Breeding gouramis

[Rob 28]

Hi all,

Couldnt see any gourami breeding questions first off in the gourami and betta section so hope this is right place.

I read in my book that when moving gouramis to a small breeding tank, you need not put a filter in as this will disturb the water surface where they build their bubble nest.

Was suprised to read this - is this right - do i not need any filter atall ? What will happen to the ammonia and nitrite ? SUrely the fry will have to stay in their for a while with the ammonia ?
I bought a v small airstone filter which i thought would be calm enough for breeding my gouramis. By the way - is there a right time to transfer the female to the breeding tank ? She is looking fatter in the belly than i have seen her for the last 6 weeks. should i put her in the breeding tank and raise the water temp to 29 ?
Thanks for you help.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Rob 28

Gouramis are not the easiest fish to breed.

I've had luck by setting up a breeding tank using gravel and plants from an established tank to provide bacteria and use a box filter attached to a pump. This can be started using old filter floss from the main tank too, which will get the tank cycled just about immediately.

I put the female in the breeding tank while conditioning her. When I add the male, I adjust the rate of air flow through the filter so that while it is functioning, it is not churning the water surface enough to break up his bubble nest.

After the fry have hatched and the male is removed, I switch from the filter to an airstone, which I adjust to just barely break the surface tension of the water. This is necessary because the most critical period of the fry's development is during the time that their labyrinths are developing. At this stage, they are still very tiny and can easily be tossed around by anything more, yet they will need to have access to air at the surface.

Water changes can be done to control the chemicals in the water and once they have reached the stage when they have developed their labyrinths, the airstone can be removed and a sponge filter attached. Remember too, that you will still have the bacteria in the gravel, on the plants and on the glass to help you.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

That's good info, though I wouldn't get rid of the airstone. If you feed the fry foods that have eggs or anything that would cause an oily skin to develop on the surface, you might want added surface turbulance to break it up.

Also, put the sponge filter in around a week after the fry are free swimming.

 

[Rob 28]

Is it ok not to have a light in the tank ? I have not. Ive put the female in last night.

 

[AquaUK]

Hi Rob

When I bred my Moonlight Gouramis had no filter in there just an airstone and qrapped a lillte filter wool round the top of the airstone this acted like a mini filter keep the flow very low.


And remember to keep the tank well covered while the fry are growing.

 

[Rob 28]

the male has partially built a bubble nest and now he is chasing the female quite harshly and she is knocking into the sides. i put her in because she has got quite plump. should i remove the male incase she gets too stressed and put him back in in a few days to let her rest ? should i take them both out? dont want her to get killed !?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Rob 28

Are there plants or other places where she can escape to? Is there enough room for her to get away? Does she seem at all interested in what he's building?

I recall laughing at my 3 spots the last time I bred them. She would come and inspect the nest and swim away. Then he'd get busy blowing more bubbles. This happened several times before spawning actually happened. But, by this time they had spawned together several times and acted like an old married couple.

Perhaps since this is you gourami's first time, they might be a bit unsure of themselves and nervous. However, he should not be allowed to injure her. I suspect he is chasing her away because the nest is not ready yet, so if she can escape to a safe place leave them and just watch. (Thank goodness this is the weekend!) If he does more than chase, or if she seems to actually be getting hurt, perhaps you should put a stop to it. There will always be another opportunity.

BTW, what kind of gouramis are they? How big is the breeding tank and how do you have it furnished? And, perhaps most important of all, what do you plan to feed the fry?

 

[Rob 28]

Hi Inchworm,

I have removed the male to the 50 gallon tank now as he was actually biting her and i didnt feel good about it. I have left her in the breeding tank.

It is a 10 US gallon with a couple of plants from my established tank and a dark towel under the tank and no gravel (i wanted to have no gravel so i could keep it v clean. I put a very small airstone box filter in with established sponge from my main tank but turned it off because i thought it was distrubing the surface too much. sure enough, when i turned the pump off, he built a nest but she hid in the corner and he kept biting her and stopped building the nest. the nitirte has gone up a bit so i have turned the filter back on (i put the sponge in my main tank whilst it was off to keep the bacteria alive).

I read in one book that you shouldnt have a filter as it disturbs the water too muchn for the nest. im confused about this as the ammo and n02 will rise ? hmmm.

so, have i done right do you think ? i plan on leaving the female in on her own for a week, feeding her frozen brine shrimp and bloodworm, keeping the filter on and putting the male back in in a week. when i do this, should i turn the filter off again then ? oh so many questions!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Rob 28

I think you did the right thing by removing the male. Perhaps the female wasn't ready and the extra conditioning will help. I hope so.

The main thing about having the filter on or off during has to do with the current it creates breaking up the bubblenest. As long as this doesn't happen, leave it on. You can buy a valve to release some of the extra air from the pump at the lfs, if your filter moves the water too much. You will have your bacteria die from lack of oxygen if the air flow is turned off for very long. Since it might take several days until the spawning is actually accomplished, you will want to filter the water if you can.

Getting them to spawn is actually the easy part when it comes to raising gouramis. The hardest part is raising these very very tiny fry. I lost several batches before I finally got it right.

The problem comes with feeding them while keeping the surface of the water clean. If a film forms on the top, you will lose the fry. Liquid fry food tends to do this, so I would not use it. When I finally had success, it was with using infusoria as their first food. Here are a few links for you to look at:

http/home.clara.net/xenotoca/infusoria.htm

http/www.bettasrus.com/bcorner/pages/infusoria.htm

There are many ways to make it, and I would be interested in learning which way you prefer.

Here's another link that you might find useful in the future as a source of tiny live food cultures:

http/www.livefoodcultures.com/

I bought a microworm culture from them and I still have it going as food for my cory fry. If I breed gouramis again, I think I'll try them with microworms after they outgrow the infusoria stage.

It's not too soon to be thinking about this since the cultures have to be started well in advance.

Good luck with the breeding. Please keep me informed about your progress and ask any more questions you have. If I can help you, I'd be very happy to.

 

[Rob 28]

Thks v much Inchworm for all that info. I did have liquid fry food so i will not use that now after what you said - youve saved many lives!!

I will put the male in again in a week and let you know how it goes. One last question, before i read the info you gave - when they talk about conditioning, do you actually have to feed LIVE food or is the frozen brine shrimp and bloodworm i have good enough ?

Thks again.

Rob

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Rob 28

I'm a big fan of live blackworms and I feed them to all my fish regularly. When I condition a fish, I just feed more of them and a lot less of the other food.

But, I do know that many people cannot get live worms and use frozen foods with great success too.

 

[annieme]

when I bred my gouramies I started with a sponge filter. I turrned the filer down lower and lower, but it seemd like ANY vibration in the water dammaged the nest. I gave up on filtration. I would not feed the parents in the breeding tank. Mama would only be going without food for a day or two, and Papa only a few days longer than that. A few days of not feeding should not do any harm to well conditioned breeders. I kept a sponge filter running in a different tank and would move it over as soon as the fry were free swimming.

If I were to try to breed gouramies again, I would probably use potted plants in a bare bottom tank. The plants will help the water stay a little cleaner. Amoina and nitrite shouldn't get that out of control in just a few days.