You may think they're common but they're not. Maybe for now yes but over the next few months the supply will run dry and then you'll be wondering where they went. 

If the price is too steep for you there's always the common choco but these are much harder to handle compared to the vaillanti. In the end it boils down to a person's preference. And what may I ask, gave you the idea that they have big mouths? They have a very narrow pointed mouth which at best can only swallow one worm at a time. To me, that's a very SMALL mouth.  :Wink:

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## MrTree

Early September last year, a group of us obtained the _S.vaillanti_. Among the group of us, only Francis's pair successfully bred. Spawning wasn't difficult, but the mouthbrooding period was the killer to the others. 

As for the shipment of _S.vaillanti_, dry season is only part of the reasons. The mood of the exporter also very important.  :Roll Eyes:

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