Exciting Times :)

Hi Everyone,

I have put my breeding pair of Pearl Gourami's in their own tank now and have been reading up on how to breed them, has anyone done this that can give me some insight?

I have added floating plants, the temp is around 26 degrees and I read that feeding them lettuce and spinach and cooked peas is good for breeding, as well as brine shrimp... they were only placed in their own tank last night, and they were a little out of sorts, not wanting to eat and being very still, but I am hoping that today they will start being more active and happy in their new home...

I really hope it works, and again if anyone has done this, please let me know how it went and what I can do from my side thanks!

Candice

 

Hi Aqua

I have bread Gourami`s before, but it has been a couple of years since...if I remember correctly I had the male in first, and waited for him to build his bubble nest, then only I put in the female! Ensure you have a male and female, im sure you will no how to sex them? Males top fin is pointy, and female`s is rounded, rather easy.

The spawn was huge, but the problem was feeding the babys, they are tiny and need infusoria @ birth, verry similar to Bettas, or micro worms will also do! If I can remember correctly I only managed to pull through about 17 to adult size!

Not sure about the lettuce and peas, but I fed mine flakes BS and BW.

Let us know if you have any luck.

 

Hi Hennie, yes I am certain it's a male and female, her belly is round with eggs and his underside it bright orange from his mouth to his tail they are mature and ready in my humble opinion. I dont know if its due to new surroundings or not, but they are very still and sometimes resting on the bottom of the tank, they also didnt want to eat last night... should I be worried or will it come right once they have been in the new tank a few days? the water parameters are the same as the main tank, and the only difference is that there is less movement in the water and I have put a sponge filter in. I hope it will be fine...

 

Hi Reedfish

Thanks for the feedback, I have not tried the veggies yet, I am using the brine shrip and blood worm though

I put the sponge filter in so that the eggs would be safe, and I also read that I should put a polystyrene cup cut in half on the surface of the water for him to create the bubble nest in, so I will try that once I have been to the shops too.

Cheers,
Candice

 

Hey Candice,

You should prob. just check all ur water parameters just to make sure something isnt wrong with the new tank water. You did cycle it correctly?

 

Hi i8aNooB, it is a fully cycled tank with media from my previous tank that was running for months, and I checked the water parameters yesterday before adding them, all is ok... I think it may just be that they need to get used to their new surroundings... thanks

 

Pearl's where the 1st egglaying fish I bred when I was just a kid...here's how I did it:

Bred them in an oversized 2footer(60 x 40cm wide) - bare bottom with a glass devider between the 2 of them after introduction... lots of floating plants for them to hide in and for the male to anchor his bubble nest...
Always took them a couple of days to settle in,before the male would start building his nest... Once done and he started perading by the devider glass to the female,I would remove the devider and they would usualy spawn in an hour or two after...
Female was removed to the main tank as soon as they where finished,otherwise the male might kill her... Cant remember exactly how long it took for the eggs to hatch,but think it was round 2-3 days...
Left male in with fry untill they became free swimming,then removed him - now the important bit.. Cover the tank with clingfilm or a cover glass and drop the water level to bout 15cm. the babies need to come up for a gulp of air quite frequently and the lower the water,the less energy they have to expend to get there... Keeping the tank covered ensures a heated,moist air for them to breathe,thereby preventing infection of their developing labyrinth organ - the leading cause of death in young gouramies..
Once free swimming,the 1st food was cultured green water for the 1st week or so before before I moved them onto crushed flake...
Round week 3 I slowly started to raise the water level..

Hope this helps Candice - G'luck with the breeding!

 

Hi Shawn, thanks for all the info, I have them in a 90cm (100 lt) tank with a lot of floating plants, and have just done a water change and lowered the water level, I read that I should put the female in first, for an hour and then the male so that he doesnt bully her, so thats the way I did it. I have soft rounded river stones for substrate, low lighting and a sponge filter, I wonder if the sponge filter is good enough... any thoughts on this? anyway, I fortunately have the sliding glass lid, so that will be great for the babies as per your explanation above, thanks for that info Do you know where I can get or make cultured green water? I bought the white liquid fry food (Interpet liquifry for baby egg laying fish)in the meantime, will that suffice? They are still very still so I took some pics: you can see how most of the time they are hiding out....

Thanks for all the info Candice

 

Liquifry's good stuff - just wasnt around 25 years or so ago when I bred mine...lol. Sponge filters are perfect,I just love them..nice gentle filtration + the babies can feed off it once free swimming. Dont worry bout the hiding - will take them a day or two to get used to new tank... Raise the temp a little bit..say 27 - 28... If they dont spawn in a week or so,try a nice waterchange with water a degree or twoo coller than that - that often triggers spawning...
would recomend a Glass devider though - my male would never start building his nest unlesshe was sepperated from the female...would just chase her round and round the tank otherwise...

 

Thanks Shawn well I could put her back in the main tank in the meantime? funny enough I put a new heater in yesterday as the other one was very small, anyway I had to wait and see the actual temp it would create as you never know with them, they are never the temp that it says on it, anyway it landed up going to 28.5 or so, so I then reduced it this morning to 26.4 and did a water change lol, pretty much what you said above so I wonder if that will help? he is not chasing her around at this stage, if anything she is 'clingy' for want of a better word hehe... she just wants to be near him all the time... I will give it a day or 2 as you have suggested and then try doing what you have said above.. going to have to try and find a piece of glass if I want to separate them in the same tank, or do you suggest I put her back in main tank? C

 

Nope - keep her there - the male needs to know there is a female around,otherwise why go through the time and effort to build a bubble nest... Leave them for a couple of days...if he doesnt start building,then separate them... Any glass shop can cut you a pannel to fit in... I had mine cut to just wider than the tank and wedged it in placewith some folded ver rubber bands so that there was gaps on the sides for water movement...

 

Just an update... so they are still settling in, and seem to be doing a little better especially when they think there is no one around, still a bit scared when someone is near the tank, they seem a bit nervous. They also didnt want to eat last night again, does anyone know why this happens? and if it is normal? for 2 days in a row? surely they are hungry? I am so glad I work from home so that I dont have to miss a thing! hope you all have an awesome day!

 

Cool, will do, thanks

 

Hi Aqua, if you going to be needing microworm, i was at a lfs this weekend that has microworm cultures for sale, cheap and lookks good, just let me know and il tell you where i saw them. good luck with the breeding.

 

The liqui fry is great, and feeding the fry @ regular intervals should be sufficient...just a word of advice on the tank, when breeding always ensure a bare bottom tank, this will allow a cleaner enviroment and for the babys to find food easier. I breed all my fish in a bare bottom tank, also makes cleaning the tank a hole lot quicker. The sponge filter is also great, I only use sponge filters for breeding, just ensure the current is not to strong to brake his bubble nest, I actually turn mine of completely when breeding my Bettas and only turn it on a slow flow after fry is taking BS then full after about 2 weeks.

 

Aqua this doesnt sound good...it really sounds like a tank cycling issue? But you say the tank was cycled? Did you use mature water from your exhisting tank?

 

I dont know whats happening, but the gourami's are not eating... have not taken any food (that I have seen anyway) since they have moved into their new home and now due to trying to feed them and the uneaten food in the tank, (I didnt remove incase they decided to eat when I wasnt around and I feed at night) now I have planeria going to do another water change today and a good gravel clean, and will repeat this daily till the planeria is gone, but I just dont know what to do to make the gourami's eat.. I have tried blood worm, artemia, white shrimp, flakes... and nothing interests them... anyone got any ideas?

Thanks,
Candice

 

Hi Hennie,

I am using the same tank with everything in it as was, only did a 50% water change as the water was a slightly brackish (very slightly)...I have done another water change since then, and all water parameters are perfect... could it be a case of them being used to a bigger tank with more circulation? however they are the only 2 fish I have in the 100lt... so they have all the space to themselves.. I think I am going to try and get them sorted out and happy before focussing on taking the gravel out for breeding, but thanks for the advice on that, will def use it when the time comes