Should I buy it?
Sparkling Gourami
Trichopsis pumila
Also known as: pygmy croaking gourami, Pygmy croaking gourami
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on multiple reputable aquarium care sources with strong agreement. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
A tiny 4 cm gourami with genuine sparkling spots and a croaking call at spawning. Needs a quiet planted tank with surface cover; male pairs fight.
Best for
Planted nano tanks 40L or more with very small peaceful fish and floating plants or surface vegetation.
Avoid if
You keep boisterous active mid-water fish that outcompete for food or crowd the surface zone.
Top things that go wrong
- Shrimp & snails. Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Common mistakeTwo male sparkling gouramis in a nano tank. Males fight and one is permanently excluded from the surface, eventually losing condition.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Buying one or two as nano accents. Sparkling gouramis croak and display only in a group of six or more.
- 2.Mixing with bigger gouramis in the same tank. The 4 cm fish hides at the back, never croaks, never breeds.
- 3.Males make an audible croaking or clicking sound during courtship. Clearly heard in a quiet room at night. Many first-time keepers mistake it for a failing pump or filter valve before realising the fish is the source.
About this species
Sparkling gouramis are 4 cm labyrinth fish that audibly croak. Heavily planted soft-water nano tanks with micro tank mates suit them best.
- Honey Gourami40L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Betta20L min · same group, similar adult size
- Dwarf Gourami60L min · same fish family
- Chocolate gourami80L min · same group, similar adult size
- Croaking gourami80L min · same group, similar adult size
- Pearl Gourami100L min · same fish family
- Paradise fish120L min · same fish family
- Opaline gourami150L min · same fish family
- Adolfoi coryalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Bamboo Shrimpalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Cardinal Tetraalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Celebes Rainbowfishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Celestial Pearl Danioalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Chili Rasboraalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Chocolate gourami tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Croaking gourami tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Dwarf pencilfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Golden dwarf cichlid (Nannacara) tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Green neon tetra tank mateslists this fish among its safer mates
- Lambchop / Espei rasbora tank mateslists this fish among its safer mates
- Salt and pepper cory / dwarf cory tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Threadfin rainbowfish tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease38
- Peacefulness90
- Community fit79
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness54
- Energy24
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Rough 90L+ layout: one calm centrepiece, 8–12 small tetras/rasboras, 6–8 corydoras-type bottom fish — verify every name in the pair checker before buying.
Safe directions on file include: Chili Rasbora, Pygmy Corydoras, Ember Tetra.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Sparkling Gourami against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Sparkling Gourami + Chili Rasbora
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Sparkling Gourami is peaceful in mixed company.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly-sized community fish. The usual community caveats about mouth size still apply for very small fry or shrimp.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Often calm on the glass — bursts of movement around food or tank disturbance.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Low listed risk — still watch new introductions.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
soft
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Kept in pairs or small groups of 6 or more. Buy them at the same time rather than adding one fish at a time.
Breeding behaviour depends on the species. Research before you buy a mixed-sex group of this fish.
- Hold 24 to 28 °C steadily on a real thermometer, not the dial on the heater.
- Aim for pH 5 to 7.5 and a hardness you can re-test in two weeks. A one-time strip in the shop car park is not a water test.
- Footprint: short wide tanks and tall narrow tanks fish differently for the same volume. Match the tank shape to the swim pattern, not just the litre count.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 40L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 6 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 24–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 40L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 160L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 24–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Sparkling Gourami does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 24–28°C and pH 5–7.5:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: high · 3 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Trichopsis pumila
Primary: aquarium size, water chemistry, behaviour, and compatibility (URL verified in upgrade script; recheck if site content changes).
- FishBase. Trichopsis pumila
Secondary: taxonomy, distribution, and maximum length in nature; cross-check with aquarium import lines and measured tank parameters.
- Wikipedia. Trichopsis pumila
Secondary: general species context; verify all husbandry numbers against a dedicated aquarium care sheet and your test kit, not a single table row.
Evidence notes
- The Seriously Fish profile for the binomial in this record was successfully reached as the primary aquarium reference.
- FishBase contributes natural-range size and habitat context. Translate those numbers through your heater, your water report, and your tank footprint before stocking.
- Wikipedia is only cited if the article URL returned OK. Use it for orientation, not as the only care sheet for an import.
- All compatibility text reflects typical hobby experience and the Fishori model. Individual fish, shop stress, and the order tank mates are added in can still defy a single-paragraph label.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.