# Parasphaerichthys ocellatus - Eyespot Gourami



## James O (15 Jul 2015)

Anyone had experience with eyespot gourami?

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/parasphaerichthys-ocellatus/

Seems an interesting little gourami


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## Tim Harrison (15 Jul 2015)

No, but they look like mischievous little blighters...like their cousins _Trichopsis pumila._


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## BigTom (15 Jul 2015)

More like licorice gouramis I think Troi - very quiet and retiring fish by all accounts. Haven't kept them myself but have seen them a couple of times and they struck me as pretty timid. Lovely little fish but they'll want a nice subdued tank and lots of cover.


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## James O (15 Jul 2015)

BigTom said:


> More like licorice gouramis I think Troi - very quiet and retiring fish by all accounts. Haven't kept them myself but have seen them a couple of times and they struck me as pretty timid. Lovely little fish but they'll want a nice subdued tank and lots of cover.



I got 5 (all they had).  They were in a pretty busy 'community' tank and were hiding when you approached the tank.  Mine are small, about 20mm. But the officially largest measured specimin was 32mm.  They are deeper in body than the sparking gourami but do that same cute bendy thing . At the moment They're by themselves in a cube with sand and a nice piece of wood that has space underneath to hide and small pistia with long roots and red root floater filling in the gaps.  Given them some plastic tubes for hidy holes.  Also using an air lift filter to keep things calm.  No lighting yet to settle them in.  Popped some bloodworm in and they're picking at it so at least they're eating.


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## James O (15 Jul 2015)

They seem to be braver at night, even when I approach the tank. Managed to  get a phone snap of one in they're non 'eyespot' jammys







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## Tim Harrison (16 Jul 2015)

Very nice...


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## James O (16 Jul 2015)

Please excuse the grubby anubias gracilis.  Grabbed it out of the plant box.

Looking at ldcgroomers gourami tank, more plants will help and I was wondering if something tiny an innocuous like /boraras maculatus might act as a 'dither fish'

What thinks you?


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## James O (16 Jul 2015)

This little fella just popped out of his 'tube'. He's sporting his hidy camo, which is in itself rather fetching.  Kind of a grey chocolate gourami?





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## James O (16 Jul 2015)

And here they are in all their eyespot glory. Again sorry for the iPhone pics




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## Lindy (16 Jul 2015)

Lovely little fish (don't understand why you didn't get paros tho lol) they will get braver if they are anything like paros and choccos.  My home bred paros practically ignore my presence. Having bold betta simplex in the tank helped the choccos come out of their shells. Give them time...

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## scootamum (17 Jul 2015)

Gorgeous little fish James O.  Another one to add to the wish list...


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## James O (21 Jul 2015)

Sadly lost one yesterday. It was the one in the fetching grey hidy cameo.  He never really settled, always at the back and shy/skittish when feeding.  No obvious damage.  Oh well...

In other news.....


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## James O (21 Jul 2015)

Lobster eggs are the new favourite! And the four remaining are happy and getting braver






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## tigertim (22 Jul 2015)

ldcgroomer said:


> Lovely little fish (don't understand why you didn't get paros tho lol) they will get braver if they are anything like paros and choccos.  My home bred paros practically ignore my presence. Having bold betta simplex in the tank helped the choccos come out of their shells. Give them time...
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk




i have 3 Para cf.bintin in a community tank....there very at home with the numerous crypts etc....ofc they need soft water and live food but not as timid as is often made out :]


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## Lindy (22 Jul 2015)

I have the book 'labyrinth fish world' by Horst Linke. This is what it had on these fish, just incase there is anything different to seriously fish.







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## Lindy (22 Jul 2015)

Seriously fish recommend quite a low ph where the book gives higher ph recorded in the 2 study areas where these fish were caught. one location gives ph 7.8 to 8.0 and the other is even higher at 8.5 to 9. It suggests keeping the fish at 20 to 22 degrees c and raising it to over 25degrees c for breeding. It also suggests dropping the temp to 15-18 degrees c for a few weeks to mimic it's natural cycle and keeping in mineral rich water with ph 8-9.


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## James O (22 Jul 2015)

So it's called 'fright colouration', not 'fetching grey hidy camo' 

Thanks Lindy!

So RO water isn't necissary?


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## Lindy (22 Jul 2015)

Maybe mix with your tap water to get desired levels? guess it depends on your tap.


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## Lindy (22 Jul 2015)

I wouldn't bother with dither fish and try and get these wee guys breeding, they are gorgeous. Then you could have a big tank full of them!


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## scootamum (28 Jul 2015)

ldcgroomer said:


> Seriously fish recommend quite a low ph where the book gives higher ph recorded in the 2 study areas where these fish were caught. one location gives ph 7.8 to 8.0 and the other is even higher at 8.5 to 9. It suggests keeping the fish at 20 to 22 degrees c and raising it to over 25degrees c for breeding. It also suggests dropping the temp to 15-18 degrees c for a few weeks to mimic it's natural cycle and keeping in mineral rich water with ph 8-9.



Thanks for sharing this information.  Everything I've read about says they need soft, acidic water to thrive, and that's why I've never kept them, because I'd have difficulty replicating this without using ro.  You live and learn all the time in this hobby...


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