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Sparkling Gourami are omnivorous fish that eat both meaty protein and vegetable matter. Which makes this pygmy gourami easy to feed.
You can feed your Sparkling Gourami with a combination of dried, frozen and live foods. Live insects and their larvae are a firm favourite. Sparkling Gourami also eat flake, pellet and wafer foods and are partial to a little algae. And a treat of blanched vegetables is also welcome.
As you can see, a varied diet is the best one for your Sparkling Gourami. Particularly a diet that is packed full of meaty protein based foods.
It’s not difficult to feed your Sparkling Gourami a varied and healthy diet. In fact, you can keep it simple.
Keep reading for some easy-care feeding tips and useful information.
What Should I Feed My Sparkling Gourami?
Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis Pumila), are also known as dwarf or pygmy gourami. But which name you choose to call them by doesn’t make a difference when it comes to meal times.
In their native environment of the freshwaters of Southeast Asia Sparkling Gourami will eat whatever lives, or falls, into the water. With protein packed insects and their larvae being their preferred foods
Although this means that these Nano fish will eat whatever is available to them at the time, it doesn’t mean that they don’t need a varied diet when kept in an aquarium.
And it’s worth noting that Sparkling Gourami have a surprisingly large appetite for such a tiny fish. But you need to be careful not to overfeed them.
Because the Sparkling Gourami is a small fish (average adult size max 1.5”/3.81 cm) their food needs to be broken down into small enough pieces for them to eat. But that doesn’t mean that it’s difficult to vary their diet.
Let’s take a look at which foods you can feed to your Sparkling Gourami
The Easy Way To Feed Insects To Your Sparkling Gourami
The Sparkling Gourami’s native habitat provides them with a lot of bugs/insects and insect larvae to eat. So to keep them well fed in the home aquarium protein foods should be a big part of their diet.
Live, freeze-dried/dried and frozen meaty protein foods for your Sparkling Gourami are available to buy at Pet Stores, Aquatic Dealers and Online. These Nano fish do well on a varied diet. Which means that varying the way that they get their protein is a good idea.
Here’s Some Of The Protein Foods You Can Offer To Your Sparkling Gourami
- Bloodworms
- Daphnia (newly hatched)
- Tubifex Worms
- Brine Shrimp (newly hatched)
- Mosquito Larvae
- Micro Worms (also Banana Worms)
- Vinegar Eels
Because the Sparkling Gourami is a tiny fish with a small mouth you might have to do some chopping/mincing to make the food the right size for them to manage. This is often the case with some of the worm-type foods. If, like me, you’re a little squeamish about doing this you can go for the dried versions. For example, dried Bloodworms are easy to crunch down in the palm of your hand. And because they’re dry I feel less squeamish about doing it.
Tip: If you go for dried insects/worms it helps to rehydrate them before adding them to the tank. Soak them in a little tank water for about 20 minutes or so before feeding them to your fish. When rehydrated they will be easier for your fish to eat. They sink into the aquarium water more quickly too.
Both Fluval and Hikari do a range of protein rich/bug rich foods, that are dried, easy to break down, and easy to feed to your fish. I’ve been feeding Fluval Bug Bites Tropical Formula For Small Fish, (link takes you to the ones on Amazon) along with other foods, in all of my aquariums. The fish love it. I crunch some of it down before I feed it, so that even my smallest fish get their fair share.
If you prefer to feed live foods to your Sparkling Gourami it’s easy to culture your own supply. So if you’re interested in making your own live culture of Micro Worms and/or Banana Worms you will find the YouTube video link below helpful. In the video Cory from Aquarium Co-Op shows you how easy it is to make live cultures and how to keep the cultures going indefinitely.
Flake/Granular/Pellet Food For Sparkling Gourami
If you’re new to the fishkeeping hobby then flake, granular and pellet foods are a great place to start. Good quality flake/granular/pellet foods are a non-messy, and are an easy way, to feed to your Sparkling Gourami. These types of foods generally provide a complete nutritional diet for your fish.
Although you do need to buy foods that are packed with protein if you want to keep these Nano fish happy and healthy.
Feeding Vegetables To Your Sparkling Gourami
In their native habitat Sparkling Gourami eat plant matter along with sources of protein. Which means that they will appreciate a vegetable treat when kept in an aquarium. Vegetables, particularly of the green variety, are also good for your Sparkling Gourami’s digestive system and general health.
Some of the green vegetables you can offer to your Sparkling Gourami Include:
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Courgette/Zucchini
- Broccoli
- Kale
There are lots of other green vegetables that you can offer to your Sparkling Gourami. So it’s worth experimenting a little to see which ones they prefer. Why not try Shelled Peas, Savoy Cabbage and even Brussel Sprouts? It’s surprising what they take a fancy to. Plus their tank mates are likely to eat the veggies too.
Tip: You need to soften the vegetables before offering them to your Sparkling Gourami. You can soften them by either steaming, simmering or microwaving them. Then leave the veggies to go cold before adding them to the tank.
Remove any uneaten vegetables from the tank after a few hours to avoid the risk of polluting the tank water with rotting vegetable matter.
How Often/How Much Should I Feed My Sparkling Gourami?
You should feed your Sparkling Gourami at least twice a day. The Sparkling Gourami has a big appetite so it’s easy to overfeed them and cause health and tank hygiene problems. The best way to feed them is a little at a time. Feed them only what they can eat in about 3-5 minutes without any leftovers.
I know that some fish keepers say to feed them what they can eat in 1-2 minutes, but I personally think that’s not enough time to chase your food and eat it too.
The main point is not to have any leftover food messing up your aquarium. It can be a bit trial and error at first but you’ll soon get to know when enough is enough.
Do Sparkling Gourami Eat Algae?
Sparkling Gourami will eat a small amount of algae both in their native habitat and in an aquarium environment. As opportunistic feeders they will eat what is available at the time and this includes some algae. However, if you’re looking for an algae eater for your aquarium Sparkling Gourami won’t solve an algae problem in your fish tank.
That doesn’t mean that they won’t nibble on the algae that grows in you aquarium. It’s just that they’re unlikely to make a huge impact on the algae that is growing in your tank.
They do like to eat Algae Wafers though, you can buy them on Amazon here. So an Algae Wafer treat is something worth including in their diet. And just like vegetable treats you’ll probably find that your Sparkling Gourami’s tank mates like an algae wafer treat too.
Do Sparkling Gourami Eat Aquarium Plants?
Even though Sparkling Gourami eat plant matter in their native environment they are not considered to be destructive when it comes to aquarium plants. They may, and often do, nibble at fine leaved live aquarium plants. But the damage is generally minimal. And it’s worth noting that when you see them picking at the plants they are often just clearing up leftover food and algae from the plant leaves, rather than eating the plant itself.
I appreciate that every fish keeper’s experience may differ. But when it comes to live plants and Sparkling Gourami the general consensus seems to be that they won’t destroy your aquarium plants.
Tip: If you do find that your Sparkling Gourami are spoiling your live aquatic plants try changing the plants for different ones. If you go for tougher, courser, less juicy plants, your Sparkling Gourami will be less inclined to nibble at them.
A live planted tank helps to create a healthy environment for Sparkling Gourami and hiding places for them and their babies (fry). So it’s worth trying out a few different plants if you find that the adults are being a little destructive to the softer, juicer plants in your tank.
What Do Sparkling Gourami Fry (Babies) Eat?
Just like their parents Sparkling Gourami fry need plenty of protein in their diet. But it’s important to provide them with a variety of foods to promote optimal growth and good health. All foods for baby Sparkling Gourami need to be extremely tiny so that they can manage to eat them.
Here are some of the foods that your Sparkling Gourami fry will enjoy:
- Infusoria (general term for minute freshwater ‘bugs’ that occur naturally in an established live planted tank)
- Micro Powdered Fry Food
- Liquid Fry Food
- Powdered Down – flake foods, granules, wafers, pellets (you’ll need to powder these down yourself)
- Leafy Green Vegetables – softened to allow fry to pick pieces off them
Micro Powdered/liquid fry foods and other prepared fry foods are generally available from Pet Stores, Aquatic Dealers and Online (Amazon link). The page on this link is full of fish foods most of which are suitable for fry. It’s worth taking a look if you’re not sure what to feed to your baby Sparkling Gourami.
No matter which combination of foods you choose to feed to your Sparkling Gourami fry make sure that the food is small enough for these tiny fry to eat. After a few days you’ll find that they can manage bigger foods but in the meantime keep it powdered down or liquid.