Breeding Pygmy Gourami (Trichopsis Pumila) In The Aquarium

Location

This freshwater fish lives in slow-moving and standing reservoirs covered by dense rain-forests in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. Those reservoirs have not much light and it might be ditches, ponds, floodplains, wetlands, swamps, paddy-fields, peatlands with oxygen-poor water, a lot of plants and floating plants, a lot of tannin and decaying organic matter.

Body description

Colour of the fish is beige-olive-blue with light under-side. There is discontinuous, brown-red stripe along the lateral line. Males also have red-brown dots above this stripe. These dots form loosely, second horizontal line. The species has rounded caudal fin and pointed dorsal fin. All fins have blue-maroon spots and red border. The lower fins have extra blue border too. The fish glitter colors of the rainbow when they are healthy. This species has blue iris of the eye and extra auxiliary organ known as the labyrinth organ. This organ allows the fish to breathe atmospheric air. Male is more colourful than female. His dorsal fin is more elongated compared to female’s dorsal fin. You can see developing eggs in the ovaries of female when she is sexually mature. These fish can make a characteristic sounds.

Temperament and behaviour

This is friendly, a bit timid and inquisitive species. They swims around the whole tank. This fish curiously observes all changes in the decoration of the aquarium. This is shoal fish but males can be territorial towards each other – especially during the spawning season. These fish are active hunters. They hunt in the group so they can chase and harass even much larger fish e.g. betta fish. You should keep these fish with small and peaceful species e.g. microrasboras, small corydoras, pencilfish, swordtails, neon tetras, kuhli loah, minnows etc. Avoid keeping them with shrimps because they may eat shrimps quickly

Aquarium decoration

This species prefers aquarium which is longer than higher. You can keep these fish in a general tank or "black water" biotope aquarium. The tank should include a lot of plants, floating plants, hiding-places among rocks, stones, caves, dimmed light, floating pieces of wood, dark substrate, space to swim, filtration system with gentle water flow.

Breeding

This is an oviparous species. You can stimulate the fish to breed through increasing water temperature and lowering water level. You should breed these fish in a separate tank. Breeding aquarium should include low water level, soft and slightly acid water with 27°C water temperature. The spawning is preceded by intense courtships initiated by female. The fish swim next to each other, they rub and make characteristic screech sounds. Male starts to build bubble nest among floating plants under the wide leaf of plant, on the vault of the cave or under the root. The nest is small. Male wraps his body around female and turns her upside-down. Female lays small portion of eggs and male immediately fertilizes them. Then he collects the eggs in his mouth and he carefully places the eggs in the nest. The process repeats until female laid all the eggs (up to 150). The parents take care and protect the roe. Sometimes male can be aggressive towards female. If that happens you need to remove female from the aquarium. The eggs hatch after 2 days. The fry starts to swim and feed 2 days later. The fry is very small and it grows very slowly.