Blue Gouramis, like any other fish from the Gourami family, have labyrinth organ. So they can take oxygen bought from the water as well as from the open air. Naturally, they can survive in water with low oxygen. In case if they are out of water for some time, they can easily survive by gulping air from the atmosphere.
As their name suggests, Blue Gouramis are silvery blue in color. Their color changes according to their moods. So if you provide them good environment and feed them with appropriate food, these playful pet fish will swim around with elegant movements and bright colors.
Although they are not demanding any particular temperature of water, you should keep the temperature of the water in the range of 70-85° F. You should also take precaution of cleaning the water regularly so that it will not get contaminated. For this purpose, you should also install some filtration system which will prevent the growth of unwanted elements in the water.
As Blue Gouramis hail from Far East, their preference goes for thickly planted environment. They are usually found in canals, lakes, ditches and swamps in the nature so still water is ideally suitable for them. The water should be slightly acidic, especially during the breeding period.
They can live with almost all other species of fish but you should take care while introducing other types of fish. Any fish which is bigger in size should not be introduced with them. You should also avoid species famous for aggressive behavior.
There is one more important suggestion from me – you should keep one male in the tank along with many females. The males are famous for their territorial behavior and they may start fighting with each other over the area. If the pond is large and if you are keeping other species also in the same pond, then you can keep more males. In such situations, their tendency to fight over an area will be diminished.
The food habits of Blue Gouramis are not complicated. Usually they will eat flaked food as well as live food. However during the breeding period, you should provide them as much live food as possible. They are famous for eating hydra voraciously, which is any trouble making pest in any aquarium. For this reason, many fish-keepers are prepared to pay a higher price to get them.
The spawning of Blue Gouramis is very interesting to watch. The males will start building a bubble-nest for protecting eggs. This is a starting point of their breeding process. Once it is built, the male will force the female to go under it. Once the female shows her willingness, the male will develop his body around her in order to ensure that the sperms will meet the eggs without any problem. As the sperms can survive only for a few minutes, it is important to bring the female ask close to the bubble-nest as possible.
The hatching will start within about two days and you will see the small young ones coming out and swimming around freely. At this point, you should remove the male from the breeding tank. The young ones will grow very fast and they will become fully fledged adults within a period of two months. During this time, you should provide them good food and keep the water the aquarium very clean. You can safely shift the adults to the main aquarium after this time.
Blue Gouramis love to stay in an environment which is calm and quiet. Excessive noise or light disturbs them and they develop stress very quickly. So you should set up your aquarium in a quiet area and you should also avoid direct sunlight over it.