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Opaline GouramiFamily: Osphronemidae
Latest Reader Comment - See More I have a 150gallon aquarium. A great majority of what I have are gourami of all different types. I have opaline, 3 spot in blue and gold, moonlight, and snakeskin.... (more) Courtney The Opaline Gourami, a long time favorite with aquarists, is a very attractive fish available in a variety of color patterns!Opaline Gourami Contents Like the Blue Gourami, Gold Gourami, and Platinum Gourami, this gourami is a color morph of the Three-spot Gourami. Like all the variants of this species, the Opaline Gourami is generally considered a good community fish when small, but they are not as peaceful as the other gouramis. They have been known to attack smaller fish. They can also get belligerent or territorial when they get large. This species group is certainly one of the hardiest available to the aquarist, and makes an excellent first fish for people entering the hobby. They are long lived fish with each having a remarkably individual personality. They will use their pelvic fins to feel their environment and even feel their tank mates. They also seem to be quite aware of their owners. Besides being a color morph of the Three-spot Gourami, the Opaline Gouramiit has also been bred commercially in various color forms of its own. Because inbreeding is common in its genetic history, it is in the aquarist's best interest to take extra care when choosing specimens. Look for a well formed fish, free of skeletal or other deformity, and without obvious injury. Sulking or resting on the bottom is never a good sign. For more Information on keeping this fish see:
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| Geographic Distribution Trichogaster trichopterus |
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| Data provided by FishBase.org |
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Actinopterygii
- Order: Perciformes
- Family: Osphronemidae
Distribution: The Opaline Gourami is a man made variant of theThree-spot Gourami which is found in streams and rivers of the tropical Far East.
Status: There are no wild populations of this species.
Description: The body of the Opaline Gourami is somewhat compressed and is elongated. The fins are rounded and relatively large. The ventral fins are threadlike and extremely sensitive. The body color is a pale bluish tone with a darker marble-like patterning that varies with each color form. There are usually dark blotches at the pectoral fins and at the base of the tail and white spots that extend on to the fins, giving them a very attractive pattern. This fish has a labyrinth organ, a part of the fish which allows it to absorb atmospheric oxygen directly into the bloodstream.
Size - Weight: Six inches (15 cm) is a good length for the Opaline Gourami to reach in the aquarium. They will breed at 3 inches (7.5 cm).
Care and feeding: Since the Opaline Gouramis, like all varieties of the Three-spot Gourami, are omnivores, these fish will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods. A quality flake or pellet food makes a good 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.
Opaline Gouramis are extremely hardy fish. Although the labyrinth organ allows the fish to survive in oxygen depleted water, it is a common misconception that this makes water changes unnecessary. This is hardly the case as these fish will suffer the same tissue damage from built up toxins as any other fish. Regular water changes are a must with 25% weekly being recommended.
The tank should be decorated in a way which allows both the dominant and quieter personality type fish to live happily. This means the construction of a few hiding places and some dense plant cover. This species appreciates the cover of floating plants. While juveniles can be easily housed in a 15 - 20 gallon aquarium, adults do better with at least 35 gallons.
An interesting characteristic of these gouramis (as well as the Pearl Gourami), is that they are well known for eating hydra. The hydra is a tiny pest that has tentacles with a venom. Very small fish that come in contact with the hydra are paralyzed by the venom and then held fast by the tentacles until eaten. If you have a hydra problem in your aquarium, here is your solution!
Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom: Top, middle, and bottom; the Opaline Gourami will inhabit all levels of the aquarium.
Acceptable Water Conditions: This fish will be bothered by a strong current in the tank, especially if the tank is small. It is also desirable to keep the tank in a room with a temperature as close as possible to the tank water, or risk damaging the labyrinth organ.
Temperature: 77-86 ° F (25-30 ° C)
Hardness: 2-25 ° dH
Ph: 6.0-7.8
Social Behaviors: The Opaline Gourami is generally considered a good community fish when small, but they are not as peaceful as the other gouramis. They have been known to attack smaller fish. When they get older, only keep them with fish their own size. Individuals will show varying degrees of aggression. Some will be very belligerent and will handle their tank mates quite roughly. Others will be peaceful to the point of shyness. The aquarist should be prepared to adapt their tank to suit all personality types.
A mix of neutral personalities is an ideal goal for the range of tank mates. You should not include fish which will provoke this species into aggression as they are often passionate fighters. Fin nippers and gouramis should absolutely never be mixed, as the trailing pelvic fins and generally slower movement of this fish make it the perfect victim. Bullying between gouramis is a likely scenario as these fish, typical of the family, are fixated on constantly working out the details of the hierarchy. The Opaline Gourami is also a skilled hunter and extremely small fish or fish fry rarely last long.
Sexual Differences: The male has a longer and more pointed dorsal fin.
Breeding/Reproduction: Like most fish in this family, the Opaline Gouramis are bubble nest builders. Their eggs as well as the fry, are lighter than water and float to the top. Breeding is moderately difficult, and finding a suitable pair is perhaps the biggest challenge. An individual breeding tank of 10 or more gallons should be set up. The water should be shallow, about 5 inches (13cm) being ideal. Tank current should be minimal. Many aquarists find that floating plants, or stem plants grown to the surface, or any other floating debris will help keep the bubble nest in place.
A healthy pair of adults should be introduced into the breeding tank. The male will spend a lot of time building a large bubble nest. The two will spawn and eggs will be deposited in the nest. The female must be removed at this time or she risks being killed by the male. Fry will soon emerge and must be kept on fry food until they can swallow flake foods. This is when the male should be removed or he might eat the fry which emerge from the nest.
For more information, see the description of how to breed labyrinth fish in Breeding Freshwater Fish.
Availability: The Opaline Gourami is readily available. Specimens will be about $4 - $5 USD each.
| Trichogaster Trichopterus Blue Gourami Offered By: That Pet Place Price: $1.99  |
| Trichogaster Trichopterus Gold Gourami Offered By: That Pet Place Price: $1.99 |
| Trichogaster Trichopterus Platinum Gourami Offered By: That Pet Place Price: $1.99 |
| Trichogaster Trichopterus Opaline Gourami Offered By: That Pet Place Price: $1.99 |
| Comments | ||
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View All 33 comments!View all 3 of the coolest comments | ||
| Latest Comments | ||
I have a 150gallon aquarium. A great majority of what I have are gourami of all different types. I have opaline, 3 spot in blue and gold, moonlight, and snakeskin. I even have a couple blood red dwarfs, a giant dwarf, a honey and a sunset dwarf. All these guys share the tank with bala sharks, serpae tetras, and angels. Everybody gets along. The dwarfs have the hardest time, but even they no where to get outta the way from time to time. I'm glad that I havent had to deal with the territoriality. These guys are so beautiful!
2009-12-21 | ||
I heard around that male Blue gouramis are really agresive with other fish. One of these little girls solved that problem really quick! When they are together, the opaline dominates but she won't pick on the blue to often because they get pretty big. The only problem I find with them is that they get really panicky and that's not all too good when you have young children in the house who like to tap the glass! Otherwise they seem like great fish. Maybe our opaline will get braver and stop being a scaredy-fish!
2009-08-13 | ||
Bought two of these fish. For the first two weeks one would chase and nudge the other around the tank non stop. I thought I would have to end up returning him but after some time he settled down and the two of them got along great. Unfortunately one of them just died the other day and the remaining Opaline looks devastated and lonely. After I removed the dead fish the other kept frantically searching every inch of the tank looking for his buddy... makes me so sad!
2009-06-03 | ||
Part 2....after I read more on the fish I returned most back to the pet store. These are not schooling fish, they are more like betta and as they get larger (mine were all very young) they will fight each other. Best to only have one in a tank and even then he/she may bully other smaller fish. Some people say a male and two females is a good mix. The thing to remember is they may grow to be 4 inches.
2009-02-06 | ||
| Some of the bestest comments - here's the beef! | ||
I have had a female opaline for around 3 months now as I wanted something different for my 26G community tank. She is a stunning fish, very peaceful and swims around the tank very gracefully. She will feel the other fish with her pectoral fins and I think they may be ambush predators as she likes to emerge from the undergrowth from nowhere. She accepts all foods and even eats hair algae from the plants. They look quite washed out in the shop but she coloured up beautifuly once she settled in.....I would recommend this fish.
2009-12-01 | ||
I just got one of these fish and it is getting along great. For those with problems keeping two....try getting a third or fourth. It is said that when you keep two, the one will dominate the other, but if there is more they will settle down.
2003-10-25 | ||
| Questions - Answers | ||
Yesterday (new years day 2009)I bought a rainbow shark, 2 tetra serpae and a gourami opaline. I already had a lonely guppy so I thought I would buy some. I put them all in a 10 gallon tank with plants and a ship. My rainbow shark loves the pirate ship, all he does is going in to the left side of it then comes out the other side. Anyways the petco people said, "these fish won't hurt your guppy." My guppy was a little scared at first then adventured down in to the bottom to the ship. not the smartist idea for him because I feed them. Then I saw he wasn't out, so I turned the light off. Then went to bed for 2 minutes, got up and looked at my guppy, because he was out. His whole back fin was all bit up and now this morning he is dead. I want to know what fish bit his tail. Is it the gourami fish?
2009-01-02 | ||
Replies (1) aww poor thing lol, most likely the gourami or the shark, both of these can be quite aggresive, especially for a tiny lone guppy,try a female pearl gourami or personally i think honey gouramis are best. I have also leant the hard way i used to just go by what they say at the pet shop, but trust me dont. they really have no idea what they are talking about, half the fish that they say are community fish are not. the best thing to do is research what fish you are going to get before you get them, i know it sounds long to do, but just go to the shop, note down a few fish that you like, come back and research them and find out the friendliest ones, then go buy them. personally id use a 20 gallon for a gourami of that size, most people dont give a shit about cheap little fish, but i do lol,anyway sorry this has been so long lol but hope it helped!... | ||
I purchased an opaline gourami and 1 blue. The opaline is bigger in size and won't stop chasing and (biting) the blue one. The "fight" started almost immediately. On the 3rd day I decided to isolate the opaline and still the opaline tries to get the blue one through its mesh separater. Maybe b-cuz the blue stays right in front opa and won't move away. Should I just let them FIGHT IT OUT CONSTANTLY?
2009-09-15 | ||
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