Trichogaster lalius
The Trichogaster lalius is not found anywhere in nature. It has been artificially bred by crossbreeding different fish over a long period of time.
The Trichogaster lalius has an oval-shaped body, compressed from the sides. The fins are large, rounded. The abdominal plumage is filamentous. The body is coloured bluish with transverse red stripes. Males are larger than females and have elongated fins. In addition, the females are less colourful in colour. The size of fish is 6-8 cm.
Keep Trichogaster lalius is recommended in an aquarium, densely planted, including floating on the water surface, such as Nymphaea micrantha. Clay pots, plastic tubes and grottos should be placed at the bottom for the fish to take refuge in.
These fish are very peaceful, timid fish. Keep gourami can be a pair or a group. The fish then exhibit interesting behavior and are interesting to watch.
Leaf litter made from pre-dried oak or beech leaves can be used as a substrate. This substrate will decompose and develop colonies of microbes, which are good complementary food for the fry.
Water parameters: temperature 22-28° C, hardness dH 1-12°, pH 5,0-7,5. Requires filtration and weekly change of ¼ of the aquarium water with fresh. Due to the fact that the Trichogaster lalius live in calm waters, should avoid strong circulation of water in the aquarium. The aquarium should be covered and not filled to the top, since the fish breathe atmospheric air and need access to the warm moist air layer that would otherwise form above the water surface.
In the aquarium, the fish are fed with dried food, as well as live and frozen daphnia, artemia and chironomid moths. Feed the fish once or twice a day.
Reproduction
Trichogaster lalius may spawn in the general or a specially designated spawning aquarium. The aquarium must be tightly covered with a lid to the surface of the water was formed over a layer of warm moist air, which is necessary for normal development of the labyrinth respiratory organ in fry.
Spawning is stimulated by a slight increase in water temperature and a decrease in water hardness. The males begin to build a foam nest in the midst of a clump of plants. Once it is completed, the female swims up to the nest and the male immediately wraps his body around it. At this time, the female will hatch a few eggs, which the male will fertilize and immediately transfer to the nest. Then the process repeats. During the spawning process, the female hatches up to 200 eggs.
The eggs incubate for 12-36 hours. Once the larvae have hatched, they remain in the nest for another 3-4 days, feeding on their yolk sac. During this time, the producers stay near the nest, guarding it from unauthorized fish. As soon as the fry leave the nest, the parents must be removed, otherwise they will eat their entire offspring.
In the first days of life, the fry are fed infusoria, and after 7-10 days they are fed artemia. To prevent intestinal diseases in juveniles, replace 1/10th of the aquarium water with fresh water each day.
The life expectancy of Trichogaster lalius under aquarium conditions is about 4-5 years.
