kissing gourami

[jbjmed]

hi all. well i have this one kissing gourami and it wont grow. tank mates are 2 opaline gouramis, two mollies, and a chineese algea eater. ive had the kisser for about 3 months now and ive noticed that it really hasnt grown much. it was the biggest fish at the time, but just refuses to grow. hes now about an 1 1/2" was about an 1 1/4".the opaline gouramis have more than doubled. i havent seen the kisser eat much but he doesnt look unhealthy im sure hes living off of algea.well any thoughts. thanks.
Jimmy

 

[Kissofthegorami]

The kissing gourami will get 8-10". I hope youhave a big tank. The chinese algae eater gets about a foot long and will eat your gouramies eventually rather than algae.

 

[Holly9937]

a kissing gourami could not live off algae, I'm not sure they eat it at all....

 

[jbjmed]

yes im well aware of the size the gourami is supposed to reach. ive read of some living 15 years and growing up to a foot. According to what ive read on alot of other sites the kissing gourami does use the kissing motion to scrape the algea of the tank. Thanks for your replys but does anyone know at what kind of a rate they grow at, wich was the question.

 

[Jericho]

Here is a web page that tells of the kissing gourami. They say 5 year life span and 6"-12" for size... One would guess that they should grow a couple of inches a year at least, but that is a guess... Very ineresting that they gulp air form the top of the tank, and it does say that they eat algea... http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/kissinggourami.htm/