Care
The Threestriped Croaking Gourami is a small, pretty labyrinth fish known from sluggish or still habitats such as heavily vegetated marshes, shallow streams, swamps, and rice paddies. In the home aquarium, they will acclimatise to quite a wide range of water parameters, but they will always be at their best in softer, slightly acidic water. Dark substrate and decor should be complimented with dense planting, including floating species to help diffuse the light. Filtration should be efficient, but water movement very gentle. Threestriped Croaking Gouramis are a peaceful, shy species, and can be kept in a quiet community of small fish; however, as a micro-predator, much caution is required when housing with small ornamental shrimps. Males may bicker with one another when ready to breed, but no harm should ensue, particularly if there are lots of hiding places/visual barriers within the aquarium. As their name suggests, Threestriped Croaking Gouramis are capable of producing an audible creaking sound during courtship displays. This is the least common Trichopsis species in the trade, although all three species can be found together in the wild and this fish sits neatly between the other two in terms of adult size and colouration. It's not always easily differentiated from its smaller relative, especially as the blotches of T. pumila can often appear to form a second lateral stripe.
Feeding
Offer a varied diet consisting of small frozen foods such as bloodworm, white mosquito larvae, daphnia, and vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, plus a good quality flake food and green flake.
Breeding
Best accomplished by obtaining a group of at least 6 individuals and observe for pairing. A separate shallow breeding aquarium should be set up with plenty of plants, both rooted and floating, and the temperature set to around 27-28 °C. The pair should be acclimatised to this aquarium and allowed to settle in. When ready to spawn, the male will construct a bubblenest and then display to the female. Once she moves underneath the bubblenest, the male will embrace her, wrapping his body around hers. As the female releases her eggs, usually approximately 10 at a time, the male simultaneously fertilises them. The eggs are quickly retrieved by the male. This spawning process will repeat several times until the female is depleted of eggs. The male then begins to guard the nest, and at this point, the female should be removed. After approximately 48 hours, the eggs should hatch into tiny wrigglers, and soon after become free-swimming. The male should be removed as soon as the fry swim free of the bubblenest, and the fry fed on infusoria, progressing on to larger foodstuffs as they grow. It is very important to maintain a warm layer of air between the surface of the water and the coverslides at all times whilst the fish are developing their labyrinth organ, critical during the first few weeks.
