False chocolate gourami

Parasphaerichthys lineatus

Also known as Lined chocolate gourami, Burmese chocolate gourami

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–79°F (20–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.2
Adult size: 1 in (2.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lower Chindwin and Irrawaddy floodplains, Myanmar
Family: Osphronemidae

Overview

The false chocolate gourami is a delicate micro-gourami best kept as a small group of its own kind in a species tank, with no other fish at all, since it is shy, slow-feeding, and easily crowded out. A mature, quietly filtered tank of about 40 liters gives it stable water and grazing surfaces. It stays in the middle and lower levels among fine-leaved plants and wood. Feed small foods it can actually catch: baby brine shrimp, microworm, cyclops, and finely crushed dried food. It comes from cooler water than its Southeast Asian look-alikes, so it does not want a warm community tank.

In the wild

Parasphaerichthys lineatus is known from Myanmar, in floodplain pools and slow, weedy waters of the lower Chindwin and Irrawaddy systems, which sit cooler than the tropics further south. Give it a mature planted tank with soft, gentle flow and dried leaves, a pH from 6.0 to 7.2, and a cool temperature range of 20 to 26 degrees Celsius. Avoid overheating, which this fish tolerates poorly.

Good to know

This tiny labyrinth fish in the family Osphronemidae was described by Britz and Kottelat in 2002 and grows to only about 2.5 centimeters. It is one of just two species in its genus, the other being the eyespot gourami. Its breeding is barely documented, but males have been seen collecting eggs and tending them at sheltered spots among stones, hinting at a form of brood care. It is a Burmese miniature echo of the true chocolate gouramis.

Did you know

The whole genus contains just two fish, this one and the eyespot gourami, both Burmese miniatures that mimic the unrelated chocolate gouramis of Sundaland at a fraction of their size.

Tank mates

False chocolate gourami is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.