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Sparkling Gouramis

NanoJames

NanoJames

Member
Joined
20 Feb 2013
Messages
502
Location
Angus, Scotland
Hello again!
I was wondering how sparkling gouramis would get on in a pretty much neglected tank. I have a small bowl, about 12 litres, which is unheated and unfiltered. I just measured the temp and it is 19 degrees. It is fully planted and I saw on Seriously fish that they can live in very small tanks. Would a couple be suitable? I amn't too bothered but I quite like them so it would be good to know!:)
EDIT: I can do daily water changes too!
Cheers
 
For all that Sparkling Gouramis are of diminutive size, they'd probably appreciate a home a bit larger than a 12 litre bowl. You refer to 'Seriously Fish', an excellent website; they state that this fish needs to be kept in water 25-28 degrees, which will not be achieved without heating.

If you want a virtually neglectable tank, I'd recommend trying the Walstad method with a species such as Dario Dario, or similar.
 
Male sparkling gourami can get pretty aggressive when defending a bubble nest, I doubt a female would be able to hide in a tank that small. 19 degrees is getting a bit low as well, although I have had them breed for me at 22 degrees so I don't believe the need to keep them too warm.
 
Hi guys
Today I was at my LFS and I asked one of the employees if he could get Dario Dario, or Scarlet Badis, in the shop. He said they rarely get them because they don't sell very well and are fairly hard to keep. Although, while looking around the shop I found some really nice Aphyosemion Australe or Orange Killifish. They were really bright orange! What about these? I have live food although the worker, who I am qute friendly with, said that they would quite happily take dried foods. What are your thoughts on these fish?
Cheers
 
They're excellent fish, and aren't particularly demanding. The only worry would be male/female, male/male aggression. The can also get a bit large for a 12l. Would they be able to get Epiplatys annulatus? They're much smaller and equally as beautiful.
I have a pair of dwarf puffers in a 12l (ish) tank. Its very heavily planted, kept at 24 degrees, and they rarely need feeding since they happily munch all the ramshorn snails in there. Happy little blighters. Keep some duckweed in there and they'll be happy as owt!
 
Henry said:
They're excellent fish, and aren't particularly demanding. The only worry would be male/female, male/male aggression. The can also get a bit large for a 12l. Would they be able to get Epiplatys annulatus? They're much smaller and equally as beautiful. I have a pair of dwarf puffers in a 12l (ish) tank. Its very heavily planted, kept at 24 degrees, and they rarely need feeding since they happily munch all the ramshorn snails in there. Happy little blighters. Keep some duckweed in there and they'll be happy as owt!
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Thanks very much Henry! That's a shame as I really liked the killifish. I do like the dwarf puffers, but I don't know about heating the tank. Plus, am I right in thinking that they are a pretty messy fish? That would mean a filter and heater in one really small tank. And I wanted to keep this tank very low tech as I don't have lots of money to spend and elecricity bills have gone up with my existing two tanks!:oops: Looks like I might just get some nice shrimp!:lol:
 
The tank I keep the puffers in has an Azoo Palm hang on filter and thats it. If you have a thick covering of duckweed and clear half of it once a week, you won't have any problems with nitrates (along with reasonable growth from your other plants). You will need a heater, though. I use one of these, and it is excellent. It's also absolutely tiny; very slim and short enough to fit in almost any tank.

Have a look at the Epiplatys annulatus, they're very nice little killifish.
 
I will definitely ask about the clown killifish next time I am in my LFS as they do look really nice. They also had another type of killifish that were not labelled but were quite nice. I think they were too dark to be clowns but they were about 5-9 cm long and were quite dark. I will see if I can find a small heater and will also look into the filter you mentioned. I just don't want it getting too expensive..:)
 
To be honest, as long as you have good coverage of floating plants and keep up with water changes, a filter isn't really necessary.

I keep a group of 8 Aphoysemion striatum in a 35l tank with no filtration, but plenty of submersed, emersed, and floating plants. They're breeding and are very happy :)

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Epiplatys annulatus are equally as happy in that sort of environment.
 
Wow, those are lovely fish! Did you raise them from eggs? All of this fish talk makes me want to flood my tank! I think I might fill it tomorrow...:) I do quite fancy killies but the fact that they are tropical makes me nervous!;) I don't know if I have enough plant matter yet to keep fish without a filter though.
 
They're non-annuals, so they were just bought from the fish shop. Killifish tend to prefer a temperature of about 22 degrees, so a small heater like the one I linked would be absolutely fine. With enough floating plants, you won't have to worry much about the amount of submersed growth (as long as it gets going eventually). A pair of clown killis are going to have a pretty low bioload.
 
Ah, very nice anyway!:) Where did you put the link? I can't seem to find it... I will put up pictures of the tank as it is now in 10 mins but I do have plenty (too much!:lol:) Duckweed in another tank.
 
dscf1924b.jpg

Sorry, it only let me upload 1 photo because the others were too big!o_O Anyway, you kind of get an idea. What about the classic, boring betta?! I also have loads of Staurogyne clippings that I just got from my nano that I could put in and some Riccia Fluitans too. If I can fit them in!:lol:
 
I reckon you'd get away with a pair of Clown killis in there. I'd always give a betta at least twice as much room as that, despite their slow movement, but I suppose this may not reflect the opinion of others. If you do go for killis, just make sure the tank is established for a week or so with the floating plants.
 
That's good, I'll fill it tomorrow! It'll be well over a week until I'll get any fish anyway as I just made quite a few aquatic purchases!;) I forgot to mention that there is also a nice Amazon sword that I can put at the back. Thanks for all of your help Henry, not that this thread will go down the drain....:thumbup:
 
From my experience, I can tell you A. australe will get about the same size as my A. striatum, which would be too big for your tank. They've very active swimmers when they want to be, so its best to give them some space. E. annulatus only reach about half the size of the other two.

No worries mate, its nice to see someone new getting into killifish :thumbup:
 
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