Scientific Name: Trichogaster trichopterus
Common Name: Opaline Gourami
Adult Size: 6 inches
Life Expectancy: 4 - 6 years
Habitat: Malaysia, South China Sea
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons
Ideal Tank Conditions:
- Temperature Range: 73 - 82° F
- pH Range: 6.0 - 8.8
- Water Hardness: 5 - 35
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Diet & Nutrition: Omnivore; will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a quality flake or pellet food as the base to the diet. Supplementation should include white worms, blood worms, brine shrimp, or any other suitable substitute. Fresh vegetables can be offered as well, blanched lettuce being a good option for many aquarists.
Breeding & Spawning: Bubble nest builders. Breeding is fairly easy and providing a breeding tank that is to their liking is perhaps the biggest challenge. A pair will be most likely to spawn if there is a fair amount of plants, a good sized surface area, and the temperature is to their liking. The female must be removed after the eggs are produced or she risks being killed by the male. The male will tend the nest and guard the eggs until they hatch. The male should be removed once the fry hatch.
Gender: The male has a longer and more pointed dorsal fin while the female's is shorter and rounded.
