Opal Rae

I keep 3 licorice gourami (2 males, 1 female - unable to sex when purchased) in a species only tank. They are very shy and are experts at hiding. They can be challenging to feed as they prefer live food and are slow eaters. I do not have experience with bolivian rams. I did try to add diamond head neon tetras to my community tank with sparkling gourami and the tetras were too aggressive. They dominated at feeding time and stressed out my sparklers.

Thanks for the info. I am definitely interested in seeing how it goes!

I love my CPDs too. They were my first fish.

I have read that they hatch in freshwater as larvae and can survive up to 5 days before they need to be transferred/introduced to brackish water. Really, I am more interested in them as potential food!

Such interesting fish. I purchased 3 from my LFS labeled only as licorice gourami. I became obsessed with them and contacted the Parosphromenus Project for help identifying them. The response was this: Possible cf bintan is the closest we could get, not P. Bintan. You would have to be certain of the locality if it should be labelled bintan.

Maybe I am over thinking this... but I did not expect this. I have 2 berried amano shrimp in my 20 gallon long blackwater community tank. I keep amanos in other tanks, but this is the first time having berried ladies. I have done some research and understand the requirements/difficulty of raising them and I am not sure if I want to take it on. I am curious about the larvae hatching, surviving in freshwater for up to 5-8 days, and the impact on water quality. The stock in the tank includes 4 sparkling gourami, 10 sundadanio axelrodi, 15 boraras merah/brigittae and 12 diamond head neon tetra. These guys are all hunters and enjoy a variety of live foods. I know they will eat the larvae, but there could be thousands of them. Water quality is my main concern as this tank has really hit its sweet spot and is running like a dream. If I see them as a food source, do I do anything beyond normal tank maintenance and monitoring water parameters when the hatch happens? OR Should I take the leap and try to raise them? Anyone have success?

They were sold to me as simply 'licorice gourami" by my LFS. I have really soft acidic water so when they came in the LFS called me - lucky me! Since they are new to me and not fish I was planning for, I have really just been focused on setting up their tank and providing them with the right foods. I will now dig deeper to figure just what species they are. I love them. They are very interesting fish and very different from my trichopsis pumila (sparkling gourami). Do you keep licorice gourami?

Definitely keep on your wish list. They have a ton of personality.

Had to share - just love this feisty little guy.

I just started keeping licorice gourami 3 weeks ago. I have 3 fish and had no idea how to sex them. They live in a blackwater tank with a lot of botanicals on the floor. One night, one of them lost all color and the stripes turned a really pale pinkish brown. It was hiding under the leaf litter and pods on the floor. I panicked, thought it was going to die. Turns out to be female reading to breed! The males' stripes turned black and their fins bright blue. They are extremely camera shy and still adjusting, so I gave them their privacy in hopes to encourage breeding. I have since added a cave. I must say, I am shocked that they have responded so well to their new home. They are not easy. They are super picky eaters and can hide really well. This picture really does not do justice to this beautiful fish. They absolutely shine.

Thank you. I am beginning to doubt my test kit. Yes, my well water is soft. When I started my tanks, I planned for my soft, more acidic water. My fish are healthy and thriving. I do not use chemicals to alter my parameters. The ph of my well water has changed within the last 2 weeks. Maybe its the change of season - more tannins? cold temperatures? I don't know. I am hoping for ideas on how to go about dealing with the change in ph. Maybe a method of introducing the lower ph water? Good question - no water softener. We have a shallow well so its already soft.

I am on well water that has been at 6.6 ph and my 2 tanks are usually at 6.8 to 7 ph. I just discovered that my well water ph is now 6 or possibly lower (a very pale yellow on the API Master Test Kit). This discovery was made after I did a 20% water change on a 5 gallon shrimplet tank. They all died within an hour. I am concerned about my 2 fish tanks. I have one 10 gallon, heavily planted tank stocked with 8 CPDs. I also have one 20 gallon long tannin water stocked with 15 chili rasbora and 4 sparkling gourami. They are fully cycled and both test 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-10 nitrate. I need to do some maintenance. I am worried that the ph difference is too great and will shock or kill my fish if I do a water change. I purchased distilled water, but it tested 6 ph. What do you think?

Interesting suggestion. I have looked at this plant before, but all my tanks are mid-low light. Never thought about it as a floater. Thanks!

Not sure if this is helpful. I currently have unexpected CPD fry in my species only heavily planted 10 gallon tank. I spotted them about 3 weeks ago when they began free swimming. They do not seem to eat any of the food I add. I feed the adults live baby brine shrimp, white worms, and crushed pellets and flakes. After doing some research, I found that infusoria is a common fry food. Sounds harsh, but I opted to just let nature take its course as breeding fish is not on my newbie radar. I can only assume that the tank is able to provide them with their required nutrition at this point and removing them to a temporary fry tank may take away their food source. I also cannot trust that my adults won't try to eat them as they are total hunters and revel in live food.

Looking for floating plants that will do well in higher humidity caused by a lid. Amazon frogbit has molded. Hornwort or foxtail doesn't really fit the scaping. Any ideas?