# Sparkling Gourami Tank Size



## Iwagumist (Jan 4, 2016)

I asked a question very similar to this on a different thread, but it started to get old, so I am asking once more for fresh answers: could Sparkling Gouramis do well in a 7 gallon? I have a new 7 gallon tank that needs stocking, and this seems like an interesting, cool, and cute option :grin2:. If I did, how many could I keep? Maybe 5? This number is large enough that I don't think aggression would be a huge problem, but I am not sure, so all advice is welcome. Also, the more I think of it, the more I am afraid just gouramis would get kind off boring...so I will go ahead and ask the original question from the first thread to get more input: could I keep a small (6-8) school of celestial pearl danios with a few (2-3) Sparkling Gouramis?

Any advice, experiences or ideas are welcome!


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## jaliberti (Dec 5, 2015)

I currently have 25 or 26 (lost count) juvenile Sparkling Gouramis doing very VERY well in a 3 gallon tank. Does that answer your question? Some aggression is beginning but rather than a problem it's a welcome part of the natural process in identifying top breeding pairs. 

Gourami would get kind off boring? Hmmm I can't relate to that. I think danios are boring. I think fish that eat their offspring are boring. I think fish that swim constantly and aimlessly are boring. Gourami are deliberate in their movements. They're great parents. But, it shouldn't matter what I or anybody else thinks, it's your tank. :grin2: To each his/her own. Peace.


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## thegirlundertherainbow (Aug 12, 2004)

To the first part of your question: yes.
I have a pair that are doing (too) well in a 2.5 gal.
That said.. I have a flat piece of driftwood that is in the middle of the tank, and goes from top to bottom.. with room in front and in back of it. This gives the male the right side (with a handful of java moss and floating dwarf water lettuce) to keep / guard his fry when they hatch..
and the female gets the right side (with cabomba to hide under)..
obviously at times they get together but when they (he) has eggs.. he has the entire right side and can't see her.
IMHO.. just having sparkling gourami in this tank, they are anything but boring.

If you do them.. to start you might get a half dozen.. and see what you end up with. They can be hard for some to sex in the beginning.. but I've found a way that's pretty easy. Can share pics later. More later have to run.


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## Iwagumist (Jan 4, 2016)

Thanks guys! I think I might do Gouramis only since you persuaded me...:grin2: Also, thegirlundertherainbow, I would love to see how you sex the gouramis...I am very confused on this.


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## thegirlundertherainbow (Aug 12, 2004)

In the beginning I thought you sexed them light other gourami.. and couldn't tell mine apart, or thought they might both be females.. but when I found eggs I knew I had a pair lol...
what proved to be easy for me to do with them was the "bright light" method. I was using a desk lamp behind my nano tank anyway for my plants.. so I just had to wait for them to swim in front of it. This is a diagram I made for someone else (not my pic)..I used to kinda crudely draw in photoshop the difference between the male/female. The male I did in blue.. to me on him you just see a curved area of organs going upward. In the female, there's a curved area plus a bit of tapering off toward the tail. Not sure at what age this becomes easy to id though.


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## psyflyjohn (Aug 22, 2015)

I have a tank of various gourami, and also danios. The danios loved to hassle (chase) the gourami, especially the sparklers. Got rid of them. A better choice of companions for gourami are neons or cardinals. For a small tank, dwarf honey gourami would make good companions for the sparklers.


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## Iwagumist (Jan 4, 2016)

thanks guys, this has been HUGELY helpful! So I guess everybody agrees that sparkling gouramis can live in a 7 gallon no problem?


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## thegirlundertherainbow (Aug 12, 2004)

True Sparkling Gourami, Trichopsis Pumila (or pumilus in some places I forget which was first) are tiny.. and I think definitely a perfect "nano" species. or can be in the right tank. Like I said I have a pair (which can be trickier) in a 2.5 but it is HEAVILY planted.. and has a big piece of flat driftwood cutting it in half almost.. so they get their territories.
When I say heavily planted.. I mean like at times it takes me 20 minutes to find both my parent fish. Personally.. I think species like this make better nano tank inhabitants than anything that schools.. because if something schools IMHO it needs a large group... not just the bare minimum. but that's me.


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

I love the sparkling gouramis they are one of my all time favs.


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## Iwagumist (Jan 4, 2016)

I have one more question: do they eat shrimp? I did a little research, and many people said that they did. What are you guys' experiences with the two?


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## thegirlundertherainbow (Aug 12, 2004)

Absolutely.. Probably. Don't see anyone that's kept them successfully together.


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## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

They might eat dwarf shrimp(RCS and CRS), but remember they are small, so might not eat big ones, but I wouldnt risk it. Amano shrimps are a better option, but they might be harassed by the gouramis territorial-ness(if thats even a word). The only shrimp safe gourami I know is Liquoriice Gouramis, but I hard they are REALLY sensitive fish.


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## jaliberti (Dec 5, 2015)

I've kept Licorice and don't think they're sensitive, they are just another blackwater species. Use peat, or Indian Almond Leaves if you're in the tropics, to bring the pH down to 4 and they'll thrive. But that acidity will melt shrimp, so the two species aren't seen together. 

_Dario dario_ are one of the smallest Labyrinths (maybe THE smallest) and as such are well suited for nano tanks. Watch this video of a male _D. dario_ trying in vain to find a tiny baby _neocaridina_ which is right out in plain site -- he doesn't seem as adept a hunter that a _Trichopsis pumila_ would be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWvwxkKBZ-w


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## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

According to seriouslyfish, they can be kept in acidity of 3.0-6.5. but thank you for classifying that they werent sensitive-might be my next target fish! Also scarlet badis can be stealthy predators when they want to be. Long time a go, when I wanted to keep it with shrimp, did some research and found out that shrimplets will be hunted.


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## jaliberti (Dec 5, 2015)

I like that website and agree with much of its info. IME however their pH ranges insofar as many bubble-nesters are concerned are far to broad. The difference between 3 & 6.5 for example is enormous. I would halve that range, go with 3 to 4.75 just to be safe, and we are talking serious quantities of peat, or IAL, to get even unbuffered water down to that level. Buffered alkaline might just be impossible altogether.

Do you have experience with blackwater species? If so, which?

Re the badis, in the video it does appear that the fish is hunting a shrimplet, he just isn't doing a very good job. I would think most Gourami species, if given 2 minutes to capture a shrimplet, would have succeeded.


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## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

As for the blackwater species, I have kept varrious characins and rasboras in blackwater condition, cardinal tetras and lampchop rasboras to name a few, but i have not kept them in such low ph. however, i have no experience with liquorice gourami, so i rely on info from searching.
That video though only proves 1 indivisual of scarlet badis at 1 moment, but before in various forums, reports of scarlet badis hunting and eating shrimplets have been recorded.
However, I will believe u about liquorice gourami, since I have no personal experience with the species, so thanks for the info.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Honestly, I've kept Sparkling Gouramies in neutral pH water just fine.

Even in Eugene's high pH of 7.8 pH water, they don't need to be kept exclusively in low pH tannin teas. A pH 6.8 would suit them fine and you'll have better luck growing plants in water with some lightly kH buffered acidic water.


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## jaliberti (Dec 5, 2015)

newbieshrimpkeeper said:


> As for the blackwater species, I have kept varrious characins and rasboras in blackwater condition, cardinal tetras and lampchop rasboras to name a few, but i have not kept them in such low ph. however, i have no experience with liquorice gourami, so i rely on info from searching. ...


So you've kept blackwater species but not in "black water." Have they bred? I doubt Licorice would, I couldn't get them to breed even in pH 4. Here's a website dedicated solely to Licorice: Home


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## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

I have bred some of them yes. And I did lower the ph for breeding though. And thanx for the link on liquorice.


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