Sparkling Gourami Care, Breeding, & Tankmates

Sparkling gouramis are one of the few fish that make an audible noise. While you might be tempted to think of fishy vocal cords as the culprit, their “croaking” sound actually comes from modified pectoral-fin tendons and muscles. Once these tendons and muscles are stretched, they can be “plucked” to produce a croaking sound… not unlike tendinitis.

They’re also, as you may have already guessed, super “sparkly” if you give them the right environment.

If you’re a fan of bettas, but sick of the aggression and want an equally rewarding breeding project or community tank, give sparkling gouramis a go. (Or paradise fish if you don’t want them too docile!)

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Table of contents

Distribution & Natural Habitat

They’re predominantly located in the Mekong River basin in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, and in watersheds across central and southern Thailand. We’re not completely sure about seasonality for the regions, but we’re fairly certain they’re extant year-round in these areas.

These habitats are usually still to slow-moving, including swamp forest, peat swamps, floodplains, river tributaries, irrigation canals, paddy fields, and roadside ditches. They have a strong preference for barely moving water and dense vegetation.

They can be found alongside species such as both other Trichopsis species (vittata and schalleri,) three-spot gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus), Betta siamorientalis, climbing perch (Anabas testudineus), Lepidocephalichthys hasselti, silver kuhli loach (Pangio anguillaris), peacock eel (Macrognathus siamensis), and the Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus.)

Aquarium Care

The sparkling gourami is one of the few fish species that make an audible sound, so they’re sometimes mistakenly referred to as the croaking gourami (which is T. vittata, not T. pumila.) Though, more commonly, they’re called pygmy gouramis – which is equally fitting given they only reach 1.5″ (4 cm.)

Thankfully care for all of the Trichopsis genus is about the same, so if you happen to have a croaking gourami or a three-lined gourami, you can take care of them the exact same way. All three also make some sort of audible croaking noise if you listen closely.

Tank Specs

A 10-gallon should be sufficient if you’re planning on keeping just sparkling gouramis. Though, of course, this comes with a few caveats that I cover in stocking. Fortunately, this species isn’t super-aggressive, so you can safely keep two males together provided they’re not both spawning.

You’ll also want a tight-fitting lid with a little air above the waterline so they can breathe when they feel like it. And, like bettas, they’re great jumpers, so you’ll want to make sure your lid is secure.

These guys can make do without a heater, but you’ll likely want to grab one even if you keep it on low. They prefer warmer temperatures most of the time, so they’d appreciate the additional source of heat. It’s also a great precaution for winters in cold climates if you struggle to keep your house warm!

If you’re looking for a detailed review of the best aquarium heaters alarms, and safeguards, you can check out the whole article. If you’re in the mood for a quick pick, the best heater is below!

Stocking

Sparkling gouramis are super social creatures and they prefer to be kept in groups of four or more. If you want to keep more than four, I suggest getting a 20 long, so you can keep about eight or so depending on your male to female ratio. It’s worth noting that though the males aren’t super aggressive, they will throw down if they have fry or if they’re spawning.

It’s safest to keep them in male/female pairs, only one male per tank, or just females. You definitely don’t want to keep them solo though, they really do like each other’s company!

Though some people report having no issues even when they’re spawning. Like most anabantoids, their personalities seem to contribute quite a bit to what you can and can’t get away with.

Decor

If you want to keep these guys, plants are a must. They really don’t do well without plants, which is why most of the time they look “meh” in the store. They appreciate roots, driftwood, and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and hide in. Somewhat paradoxically, the more spaces you give them to hide in, the more you’ll see them because they’ll feel safer knowing they can easily hide if they want to!

Additionally, their colors really pop in blackwater, against a black background, and with some dark substrate. Though you don’t need to do any of that for them to thrive for you. They also appreciate a good deal of leaf litter if you can.

Tannin Aquatics is, of course, where I get all of mine. Mostly because they have some super cool finds that you can’t buy anywhere else. If you’re in the mood for some South Asian inspired litter (weird thing to say), you can spot some cool finds in their betta collection, including some roots and lotus seed pods.

Since you’re going to want live plants, I’ve included the best substrates for the job below if you need recommendations.

Best Plants For Sparkling Gouramis

Since these guys love plants, you’re going to have a hard time finding plants they don’t like. With that in mind though, I would focus on plants that are dense and provide a good deal of cover as well as floating species of plants. If you can find some plants with good root structures (included below also!) that would work great!

Keep in mind that they do appreciate open space for swimming and need access to the surface to breathe as well, so try to be conscious of how much space your plants are using. Other than that, looking for low-light plants that do well in soft water would probably be the only other suggestion I have.

This isn’t a complete list, but I hope it’ll give you some ideas to start with:

Guppy Grass

Java Moss

Water Wisteria

Bacopa sp.

Pennywort sp.

Sweet Potato

Cabomba sp.

Vallisneria

Lighting & Filtration

Sparkling gouramis do best if you keep them in low light conditions. You can do this buy buying a good light with some adjustment settings (suggestions below!), turning your tank blackwater, or including floating plants. They also don’t like a ton of water movement and are almost exclusively found in stagnant pools or ponds. Though, occasionally, you’ll find one in a slow-moving body of water.

You’ll want to avoid hang on backs, canister filters, or anything that creates more than a ripple of water movement. I suggest a sponge filter for this job, bubbling just enough to prevent surface scum from forming (since they need to breathe air from the surface.) My favorites are below!

Water Care

If you plant your tank heavily enough and cycle your tank correctly, you could probably get away with bi-weekly water changes on a lightly stocked tank. In most cases though, expect to do a 20% weekly water change just to keep things tip-top.

Fortunately, you’re not going to need a huge medical cabinet to keep these guys. Having a few of the basics stocked would be well worth the investment though. Here’s what I’d suggest:

Feeding Sparkling Gouramis

Sparkling gouramis will love you if you’re willing to feed them live food like scuds, daphnia, white worms, grindal worms, baby brine shrimp, or bloodworms. If you’re feeling a little squeamish at the thought, you can grab most of these in frozen or freeze-dried forms, frozen being better.

They’ll also accept pellets with a little coaxing… once they’re recognized as food.

If you want to start with dried foods, I would suggest going for Vibra Bites and moving onto soft pellets as most fish will take to them better. If you can’t find a soft pellet they like, you can try dried pellets like Bug Bites or Repashy as well, but expect a little bit of a learning curve with those.

Stuck on what to try? I have a fishy grocery list for you below.

Common Sparkling Gourami Diseases

Sparkling gouramis aren’t super popular so, fortunately for you, they don’t usually have as many issues as other popular fish. They are, however, anabantoids – so expect them to be little piggies and totally willing to overeat. Aside from that, nothing notable or out of the ordinary here.

Bloat

Ich (White Spot Disease)

Fin Rot & Tail Rot

Columnaris (Cotton Mouth Disease)

Sparkling Gourami Tank Mates

Some keepers report that their sparkling gouramis play nicely with their smaller shrimp, but I think – like most predators – it’s a matter of time until they realize how tasty their roommates are. I would suggest, if you want to keep them with shrimp, to keep them with something large and harmless like amanos and give them a few places to hide. Additionally, I would keep them away from other gouramis because they could be viewed as a threat.

Aside from that, sparkling gouramis play well with almost everything else that enjoys a peaceful life with lots of plants, soft water, and a slow current.

Bolivian Ram (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)

Pygmy Corydoras (Corydoras Pygmaeus)

Scarlet Badis (Dario dario)

Green Rasboras (Microdevario kubotai)

Dwarf Scissortail Rasboras (Rasbosoma spilocerca)

Breeding Sparkling Gouramis

It’s best to set a pair aside in a tank by themselves. A densely planted bare bottom tank with a tight-fitting lid (or cling wrap) is the best way to go. They’re a little easier to spawn than bettas because they’re less aggressive and you can leave them in-situ for as long as it takes, but they’re a little more difficult because there seems to be no way to induce spawning.

Sexing can also be a bit of an issue, but with a flashlight, it becomes easier to identify males from females by looking for ovaries. Without this method, there’s really no good or reliable way to tell the difference.

Spawning

The male will construct a bubblenest wherever he feels is safest, which may or may not be at the surface. He will often chase the female off until he’s satisfied that it’s complete, but he’s not super aggressive about it. Similarly, the female isn’t as picky about it as female bettas are.

Once they both decide that they’re ready, they will embrace (maybe under the nest, maybe not) and the male will retrieve the eggs and place them in the nest until there are no more eggs left. Spawns range from 30 – 200 eggs, but 180 is the most commonly reported.

The male won’t have any interest in the female, and the female won’t have any interest in the nest so they can be left as is. She may be chased away from the nest from time to time, but not aggressively.

Egg & Fry Care

The eggs typically hatch somewhere in the 24 – 72-hour range, depending on the water temperature. Once they’ve hatched, the male will try to keep the fry in the bubblenest until they’re free-swimming (another 48 – 72 hours.)

Once they’re free-swimming, the father will slowly lose interest and they’ll need infusoria-sized food. By the end of week one, they should be large enough to accept microworms and vinegar eels. By the end of week two, they should be large enough to accept baby brine shrimp.

As long as the parents aren’t spawning again, you can leave the fry with their parents, they’re usually no threat. Once spawning activity seems to be starting up again, you’ll probably notice the parents attempting to push their fry out of the area and if you don’t get them out quickly enough, they may be eaten at this point.

Within a few months, they should look like small adults and be ready to find their new homes.

Sparkling Gourami Types

Okay, so maybe they’re not sparkling gourami types, more Trichopsis species. If you really want to know how to tell the difference between them, it’s easy! Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Further Reading & Resources