Fishbug.com
Koi pond and water garden information, pet information, pet care and Koi and Goldfish care from the nation's leading Koi health veterinarian.

Turtle Info

Yellowfoot Tortoises - Incubation of Eggs - Alligator Snapping Turtles - Spotted Turtles - SlowCoach Turtle Pages - Housing Terrestrial Turtles - HATCHLINGS! - CTTC [Great!] -African Spur Thighs - Wood Turtles- - -

Amphibians Information

White's Tree Frogs -Amphibarium for your Frogs - -

Tropical Freshwater Fish Information

Hole in the Head Disorder - Oscars - Paradise Gourami - Ideal Community Tank - Sudden death in Cory Cats - Serpae Tetras - Plecostomus [Beware!] - Hydrogen Sulfide! - Discus Care - Kissing Gouramis - First Aid for Tropical Fish - Use of Formalin - Fish Health for Retailers - Setting Up The Tank - Discus Wasting Diseases - Undergravel Filters! -

Tropical Marine Fish Information

Stray Voltage - Copper resistant trematodes - Sick Tomato Clown- Freshwater Dips- Using Copper - Treating Reef Tank Fish -

Backyard Pets & Foundlings Information

Baby Rabbits

Lizard and Snake Information

Iguana [Green] Care

Miscellaneous Pocket Pets

Hermit Crab Care- Crayfish as pets - Bunnies - Cockatiels - - -

 Kissing Gourami

Name

Kissing Gourami

Introduction:

This reasonably hardy fish is famed for it's habit of "kissing" other members of it's species. There are three color varieties available, but the most common is the Pink Kisser. Green Kissers, and Variegated Kissers are also sometimes available.

Description:

The fish can grow from their usual size [at purchase] of one or two inches, to a fish which approaches eight inches. The largest I have ever seen in real life were six inches large. They have very prominent upper and lower lips which are equipped with rasping teeth.

Behavior:

The fish are generally peaceable with other species of fish. They do not school, prefering to roam the whole aquarium. The "kissing" behavior is actually a challenge engaged in ONLY when two fish of like size and gender encounter each other. It is a test of strength. In closed systems, you will usually see one Kisser will "win" and the other fish will retreat, only to be chased down and killed by the winner. In nature, the losing Kisser would retire to another part of the lake or stream. In aquaria, there's not enough room and the fish is eventually killed. In all my years, I've bought pairs and trios and always ended up with a well-doing single.

Requirements:

They would prefer neutral water, achieved with a Neutral Regulator powder. They can tolerate Alkaline and Acid water without going to an extreme. They do prefer their water to be warm, at least 76 deg F or warmer.

Feeding:

These fish do well on most fares, flakes and frozen foods are eagerly accepted, they can be trained to feed on bloodworms from a basket feeder, and some small part of their nutrition comes from grazing algae covered glass and rocks.

Precautions:

They will kill each other in all but the largest aquaria, but they are generally peaceable with other species. Only buy Kissers which are willing to eat in the pet shop. Many are purchased with active intestinal Hexamita infections and will do nothing but waste away.

Welcome to Fishbug.com !

We offer this search engine to help you search the entirety of the DrJohnson.net Network. Sites ranging from Petlibrary to KoiBeginner.com - you can find what you need to know!
Site Sponsor
Koivet.com
Koivet is a venerable, long lived koi and pond fish health site started by Dr Erik Johnson in 1994 as an off shoot of his first few websites at Mindspring.com. Now Koivet is full of information and movies and more.

Koi Beginner
Once you've leapfrogged through this tutorial you will have a solid, working concept of the Koi hobby and what it's all about. This is done just about exclusively with video and very little written material.

DrJohnson.com
More than koi health, this site spans all things animal, by a real veterinarian who shoots you straight.

Fishdoc.co.uk
By Frank Prince-Iles. A UK authority who put this site together some time ago and which is still relied upon as a major source of good Koi and pond fish information

Fish Medicines
Learn about fish medicines, what they do, and where to get them.

PondCrisis.com
If you have a koi, pond or fish problem, this site takes you through twenty easy questions and at the end you know what you need to fix in your pond to create restored Koi health.

KoiCrisis.com
Koi Crisis has a symptoms chart by system you can choose the symptom by fish part, and resolve a lot of Koi pond fish problems or at least, learn about them understand how to remedy them.

Buying Domestic Koi
What does "Domestic" koi mean? Why would you buy that kind? How do you pick good and healthy ones? Who sells them and where do you find the best ones?

Buying Imported Koi
A Japanese or Israeli imported Koi is a beautiful thing. Why would you buy one of those? How do you identify a "good one"? And what kinds are there? Who would you buy one from?

Koi Filtration - Bead
With a little bit of management every week or so, you can have gin clear water in your koi or fish pond. Bead filtration is more than ten years old and defines the state of the art in Koi and pond fish ponds.

Koi Filtration - Natural
Requiring no weekly management but one big yearly overhaul, natural filtration is the easiest there is. Relying on live plants and organic processes, water quality is usually superb. Described and common mistakes illustrated, visit this site!

Koi Food & Feeding
What should you feed your koi? How many times per day? Is Corn really that bad in a Koi diet? What are the most common feeding mistakes people make? What's the best food?

Koi and Pond Hard Goods
So many places these days, are pure ripoffs. Finding a reputable dealer of koi and pond hard goods isn't as easy as you would think but there's ways to tell. The product line should be to-the-point and not contain shams. Who's doing it right? Visit this site!

Finding Reputable Dealers
The fish are only as good as the dealer holding them. Quarantines, guarantees and fish quality all factor in. What to ask, what to see and how to handle your new fish.

Books on Koi Diseases
You will be introduced to Dr Johnson's Koi Health book but also to other books he's reviewed.

Help With Koi Problems
Koi Community rates a variety of forums and message boards on ease of use, friendliness and quality of help. Not all boards are created equal. Not mincing words here.
Ads or Public Service Announcements From Google