Tweedie's licorice gourami
Parosphromenus tweediei
Also known as Tweediei paro, Tweediei's licorice gourami
FreshwaterFish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 72–81°F
- 22–27°C
- pH
- 4.5–6.0
- Adult size
- 1.2 in
- 3 cm
- Minimum tank
- 5 gal
- 20 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Social
- Tankmates
- With caution
- Swim level
- Middle
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Difficulty
- Difficult
- Breeding
- Cave spawner · Hard
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Osphronemidae
- Origin
- Southern Johor, Malaysia
Overview
Tweedie's licorice gourami is a tiny, secretive blackwater fish for a quiet, dim tank. It is a fish for experienced keepers.
Did you know
Michael Tweedie cataloged the natural history of the Malay Peninsula through the mid-1900s. The fish named for him now outlives many of the swamp forests he once collected from.
Caring for the Tweedie's licorice gourami
Keep Tweedie's licorice gouramis as a single pair in a quiet tank of at least 5 gal (20 L). A few pairs can share a roomier tank, provided caves are plentiful. Set it up dim, with a dark substrate, dense leaf litter and botanicals, plus small caves or clay tubes.
Give them soft, acidic water filtered gently through peat. Keep it at 72 to 81°F (22 to 27°C) and a pH of 4.5 to 6.0. Feed small live and frozen foods such as baby brine shrimp, microworm and daphnia, since they rarely bother with flake or pellet.
They are easily bullied, so keep tank mates to a careful minimum or none. Breeding them also helps conserve a fish whose wild range is very small.
Tweedie's licorice gouramis are cave spawners, and the caves or clay tubes give them the cavities they breed in. Breeding is hard and needs soft, acidic water.
Good to know
Tweedie's licorice gourami, Parosphromenus tweediei, belongs to the family Osphronemidae and is a facultative air-breather with a labyrinth organ. It was described in 2005 and honors Michael Tweedie, a naturalist at the museum in Singapore. Displaying males flush deep red in the unpaired fins with pale blue margins, among the most vivid shows in the genus.
In the wild
Tweedie's licorice gourami is known only from blackwater swamp fragments in the state of Johor, in southern Malaysia. The water there is shallow, shaded, soft and strongly acidic.
Common questions
What size tank does a Tweedie's licorice gourami need?
A Tweedie's licorice gourami needs at least 5 gal (20 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What temperature and pH does a Tweedie's licorice gourami need?
A Tweedie's licorice gourami is comfortable at 72–81°F (22–27°C) with a pH of 4.5–6.0.
What does a Tweedie's licorice gourami eat?
A Tweedie's licorice gourami eats small live and frozen foods such as baby brine shrimp, microworm and daphnia. It rarely bothers with flake or pellet.
How big does a Tweedie's licorice gourami get?
An adult Tweedie's licorice gourami reaches about 1.2 in (3 cm).
How does a Tweedie's licorice gourami breed?
Tweedie's licorice gourami is a cave spawner that breeds in small caves or clay tubes. Breeding it is hard and needs soft, acidic water.
Related species
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