After Breeding Gouramis

[-Nemo-]

I have a pair of Gouramis i'm thinking about breeding, and have read a few guides to go about that. A few questions though:
1) If the pair aren't removed from the main tank, will they still mate or will they not until put into a seperate tank?
2) After the fry are hatched and swimming around and male removed, is it fine to add him back to the main tank where the female is?
3) How long do you recommend the fry being seperate from the main tank?

Thanks for any responses. I'm real excited

 

[sylvia]

What species?

1) Most of the common species will spawn in the main tank. However, it is easier to condition them if they are seperate and many need to have some time away from each other in order to feel like spawning when they next meet (in the wild, a female will not live around a male permanently but, when one stumbles into a male's territory, it'll be one of few opportunities to spawn - so gouramies spawn best if they've been seperated for a while). the male also becomes rather aggressive when guarding his nest. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you can't usually raise fry with the parents in the main tank and, certainly, not with most community fish.

2) Yes

3) The first thing that strikes me with this question is the assumption that you'll have room in your main tank! You could well end up with hundreds of fry. Think about this carefuly before you spawn your fish and make sure you know who will buy them or otherwise take them off your hands. Not all LFSs will accept them. To answer your question, this'll largely depend on what the fry are fed and the breeding tank conditions (eg temp. and frequency of water changes). However, I can tell you that they are safe to move to the main tank when they are about 1" long provided you don't have any fish that could eat something this size. Also, whether you should move any to the main tank at all will depend on the species. If you happen to own three-spots, for example, fry could well be killed if added to a tank containing any adults.

 

[-Nemo-]

They are dwarfs.
Thanks for the helpful info

 

[sylvia]

In that case they won't be overly aggressive but it is likely going to be difficult to persuade them to spawn without seperating them for a while and conditioning them on live/frozen foods.