Honey gourami

[Sk3lly]

Is it normal for honey gourami to eat diatoms from leaves?

 

[Fishlover3578]

Mine does that too

 

[pip walters]

Its nt just diatoms. The film that grows on the leaves is known as periphyton and includes many single-celled animals, algaes and high protein bacteria that is a rich food for many fish. Snails love it too

 

[Sk3lly]

Its nt just diatoms. The film that grows on the leaves is known as periphyton and includes many single-celled animals, algaes and high protein bacteria that is a rich food for many fish. Snails love it too

Theres the informative answer i was after. Thanks pip

 

[Sk3lly]

Its nt just diatoms. The film that grows on the leaves is known as periphyton and includes many single-celled animals, algaes and high protein bacteria that is a rich food for many fish. Snails love it too

How come my other fish dont seem to do this though?

 

[pip walters]

How come my other fish dont seem to do this though?

They probably do when you're not looking

 

[Sk3lly]

They probably do when you're not looking

They pick their times wisely then!! Im totally hooked! Im forever watching them lol

 

[pip walters]

Lol

A lot of fish do peck at plant leaves to get the periphyton. Some are more adept at it than others because their mouths are adapted for scraping.... kissing gouramis mouths aren't just for snogging!

Fish such as ottocinclus and plecos also eat it... trouble is plecos can damage your plants in the process - ottos are great for 'cleaning' your plant leaves though.

in an established plant, the periphyton also lives on the glass - it is what we clean off when we do our maintenance. If you ever get the chance, scrape some off and look at it under a microscope.... little worms and all sorts of other things. My favourites are Vorticella ... check this out Vorticella Feeding - YouTube

 

[Fishlover3578]

I have fake plants

 

[pip walters]

I have fake plants

For a second, I though that read ....fake PANTS

 

[Sk3lly]

Love this corner of my tank

 

[Fishlover3578]

Mine is everywhere lol he swims with my guppys zebra danio platy and killifish and it doesn't bug him

 

[Tim12]

Interesting, mine also does that! Was wondering why and now I have my answer too haha

 

[pip walters]

Ah, I see it is the golden variety of honey gourami - I sell quite a few of those.

I still prefer the normal colour of these fish. I don't much care for colour mutaions to be honest, especially some albino tetras! Albino rummy noses..... why?!

 

[Sk3lly]

Ah, I see it is the golden variety of honey gourami - I sell quite a few of those. I still prefer the normal colour of these fish. I don't much care for colour mutaions to be honest, especially some albino tetras! Albino rummy noses..... why?!

Ah I didn't know this was not an original honey gourami. What does a proper one look like?