can dwarf gouramis and pearl gouramis mate

[Robbo851]

i want to get a dwarf gourami male for my 20 gallon, would a female pearl gourami or honey or kissing mate with it. would the male be aggressive towards them.

 

[sylvia]

A kissing gourami would be too big for that tank. Kissers and dwarfs cannot hybridize.
A female pearl would work but they can't mate. A pearl is your best option IMO. The male dwarf should ignore her mostly and, as she'll get bigegr than him but is peaceful, they shouldn't clash.
Honeys and dwarfs can cross-breed but it's unlikely to happen in a community setting and you wouldn't be able to raise the fry in there anyway (which is a good thing - cross-breeding fish is not reccomended). If you go for honeys, get 2 females, not just one, so that the male dwarf doesn't stress them out if he starts chasing them around.

 

[Robbo851]

so 1 male dwarf and two female honeys

 

[Just40Fun]

Honeys and dwarfs can cross-breed but it's unlikely to happen in a community setting and you wouldn't be able to raise the fry in there anyway <b>(which is a good thing - cross-breeding fish is not reccomended)</b>.

[snapback]828503[/snapback]​

Why?

 

[GuppyDude]

well for one its dificult for their mateing ritual thing to take place in a community full of distractions and even if it did happen the fry would be gobbled up before they hatched.

in my opinion, createing hybrids has produced us with many many brillant aquarium fish, but these fish were bred by professionals who knew what they were doing and knew what they would get. at teh same time thogh the creation of hybrids by amatures has created weak stock that could some how reproduce with good stock and create some problems. you really should cross fish just for teh hell of it, its gotta be something you commit yourself too and follow throgh with so u dont end up with a bad product. you also have to understand that your hybrids wont be accepted by your lfs (not even for free) most lfs owners are hibbiest them selves and knwo of the dangers of freak hybrids. if u wanna get into breeding these fish i would recommend reading up big time and learning about their genetics and what not.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

Honeys and dwarfs can cross-breed but it's unlikely to happen in a community setting and you wouldn't be able to raise the fry in there anyway  <b>(which is a good thing - cross-breeding fish is not reccomended)</b>.

[snapback]828503[/snapback]​

Why?

[snapback]843278[/snapback]​

some reasons that cross-breeding is not recommended:

-- any instance of hybridization is a lost opportunity to breed pure-line fish and reduce the number of wild-caughts on the market (this is a huge factor of the population depletion of several Rift Lake Cichlid species and Endler's Livebearer.)

-- hybrids resulting from closely related species (such as dwarf and honey gourami) could easily resemble closely the parent fish and be sold as such. should these be somehow bred back into the parent fish, desirable characteristics such as small adult size or coloration would be impaired while undesirable characteristics such as infertility could be introduced to the line.

-- often hybrids do not carry full expression of genes carried by either parent species, being neither one thing nor the other. this situation applies to such crosses as platy & swordtail; a male platyxswordtail is likely to have a blunted or only partially formed sword. platies are prized for the roundness of their fins, while swordtails are prized for their long and highly defined swordtail. the hybrid exhibits neither of these qualities; its children (should a female unwittingly be bred back into either species) would be similarly lacking.

-- hybrid cichlids often display the worst possible combination of temperments resulting from the parent species. thus blood parrots can still be absolute terrors even with their tiny mouths and flowerhorns essentially must be kept in "solitary confinement".

-- new or simply less-popular types of hybrids are almost completely unpredictable, making it difficult to house them properly in the right size tank with compatible species. this is the reason that most serious aquarists refuse to purchase "Mixed African Cichlids" for their Rift Lake tanks. they've put in too much time and money to risk it by adding a rabid wolf that looks like a sheep. similarly, most serious aquarists who own easily interbred species such as the Rift Lake cichlids will not keep closely related species in a tank and euthanize questionable spawns. there really is no way to responsibly dispose of hybrid Rift Lake fry.

-- responsible disposal of hybrid fry is often quite challenging. to responsibly dispose of hybrid fry, one needs to be certain that the fry are clearly presented as hybrids (not a parent species) and that any fry resulting from the first batch are also clearly presented as hybrids. that means that just dropping off a bag of platy-swordtails at the local LFS is out of the question. the most complicated factor of disposal is finding another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry that can also find yet another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry. a significant portion of serious aquarist are simply Not Interested in hybrid fish. the un-serious aquarist often cannot be trusted to take disposal of fry seriously. if breeding fertile hybrids, one is presented with quite the quandry!

 

[spanishguy111]

Honeys and dwarfs can cross-breed but it's unlikely to happen in a community setting and you wouldn't be able to raise the fry in there anyway  <b>(which is a good thing - cross-breeding fish is not reccomended)</b>.

[snapback]828503[/snapback]​

Why?

[snapback]843278[/snapback]​

some reasons that cross-breeding is not recommended:

-- any instance of hybridization is a lost opportunity to breed pure-line fish and reduce the number of wild-caughts on the market (this is a huge factor of the population depletion of several Rift Lake Cichlid species and Endler's Livebearer.)

-- hybrids resulting from closely related species (such as dwarf and honey gourami) could easily resemble closely the parent fish and be sold as such. should these be somehow bred back into the parent fish, desirable characteristics such as small adult size or coloration would be impaired while undesirable characteristics such as infertility could be introduced to the line.

-- often hybrids do not carry full expression of genes carried by either parent species, being neither one thing nor the other. this situation applies to such crosses as platy & swordtail; a male platyxswordtail is likely to have a blunted or only partially formed sword. platies are prized for the roundness of their fins, while swordtails are prized for their long and highly defined swordtail. the hybrid exhibits neither of these qualities; its children (should a female unwittingly be bred back into either species) would be similarly lacking.

-- hybrid cichlids often display the worst possible combination of temperments resulting from the parent species. thus blood parrots can still be absolute terrors even with their tiny mouths and flowerhorns essentially must be kept in "solitary confinement".

-- new or simply less-popular types of hybrids are almost completely unpredictable, making it difficult to house them properly in the right size tank with compatible species. this is the reason that most serious aquarists refuse to purchase "Mixed African Cichlids" for their Rift Lake tanks. they've put in too much time and money to risk it by adding a rabid wolf that looks like a sheep. similarly, most serious aquarists who own easily interbred species such as the Rift Lake cichlids will not keep closely related species in a tank and euthanize questionable spawns. there really is no way to responsibly dispose of hybrid Rift Lake fry.

-- responsible disposal of hybrid fry is often quite challenging. to responsibly dispose of hybrid fry, one needs to be certain that the fry are clearly presented as hybrids (not a parent species) and that any fry resulting from the first batch are also clearly presented as hybrids. that means that just dropping off a bag of platy-swordtails at the local LFS is out of the question. the most complicated factor of disposal is finding another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry that can also find yet another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry. a significant portion of serious aquarist are simply Not Interested in hybrid fish. the un-serious aquarist often cannot be trusted to take disposal of fry seriously. if breeding fertile hybrids, one is presented with quite the quandry!

[snapback]843612[/snapback]​

A good way to get rid of hybrid fry is to feed them to something large and hungry while they are tiny

 

[Just40Fun]

some reasons that cross-breeding is not recommended:

-- any instance of hybridization is a lost opportunity to breed pure-line fish and reduce the number of wild-caughts on the market (this is a huge factor of the population depletion of several Rift Lake Cichlid species and Endler's Livebearer.)

-- hybrids resulting from closely related species (such as dwarf and honey gourami) could easily resemble closely the parent fish and be sold as such. should these be somehow bred back into the parent fish, desirable characteristics such as small adult size or coloration would be impaired while undesirable characteristics such as infertility could be introduced to the line.

-- often hybrids do not carry full expression of genes carried by either parent species, being neither one thing nor the other. this situation applies to such crosses as platy & swordtail; a male platyxswordtail is likely to have a blunted or only partially formed sword. platies are prized for the roundness of their fins, while swordtails are prized for their long and highly defined swordtail. the hybrid exhibits neither of these qualities; its children (should a female unwittingly be bred back into either species) would be similarly lacking.

-- hybrid cichlids often display the worst possible combination of temperments resulting from the parent species. thus blood parrots can still be absolute terrors even with their tiny mouths and flowerhorns essentially must be kept in "solitary confinement".

-- new or simply less-popular types of hybrids are almost completely unpredictable, making it difficult to house them properly in the right size tank with compatible species. this is the reason that most serious aquarists refuse to purchase "Mixed African Cichlids" for their Rift Lake tanks. they've put in too much time and money to risk it by adding a rabid wolf that looks like a sheep. similarly, most serious aquarists who own easily interbred species such as the Rift Lake cichlids will not keep closely related species in a tank and euthanize questionable spawns. there really is no way to responsibly dispose of hybrid Rift Lake fry.

-- responsible disposal of hybrid fry is often quite challenging. to responsibly dispose of hybrid fry, one needs to be certain that the fry are clearly presented as hybrids (not a parent species) and that any fry resulting from the first batch are also clearly presented as hybrids. that means that just dropping off a bag of platy-swordtails at the local LFS is out of the question. the most complicated factor of disposal is finding another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry that can also find yet another person capable of responsibly disposing of fry. a significant portion of serious aquarist are simply Not Interested in hybrid fish. the un-serious aquarist often cannot be trusted to take disposal of fry seriously. if breeding fertile hybrids, one is presented with quite the quandry!

[snapback]843612[/snapback]​

Nicely put! Sounded like mixing a drawf + snake skin would be a good combo.