Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Has anyone bred these guys? They look really cool but I heard they are hard to keep alive but I saw a website about breeding them and wasrerally suprised to hear the female keeps the eggs and fry in her mouth. I thought they'd lay them in a bubble nest like other gouramis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 yes i have breed them all be it by accident.i had them in a heavily planted tank with discuss.and i didnt no they had breed until i noticed tiny copies of there parents amongst the water sprite floating on top of tank.the sprite gave them great cover which stopped the discuss from seeing them let alone eating them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 How many did you have? I looked on the breeding list and saw only one person bred them and that was in 1985 :-? . What temp was the tank and all that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 um it was about 5 years ago the temp would have been about 25/26c and i think i had about 3 2 females and a male but cant remember exactly.it was just a comunity tank and didnt have any intentions of breeding them so didnt pay allot of atention to detail.but if you are going to i would highly recoment having water sprite or indian fern floating on the top as it gave them great cover and i suspect they were feeding from any micro organisms that may have been in there cause by the time i noticed them they were of a good size and all i had been feeding was blood worm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Sweet thanks. I'd set up they're own breeding tank and all that and have lots of plants. What size tank would it need to be for breeding? would bare bottom or gravel be best. Also what size do they have to be to breed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 dosnt need to be a big tank but as i say i would have plenty of the water sprite on top as i also think this made the adults feel secure as well.you could do either with or without but i would have some drift wood in there as i think they need sumfin to lay eggs on before she pics them up but not certain as i didnt see them do it.good luck.i actually couldnt beleive my eyes whan i saw i had babies as aparently they are hard to breed but its just a matter of right conditions i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Thanks sharkie. Yeah the need all these perfect conditions but they don't seem to hard to get, They need water around 27 and an air temp the same (just put glad wrap or someting over the tank if it doesn't have a lid), the females need to be really conditioned as once they've bred she doesn't eat for 14 days until she has the babies, the PH needs to be 5 - 6.5 so I'll put peat in to lower the ph, needs lots of plants and an open space for the male to breed with her. The only thing I don't know is what is kH and GH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkie Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 i think i fed a bit of whit worm as well which would be good for conditioning the females and when the top of the tank is covered in water sprite it acts as an insulator sealing of the water surface...also there wasnt allot of water movement either.i couldnt tell ya about my ph but see if ya can get some bog wood as i did have a big peice in there which would also help your ph.my tank def wasnt 27 degrees though more like 25 i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 It would be great if you could breed them They're really cool looking 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 I was seriously considering setting up a Asian blackwater biotope for these fish, but again it came down to lack of space. :roll: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Yeah theres a few thing I'm going to be breeding / trying to breed next year. I'm hoping to breed Panda Corys, Chocolate Gouramis, Chocolate Australe, different types of killies (maybe) Crowntail Fighters and maybe Badis Badis if I can find some and I'll have my tank with the breeding pair of BNs and platys (who breed on their own :roll: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 I'm setting up the tank. It's going to have a fairly good sized peice of driftwood in the corner with Xmas moss on the bottom of the front until about 3/4 of the way back. Then it'll have dense plants down the back and peat in the tank if the ph isn't low enough. Does this sound OK? What sort of filteration should I have? I thought a sponge filter but I read that they like strong filteration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 There is some good info here, http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... urami.html There is another site, which must be bookmarked in my other browser, but I will see if I can find it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 Yeah I saw that site and it was really good. I'm just looking round other websites and they don't have many plants in theres :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 If Sharkey's setup worked, I would go with that. Whilst a biotope setup would appear to be the 'ideal', I think that having natural food available for the fry in a well established tank would be the way to go. I have had success with breeding Sparkling Gourami in a two foot community setup that was densely planted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 The tanks now got xmas moss all down one end that will hopefully grow to about 5cms tall. Down the other end it has a bit of driftwood that nearly touches the top of the water with smaller rocks and a smaller piece of driftwood with frilled java fern growing on it. Also in between the rocks is frilled and normal java fern and it has a anubis (sp??) and a crypt in there. I'll also add some cabomba and ambulia later on if the xmas moss doesn't grow. The tank holds about 40ltrs. How many pairs do you think I could put in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 1 pair? or a trio? What colour is the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 At the moment it's a bit dirty but it'll clear up. I may add peat so that may make it a bit dirty. Why?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Make sure the filter is mature before you put the Gourami in, they will die at the drop of a hat, beleive me, I am back down to one female from a group of four. She was the oldest from a different import than the ones that died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Yip been going for overy a year now but I did just change most the media and did a big water change so that probably wasn't too good :-? . I check the water when I get back after christmas to make sure. Is sexing them easy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Nope, what colours they show depends on what mood they are in, but I have found the males usually have a slight red tinge along the top and bottom of the tail. When you startle them, they go quite pale almost instantly and will just float around and look like dead leaves, except for the beady eyes that follow you about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 What size do they have to be before they can breed? The ones the lfs get in are usually small. I won't get them while we're on holiday then if they die really easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Not too sure, the male I had that did all the chasing was about 30mm (that is measuring up to the caudal peduncle - beginning of the tail) My big female is about 40mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 the lfs ones are about 3cms maybe. I just hooppe they get a mix of different sexes as they ussually get mainly male fish in for some reason :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Now i think of it, Adding peat would probably best be done after the fish have been introduced. Because a change from lfs ph to 5-6 wouldnt be too good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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