Trichopsis pumila
by Kevin Korotev
From "Splash," Milwaukee Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
I feel cheated by this one. Trichopsis pumila, the Dwarf Croaking Gourami, is
a beautiful little fish…if you can get a look at them. I bought them young, so I had
a couple months to enjoy them before they decided to pair and disappear into the weeds.
I'd scare them out during water changes and note their growth, but otherwise rarely saw
them. The books call this fish a "loose bubble nest builder." I had no
idea what that meant. What is loose?
It turns out that ‘loose’, in this case, meant about eight bubbles floating
near a piece of sphagnum moss. Amidst the bubbles; miniscule eggs! I was shocked. Where
was the courting? The famous anabantoid floating embrace? Where was the guarding male?
Later that day, in the harsh reality of Capitol Drive traffic, I questioned whether
I’d actually seen what I thought I had. It didn’t add up. But, as it turns out,
it didn’t HAVE to make sense to ME because by the next day, the miniscule eggs were
small black wigglers.
This is my second experience with nearly microscopic fry and my first with black. I
have written about the small size of the "Threadfin Rainbow" fry, which are
clear bodied, making them even harder to see. The opposite is true with these. Their
blackness makes them appear bigger than they are. So, like the threadfin, it was ten days
before these fish could manage a baby brine shrimp.
My Trichopsis pumila were in a 30% R/O mix and kept at under 80 degrees F. The
adults were fed just about everything but I can’t tell you what they actually ate.
At about 45 days I have over two dozen half inch miniature dwarf croaking gouramies.
The fry are apparently very slow growing. This fish now tops my "Smallest Fry
Ever" list.
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