Thick-lipped gourami

Care at a glance

The thick-lipped gourami is a sturdy, orange-brown gourami with blue-green cross bands and the fleshy lips that give it its name. It is much hardier than the dwarf gourami and far less prone to the viral disease that troubles the farmed strains of that species, which makes it a better choice for a first community tank.

It likes a calm, well-planted tank with floating plants and little flow, and uses its feeler-like pelvic fins to touch everything around it. Two males will harass each other in a small tank, so keep one, possibly with a few females. It eats anything from flakes to frozen food and appreciates a spot under floating plants to build a bubble nest.

Good to know

• Keep a single male

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