The neon blue dwarf gourami keeps the wild red barring but brightens the blue between the bars. It reads as a striped fish rather than the near-solid powder blue, and the bars tell the two apart fast. It suits a keeper with some experience.
Did you know
The neon blue dwarf gourami, the powder blue and the flame are one wild pattern split three ways. Wild dwarf gouramis wear red and blue bars, and powder blue drops the red while flame drops the blue from the body. Line the three up and you can watch the wild fish being taken apart.
Caring for the neon blue dwarf gourami
A single male neon blue dwarf gourami, or a male with a couple of females, needs at least 10 gal (38 L). Two males will fight, so keep only one. Plant densely and add some floating plants, since cover helps these fish feel secure.
Keep the water warm and calm, with little surface current, at 72 to 81°F (22 to 27°C). The pH can run from 6.0 to 7.5. It breathes air at the surface, so leave a gap under the lid and avoid strong filter flow.
Offer a varied diet of flakes, micro pellets and frozen foods, and it will also pick at small live foods. The neon blue dwarf gourami is peaceful and safe with other community fish. It swims in midwater but spends a lot of time near the top.
The color sits in the males, and both halves of the pattern, the blue and the red bars, show there. Females of this line look like the females of every other line. Males build a floating bubble nest and guard the eggs, and breeding them is hard.
Good to know
The neon blue dwarf gourami carries two color mechanisms side by side. Guanine-stacked iridophores reflect the blue, while pigment cells in the bars carry the red. Selection has pushed the reflective layer without stripping the pigment. That is why this form keeps a contrast the near-solid lines give up. Brightness varies between suppliers.
In the wild
The neon blue is a selection line on farmed dwarf gourami stock, worked toward a brighter blue. It sits closer to the natural pattern than the powder blue or flame lines, but that intensity is a breeding result. Most stock comes from Southeast Asian farms, and no breeder or date is recorded for the line.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
The neon blue dwarf gourami is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
3.5 in (9 cm)26 gal (100 L)70–82°F (21–28°C)
3.5 in (9 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
2.8 in (7 cm)18 gal (67 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
2.8 in (7 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)