by Tammy L Mahan

Created on: May 23, 2010

The Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis Pumila) belongs to the Belondatiidae family. The Sparkling Gourami has several names. It is often referred to as Purring Gourami, Pygmy Gourami, Green Croaking Gourami, and the Dwarf Croaking Gourami. The Sparkling Gourami is even smaller than the Dwarf Gourami, they are only 1.6 inches long when they reach adulthood.

The Sparkling Gourami’s native origin is Thailand, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. In their natural habitat they can be found living in small ponds, ditches, and slow moving streams and even in rice paddies. The Sparkling Gourami is a hardy fish and can easily survive in low oxygen areas. As a labyrinth, they can breathe air from above the surface of the water. In an aquarium setting, the ph level is 6.0 to 7.0, the water hardness should be five to nineteen, and a water temperature of seventy-seven to eighty-two and a half degrees Fahrenheit. They prefer a home with a lot of vegetation. The Sparkling Gourami is a top to mid-level dweller, so tall plants and floating plants are ideal.

The Sparkling Gourami is an unusual fish as it can make a croaking sound, hence the name Green Croaking Gourami, Dwarf Croaking Gourami, and Purring Gourami.

This Gourami has an arrow shaped head. Its’ body has is red, green, and blue, and it has dark spots or bands surrounding it, and noticeable sparkling spots of green and blue.

The Sparkling Gouramis’ can live peacefully together in a community aquarium with their own specie. The males can be aggressive so it is best to have more females than males. The female are very shy and will not fight for food, so oftentimes they will starve to death, especially is there are too many fish in the tank or too many aggressive males. Sparkling Gouramis’ diet consists of live food such as brine shrimp and snails, algae flakes, and store bought tropical flakes.

The Sparkling Gourami is probably the hardest of the gourami species to breed. Although luckily, they have the ability to spawn each month.

The breeding pair should be moved to a breeding aquarium with a water level of six inches. The male will begin the breeding process by dancing around her then wrapping his body around hers. Once the female Sparkling Gourami releases the eggs the male takes over their care and she should be put back into the community aquarium.

The Sparkling Gourami is probably the most beautiful, definitely the smallest, and most unique all of the gourami species.

Learn more about this author, Tammy L Mahan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.