Combtail gourami

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep a single fish or one bonded pair in a tank of 200 liters or more, never a group. Males are aggressive toward their own kind, including non-breeding females, and the fish is predatory toward smaller or similarly shaped tankmates, which may be bullied, injured, or eaten. That rules it out of the usual community tank. It tends to hold in the middle of the water column. Keep the water from 22 to 28 C with a pH of 6 to 7.5. Feed it as a carnivore, mostly larger live and frozen foods. Never release one into local waters, since this is a non-native predatory fish outside Sri Lanka, and check your local rules before keeping it.

In the wild

Combtail gouramis are endemic to Sri Lanka, where they live in the central and southern river systems including the Mahaweli, Kelani, Kalu, and Nilwala drainages. Give them a tank of at least 200 liters with a long footprint, soft sandy substrate, and plenty of cover from driftwood, roots, and branches. Keep the lighting dim and add floating plants up top. Water should run from 22 to 28 C with a pH of 6 to 7.5, gentle flow, and efficient filtration. As a labyrinth breather, this fish needs to gulp air, so leave a small warm, humid gap between the water surface and the cover glass.

Good to know

This is a labyrinth fish in the family Osphronemidae, the same anabantoid group as other gouramis. Most adults settle around 12 cm, though the species can reach close to 18 cm. It breathes air at the surface through an accessory organ called the labyrinth. It's a bubble nester with biparental care, and both parents tend the eggs and fry.

Did you know

The name comes from the tail. The rays of the caudal fin extend past the webbing into separate points, giving the back edge a ragged, comb-like look. Despite the aggression, breeding pairs are attentive parents and both the male and female guard the bubble nest and fry together.

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