BiomesInaBox

Tag: red

  • Red Honey Gourami – Complete Care Guide

    Red Honey Gourami is a beautiful freshwater fish that is found with red/orange colorations. Their color makes them pop in most aquariums, which makes them great centerpiece fish for smaller aquariums. The Red Honey Gourami size at adulthood will be about 2 inches, which means they will do great in nano fish tanks. This guide is meant to provide general care for this species of fish. The article will cover Red Honey Gourami aquarium requirements, dietary needs, tank mates, and breeding habits.

    Aquarium Requirements

    As stated above, Red Honey Gourami size will max out around 2 inches. A single Honey Gourami should do well in a 5 or 10-gallon aquarium, but a small group of 3 individuals should be in at least 20 gallons. They will do well solitarily, or in a small group, as long as their aquarium needs are met.

    Red Honey Gouramis do best in well-planted aquariums with plenty of hiding places. I suggest adding rocks and driftwood into your aquarium for hiding places. Also, floating plants, such as Salvinia minima or dwarf water lettuce will help comfort your fish and assist with bubble nest building if you choose to breed the species.

    Water Parameters

    Honey Gouramis are quite versatile when it comes to water parameter needs. The following are the parameters they do best in:

    • Temperature: 74° – 82° F
    • pH: 6.0 – 8.0
    • Water Hardness: 4 – 10 KH

    Stable water parameters will be the key to keeping this fish happy and healthy in the aquarium. They are generally easy to care for animals, but providing them with a healthy diet and stable/clean water will really allow them to flourish. Consider getting an API Freshwater Master Test Kit, which will help you monitor your water parameters. The API GH & KH Test Kit will be needed to keep an eye on your water hardness.

    Food & Diet

    Red Honey Gouramis are omnivores, this means that they consume both plant and animal matter. They will do best being fed a variety of food such as bloodworms, Mysis shrimp, Daphnia, and Brine Shrimp. A high-quality pellet food and/or flake food should also be introduced to provide a varied diet. Some of my favorite pellet foods are the New Life Spectrum brand and you can’t go wrong with the Omega One Super Color Flakes. The Red Honey Gourami will also enjoy algae wafers, zucchini, and cucumbers for grazing from time to time.

    Are Red Honey Gouramis Aggressive?

    Red Honey Gouramis are incredibly peaceful fish. Most other gourami species are known to be more territorial and a bit more aggressive. The Red Honey Gourami may become shy when more active fish are introduced into the aquarium. Providing a lot of hiding places for this fish species will help alleviate some stress from active tank mates.

    Tank Mates

    Red Honey Gouramis should do well with most freshwater community fish. They will do great with Tetras, Rasboras, Guppies, Corycats, Platies, Rainbows, and many other peaceful freshwater fish. However, I would avoid keeping them with larger, more aggressive fish, such as larger cichlids. Also, I would avoid very fast-moving fish, such as Danios, mostly because they will likely outcompete this species for food.

    Breeding

    If you have a pair, Red Honey Gouramis will likely breed in your aquarium. Males and females are fairly easy to tell apart. Adult females are usually larger than males, but the males should have more vibrant colorations than the females. When breeding, a bubble nest will be formed and the eggs will be within the bubble nest. The aquarium should have little to zero water flow to help with the success of the bubble nest. Floating plants are also recommended to help the bubble nest’s success.

    The male Red Honey Gourami will tend to the nest until the eggs hatch. If possible, it is recommended to separate the female from the aquarium. Gourami offspring are incredibly small after hatching. Small live foods will be a necessity in keeping the babies alive. They will unfortunately likely be preyed upon by other tank inhabitants unless they are separated.

    Final Notes

    Red Honey Gouramis are gorgeous fish that will stand out in your planted aquarium. Their peaceful personalities make them fantastic for community aquariums. They are also perfect for nano fish tanks due to their generally small size. If Red Honey Gouramis are not for you, check out 9 other Red Tropical Fish for Your Freshwater Fish Tank. Hopefully, one fish from that list will spark your interest!

  • Beautiful, Jet Black – Red Tail Shark

    Beautiful, Jet Black – Red Tail Shark

    With all the different and unique freshwater fish to choose from, the red tail shark is sometimes overlooked. Regardless, this fish is remarkably beautiful and highly recommended for fish tanks that will tolerate its lively personality. The black body and red tail are always a sight to see because this color pattern is not very common in fish. The red tail shark has a nice long lifespan of 5 – 6 years.

    Aquarium Requirements & Fish Compatibility

    The red tail shark will be around 6″ in length when it is full size. Although they do not get incredibly large, a fish tank that is 50 gallons or more is highly recommended when it is fully grown due to its aggressive nature. It should be the only red tail shark in the fish tank because it becomes highly territorial. Having other bottom dwelling fish such as plecos, rainbow sharks, and cichlids is also not recommended due to this fish’s aggression. The red tail shark does well with fish such as:

    It is encouraged to provide a lot of places for this fish to hide. The fish tank should be full of decorations, driftwood, rocks, and plants (live or plastic) to help curb the previously mentioned aggression. Adding many decor breaks the line of sight for this fish which can help mellow it out. They love hiding in caves and crevices and will fight for the ability to do so.

    The red tail shark does very well in temperatures ranging from 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, KH levels between 10 and 15 and pH levels ranging from 6.5 to 7.5. Due to its aggressive personality the red tail shark’s care level is little more challenging compared to peaceful community fish.

    Feeding

    The red tail shark is an omnivorous animal so it will consume just about anything offered to it including vegetables such as cucumber and zucchini. Please remember to thoroughly rinse the vegetables before placing them into a fish tank and do not keep the vegetables inside of the aquarium for long periods of time because doing so may cause an increase in phosphate and nitrate levels. Besides vegetables, the red tail shark will go around the aquarium consuming algae that grows on rocks, plants, and glass.

    Other foods that are commonly given to red tail sharks are flake food and frozen fish food. The flake food is meant to provide the nutrients a red tail shark would acquire from algae in the wild and the frozen bloodworms will provide the protein required for the red tail shark. Using these will help provide a well rounded diet for your shark. Other fish will also happily consume these foods! They are not limited to just these two types of food. Flake food can be substituted with pellet food and bloodworms can be substituted with brine shrimp or krill. Krill is normally given to larger red tail sharks.

    Breeding

    Breeding is an incredible challenge for red tail sharks in an aquarium setting. This is mainly because they are intolerable of one another in aquariums at home due to the aquarium’s size limitation and the fish’s territorial personality. Large aquariums may be able to keep more but it is still quite a challenge to get these fish to breed.

    The only physical difference between a male shark and a female is that when matured, the female red tail shark will have an larger abdomen compared to the male. Otherwise the male and female sharks are identical.

    Final Notes

    The red tail shark is a fantastic fish to keep in fish tanks where the other fish swim in the middle to upper parts. Although they are not normally advertised as algae eaters, the red tail shark will remove some algae from aquarium decorations. Adding a few snails to help will be beneficial. Overall, this is a fantastic fish with very unique colors that are great for planted and regular freshwater fish tanks!

    Image by Astellar87 on wikimedia