Calm but enormous; eats plants and small fish.
191 species in our list are a good match.
Calm but enormous; eats plants and small fish.
Pellets, vegetables, fruit.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Males develop pointed dorsal and anal fins and darken, nearly black, when spawning. The hump on the forehead develops in mature fish and is not a reliable sign of sex.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Bubble-nester · Hard
Builds a large nest of plant material (grasses and roots in the wild), not a bubble nest. The male guards the eggs and young; remove the female after spawning.
Raise a group of young fish and let them pair up. Sexing is hard until they are mature.
A very large tank or pond, 500+ gallons (2000 L) for adults. Add plants, floating hiding places and a warm space of 26-28 C.
Warm, stable water and rich food. Adults build a big nest of plant material in pond edges.
About 2,000-2,650 eggs per nest (one farmed strain); eggs hatch in 24-36 hours and the male guards them for 2-3 weeks in the wild.
Feed zooplankton and baby brine shrimp, then crushed pellets. Fry grow fast in ponds. Separate sizes often.
A major food fish in Southeast Asia, farmed on a large scale, that can live for over 20 years and learn to recognise its owner.
Lacépède described the giant gourami in 1801. It has long been raised as a food fish across tropical Asia and introduced to many countries for that purpose. Young fish are sometimes sold for aquariums, but adults become tame giants that need a very large tank.
First described by Bernard G. de Lacépède in 1801.
16 facts checked with sources
Valid name. Seriously Fish notes the similar, slightly smaller O. laticlavius (red fins) is sometimes seen; care is the same. Seriously Fish also warns against dyed fish sold in the trade.
FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summaryLegacy has no family field; sourced value recorded.
FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summaryBoth give 70 cm SL (standard length, tail not included); legacy 60 cm is below the recorded maximum. Most aquarium fish stay smaller.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy · FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summaryLegacy 22-28 sits inside both sources' 20-30.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy · FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summaryLegacy has no hardness; Seriously Fish range recorded.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy · FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summary72 x 24 x 24 in = 183 x 61 x 61 cm = about 680 L, given as the absolute bare minimum for one adult. Legacy 1500 L is more generous and still sensible; the source says bigger is better.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramySupports legacy '20+ years'. FishBase gives no maximum age.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramyPeaceful with other large fish but eats anything small enough to swallow. Seriously Fish links adult aggression to cramped tanks. Legacy 's' (semi-aggressive) is close in practice.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramyNo source names a swimming level.
FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summarySeriously Fish rates it Moderate; legacy had 3 (hard). The main challenge is tank size.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramyLegacy has no range field. Wikipedia notes Borneo populations may be introductions. IUCN: Least Concern (assessed 21 January 2019, per FishBase).
FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summaryLegacy uses the forehead hump and thicker lips; no source ties these to males. Fin shape is the sourced sign.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy · Wikipedia: Giant gourami (cites Roberts 1992; Arifin et al. 2020)Legacy breeding.type 'bubble-nester' is wrong per FishBase; the 'nest from plants' text is right. Azrita et al. 2022 report males building the nest over 5-7 days before spawning.
Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy · FishBase: Osphronemus goramy summarySourced figures sit inside legacy '1000-4000 eggs; hatch in about 1-3 days'. The egg count is from a study of the sago strain in Indonesia.
Azrita, Syandri & Aryani 2022, F1000Research 10:922 (reproduction of the giant gourami sago strain) · Seriously Fish: Osphronemus goramy