Can't Find Female Dwarf Gourami

zepyt3

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I just recently started my own aquarium after someone gave me a tank. After a kind of rough start, the tank is doing well, and so aren't the fish. I have two male dwarf gouramis, and I would like to buy a female or a couple to possibly breed them. Locally I can't find them. When I asked the people at the fish store, they said it's hard to get females because they don't want you breeding them. When I look online I see people talking about buying them in pairs so you must be able to buy the females somewhere. I've looked online and can't find anyplace that sells them. So, I am hoping someone out there knows where I could buy a female gourami, the Red Dwarf Gouramis. Please give me a web link or info if you know where. Would really appreciate it.


Bill
 
Hi, female dwarf gouramis should not be hard to get hold of.

You must understand though it is firstly very important to get the right enviroment before you think of trying to breed them.

Dwarf Gourami males are very territorial and will fight. They maybe ok at the moment but they will fight as they mature.

Also the ratio needs to be 2 females to 1 male. One of each may lead to the male harrasing the female (to death, literally, if she wont breed)

To breed the male needs to build a bubble nest so floating plant (or plants that reach the surface) are required.

Gourami require a mature and well planted setup with plenty of hiding places. Also very calm fish mates. Above all the water must be spot-on.

One of your males needs to go back to the LFS....asap.

Hope this helps :good:
 
Thanks Doresy

I have quite a few plants in there now, with floating surface plants as well. I have some platys in there with a couple of Mollies. They seem pretty peaceful. When I find females to purchase, then I will get rid of the other male though its kind of a bummer because I have grown attached to both. They were both in the first group of fish I bought when I started the tank. I will keep checking around the local shops then.

Bill
 
How large is your tank? Dwarf males can be kept together as well as at least 4 (in your case) females. However, that requires at least a 40 gallon tank. Also, how many platies and mollies do you have and what sexes? As you may have discovered, these breed like rabbits (well, actually, more like guppies :p) and they can overrun your tank easily. Mollies don't tend to like gouramies much either.

Also, you should know that dwarfs are one of the most fragile of the common gouramies and often carry disease. Stress almost inevitably leads to death - so don't attempt to breed before you know exactly what you're doing or you'll literally kill them. You can't just breed them by putting them together - you need a seperate cycled breeding tank with a sponge filter, heater and a few plants. You also need to have food for the fry - they are tiny and infusoria and later baby brine shrimp, vinegar eels or microworm. You can also buy commercial liquid fry foods but these can be even more messy than the afformentioned live foods. The parents need to be conditioned on live and frozen foods and they need to be seperated for a while before spawning as, usually, they will refuse to spawn otherwise. If you have a spawning tank set up, that's relatively simple - you move the male in first. Also, they have huge spawns - where will you raise the fry and how will you get rid of them? Will an LFS take them? Do you have a grow-out tank?

The reason female dwarfs are difficult to find is that they are not as colorful as males and therefore do not sell particularly well so LFSs don't stock them if they can help it. This is also why many LFSs sell dwarfs as pairs - to ensure they sell the females as well.

Before you decide to spawn this species, try searching this section for threads on gourami breeding. Most of the more common species (three-spots, honeys, pearls etc) have almost identical requirements and breeding habits.
 
I know alot of people slag off Pets At Home, but I have to say, they do sell dwarf gouramis seperatly, not as pairs and the last time I was in there, they had quite a few young dwarf gouramis that looked in good condition.
 

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