my gourami's are mating?

[budwick weiser]

so i have 2 male and 2 female dwarf gourami's in my community tank. one of the males became very aggressive in the corner of the tank and started making a huge bubble nest. i'm not sure if there is anything living in the bubbles but i went ahead and bought a breeder box and scooped him and his bubbles up into it. i was going to wait to put him inside it, but i noticed that some of the fish were coming over to his bubbles and popping them.. possible cause there are fertilized eggs inside??? anyone here ever raised dwarf gouramis?

[Misty]

Lucky you! I adore Dwarf Gouramis...

I never have gotten them to mate...It would scared the mess out of me if they had! Up to 2000 babies is way out of my league!:wha:

[budwick weiser]

2000??? gulp

[Misty]

Yep...

Better start converting a room into a tank now...roflmao

[kewlkatdady]

cheap feeders....

J/K... congrats on the pai ring off.

[AndrewH]

I had my blue three spots spawn not too long ago.

Saw dad guarding the bubble nest and really didn't think too much of it until a did my next water change and all the bubbles popped. It was full of eggs and the next day they all hatched. I watched 'em free swim the next night when I got home, but I wasn't prepared for them (didn't think there was anything in the nest since it was their first time), so they didn't last more than 24 hours.

[bra8ndy8]

Well Congrats!! I'll take 7-8 of the 2000....hope that helps!! LOL

[budwick weiser]

well i woke up this morning and he had popped all of the bubbles that he made... guess he got scared in there? came back home from work and the whole side is covered in bubbles again... so i'm just going to see how it works out

[bra8ndy8]

Well good luck!

[AndrewH]

I think the bubbles pop on their own (or maybe other fish mess with 'em) and it takes 'em a while to replace 'em.

[fishyjoe24]

that gourami is the man, man! congrats.

[budwick weiser]

huge bubble nest today... and i actually walked in on the two going at it... they were side by side and tucked together into like a half-moon shape........ those guys are pretty limber!

[AndrewH]

Yup, my blue 3 spots have spawned again, too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Andrew_H/fishy/04-05-08%20Tiger%20Lotus%20Bloom/IMG_0743.jpg
(picture from 04-05-08 next day - free swimming fry and nest is gone)

[AndrewH]

Does anyone off hand know the gestation for the eggs (for any gourami)?

[tsunderl]

Google is your friend. :hehe: (Couldn't resist!)

Breeding

These are one of the easiest and most interesting fish to breed in an aquarium. Set up a five- to 10-gallon breeding tank and let a plant float on top. (Breeders in Asia use a banana leaf.) The male (except the blue gourami) will begin building a bubble nest beneath the leaf, rising to the surface and exhaling a bubble that sticks to the underside of the leaf. Once enough bubbles have been amassed, the male and female will mate beneath the leaf, the male bending his body around the female's while she releases eggs. The fertilized eggs float up into the bubble nest.
Once the mating is done, remove the female since it is the male gouramis's job to protect the nest and the young. Within a couple of days the larvae will become apparent and will eat the yolk sac. After that, move the young to a nursery (http://www.petplace.com/fish/choosing-a-gourami/page1.aspx#) tank and feed the fry cooked egg pressed through a piece of cheesecloth to make pieces small enough for them to eat.

http://www.petplace.com/fish/choosing-a-gourami/page1.aspx

[AndrewH]

Well the first 3 links on my google search didn't help at all ;).

"The eggs hatch in approximately 30 hours"
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/gourami/p/bluegourami.htm
^also gives a descriptive account of the entire mating process (at least for 3 spots).

[tsunderl]

There ya go! The countdown has begun. :)

[AndrewH]

Well actually I was just checking on them because the nest has been there a while and low and behold the nest is gone and I have fry free swimming in the tank... dad is going super nuts about keeping everyone away from that part of the tank :D.

Guess I'll have figure out something for them to eat.

[tsunderl]

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AndrewH]

tyvm

I need to setup a "fry culture" and a 10 gallon for their next mating cycle.

[budwick weiser]

ugh.... i don't want to have to set up another tank.... i'm just going to let nature do it's thing

[AndrewH]

I know what you mean.

Most sites I read say the spawn can produce up to several thousand fry :eek:. I believe 'em.

I don't know if I could handle that many without knowing I definitely have a place they're going within a few weeks/months.

[ElijahTurtle]

ugh.... i don't want to have to set up another tank.... i'm just going to let nature do it's thing
Hey, look on the bright side. If nature does it do it's thing well enough, just remember gouramis are a "Food Fish" to the native people where they thrive. "FISH STICKS It's what's for dinner!"

[budwick weiser]

ok so i decided that i'd give raising these little bastards a shot and i went to wally world tonight and bought a small water heater. i poured enough water from my 10 gallon into a plastic bowl to cover up the heater, then i added the java moss filled with little buggers into the bowl. there are sooooooo many!!! i cant believe it, they hid so well in there... i mean i thought i counted 50 in the 10 gallon, now i count hundreds or more!!! the male is still protecting his corner of the aquarium and the 2 or 3 fry that are left in the tank that i missed when i was scooping. i'm boiling up some eggs right now too. this is going to be a long night. i hope it pays off. tomorrow i'm going to buy a 5 gallon aquarium and transfer the little guys into it.

[supersmirky]

Sound like your gonna be a good daddy!

[AndrewH]

That's what I was thinking to do too.

5 gallon, but those things are $10 :eek:... I can get a 10 gallon for that, so might as well go ahead and get the extra room for the same price.

[budwick weiser]

ya thats what i did... i'm going to leave them in the bowl for a week until they get big enough that i can actually see them and then move them into the new 10.

That's what I was thinking to do too.

5 gallon, but those things are $10 :eek:... I can get a 10 gallon for that, so might as well go ahead and get the extra room for the same price.

[AndrewH]

What are you feeding them?

[budwick weiser]

egg yolk that i pushed thru an old tshirt

[lellison]

congrats on the babies! that is aweosome, I've never had gouramis spawn before! Pics?

[AndrewH]

Just the yolk, no egg white?

How many times a day?

I'll definitely give that a try.

[EAST_TX_RN]

Egg yolk? Gee, I am learning new things every day!

[budwick weiser]

ya all the boards say to feed them egg yolk pushed thru cheese cloth... or a tshirt... not the white tho, just eat the white yourself. i just threw a bunch in and i'm letting them eat it over the next few days.

[bra8ndy8]

REALLY? Just Gourami's like the yolk?

[budwick weiser]

so my second male just made a nest and has been getting really friendly with the other female... ugh

there are about 75+ fry left in the tank that i couldn't get out and the male that made them is still actively making sure they do well.

if this keeps up i'm going to need to get rid of this female gourami and let the guys chill out for a while

[biggin]

I have heard of a lot of people with a variety of fish using the egg idea.

REALLY? Just Gourami's like the yolk?

[budwick weiser]

so i spent two hours slowly getting the fry used to some fresh r.o. water... now they're all dead i think... ugh

[tsunderl]

Dayum! Sorry to hear that.

[bra8ndy8]

Awww Man that sucks..better luck next time!

[AndrewH]

Dang that sucks!!!

Did you change out all the tank water to RO (I know you're using a bowl, right)?

[supersmirky]

Oh man...sorry about that!!!

Is the water just too damn good for them or something?

[biggin]

Fry are really sensitive to temp changes.... another reason to have more water and not less.

Sorry to hear about that.

[budwick weiser]

Dang that sucks!!!

Did you change out all the tank water to RO (I know you're using a bowl, right)?

i put them in a 10 gallon filled half way up with r/o and a sponge filter... i think i had the sponge filter on too strong and i think the undulating water did them in. now i have the male and female in the tank with the sponge on ultra low and a lot of java moss. i'm going to give them a few days to get used to the new surroundings and then start playing some barry white.

[lellison]

sorry to hear that, there will be another chance!

[AndrewH]

So you took them from a bowl to a ten gallon with strong sponge filter and RO?

Just trying to get an idea of the sequence so I don't repeat it :D

I currently have mine in a ten gallon filled with tank water and I'm feeding them fine-ly crushed flakes. Seems to be going good so far.

[budwick weiser]

So you took them from a bowl to a ten gallon with strong sponge filter and RO?

Just trying to get an idea of the sequence so I don't repeat it :D

I currently have mine in a ten gallon filled with tank water and I'm feeding them fine-ly crushed flakes. Seems to be going good so far.

ya ya ya... and the sponge filter was on way strong so now i have a crimper on the tube. now the parents are both in the fry tank and i'm trying to get them to screw. i just put a ton of water sprite in the tank in hopes that the added foliage on the surface will help ignite a surge of hormones from the two.

[budwick weiser]

got home from work today and there is a nice big bubble nest in the aquarium!!!

[ElijahTurtle]

When I was raising angel fry, I never put "new" water in the tank. I always changed it with water out of my display tank. It's stable, zero ammonia, & the chemistry was a lot closer to what was in the fry tank

[bra8ndy8]

Congrats!!

[budwick weiser]

i've got babies again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

[supersmirky]

YAY!!! Little wigglerS?

[bra8ndy8]

Wooo HOOOOO! Wtg....now lets make these turn into babies!

[Haiven]

Those are prolific gouramies! Congratulations!

[biggin]

Congrats....try not blowing them out of the tank this time.

Good luck.

[budwick weiser]

heh heh, i removed the mother last night... how long should i keep papa in there?

[biggin]

I would think once you see babies you could remove him.

[budwick weiser]

i thought that he was supposed to help keep them bunched up for a while... i'll do some interweb searching

[biggin]

I that is mostly for protection....if you have other fish that is what you want. You have them in the 10g by themselves correct?

[budwick weiser]

ya it's just daddy and babies now

[budwick weiser]

Breeding/Spawning: Not to hard, use a tank with many fine leaved plants, and floating plants like javamos and Riccia fluitans. Temperature should be raised, and lowering the waterlevel helps. The male will build a small but high bubblenest, for which he will use plant parts and other items available to fortify the nest. The male will start to display for the female, which will be hunted away if she's not interested. If the female is willing, a few practice matings will take place prior to the actual mating. Up to 750 sinking eggs will be laid, that are collected only by the male. It's best to remove the female immediately after this. The eggs will hatch within 24 hours and the fry are free swimming after three days. At this point the male should also be removed. It is possible to cross C. lalia and C. Labiosa, but the offspring were all male and infertile.


i am removing pops right now

[tsunderl]

Y'all are making me want to get some gouramis!

[budwick weiser]

i only see like 10 babies... hopefully since they are all the size of a pin head i'm just missing the other 740 and dad didn't eat them

[biggin]

Plano Pets has a bunch of females right now.

Not many males....btw they do not know they are females....just think they are young males....:rolleyes1:

Y'all are making me want to get some gouramis!

[ElijahTurtle]

Y'all are making me want to get some gouramis!
Admit it! You just wanna watch fish sex :hehe::hehe::hehe:

[budwick weiser]

so i decided that the egg thing was stupid and time consuming... and i can't find any fry food at the store so i've been using a mortar and pestle to grind up dried krill and fish food into a fine powder... sound good? so far no one is dead in the tank!

[biggin]

DIY Liquid Fry food....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fry_food.php

[budwick weiser]

thanks blake

[cookieboy]

i have 2 yellow guaranis
and some times i find white bubbles at the top of my tank bt it ends up going into my overflow box
can some one tell how to tell wich one is the male and wich one is a female

[ElijahTurtle]

i have 2 yellow guaranis
and some times i find white bubbles at the top of my tank bt it ends up going into my overflow box
can some one tell how to tell wich one is the male and wich one is a female
Try looking at the gourami threads in the Labyrinth Fish (http://64.5.51.68/forums/production/forumdisplay.php?f=73) forum. There is pretty clear cut info in there on sexing gouramis. There is no sense in me repeating the info here.

[budwick weiser]

they're probably both males... the females are dull and almost colorless, and they're smaller.

[pam916]

If you can find Wardley's Small Fry liquid food it makes feeding fry so much easier, all you have to do is put a couple of drops in the tank and it has egg in it. Petsmart carries Hikari First Bites which is a very very fine powder and Hikari claims it is great for all newborns.

Sounds like breeding gouramis is a lot like breeding bettas.

[lellison]

I also use Wardley's Small Fry liquid food with my brevis fry. I think it makes feeding very easy.