Dark Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 I am looking for information on the breeding habits of 'Moonlights'. I have two moonlights in a small community tank. A few months after they were introduced I noticed that one was bullying the other around, (darting towards it and chasing it around at high speeds with little physical contact) i also assume it killed one of my siamese algae eaters and mutilated a silver-tip tetra. I observed this for a while until it was obvious that the moonlight being bullied was losing weight and hiding a lot, so I removed the bully to my holding tank for a week. Upon introducing it back into the tank, the formerly _bullied_ fish has gained a lot of colour in the spines at the front of its anal fin, it is also showing the spines off (they are larger than that of the other fish, i am fairly certain that the formerly bullied fish is therefore a male, and the former bully is female), and the following behaviour ensues... The male is now chasing the female around, sucking on her fins (not damaging... yet?), and when not doing this or stopping for a short rest, is wiggling back and forth, (as if trying to touch it nose to its tail) and i am confused that the female is not trying to get away... I'm fairly convinced that this is mating behaviour, as it is different to the chasing around i described before, and there is no physical damage being done. There is very little information i can find about the breeding habits of Gourami, specifically moonlights, which i read are the more timid of the family. For example, i would expect from what i have read that there would be a bubble nest before this happens, that the female would try to hide, and that the male would have more striking colors, extending to his ventral fins also. its not very educational out there *points to internet* Therefore, if there are any moonlight experts out there... HELP! perhaps this will help educate someone else as well... _________________ This was hand typed on recycled electrons [ This Message was edited by: Dark on 2002-02-01 02:59 ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 2, 2002 Report Share Posted February 2, 2002 Try http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gmoonlight.html There are people there who have bred this fish so perhaps you could contact them directly. It is a pity the font colour used is yellow as I found it hard to read but I think some of the information there will be useful to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny Posted May 8, 2002 Report Share Posted May 8, 2002 I have a moonlight gourami that is about 6". You can tell the males and females apart by what colour tinge they have. The female has a yellow tinge on her pelvic fins, the male has a red tinge. I have found mine to be a bully who is constantly annoying her tankmates, especially the other gouramis. i have found her to be a hardy fish, as she has jumped out of the tank on occasions and appears to be fine when I put her back in. I also have 1tsp of salt per 10l and she appears to like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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