dwarf gouramis

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pcam86

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Hi, I've got a pair of dwarf gouramis and was just wondering what you do to get them to breed? -_-
 
If you do a search of this forum you'll find plenty of threads regarding this and there's a pinned topic here too.

Now a few questions so I can help you if you like - how big are the fish, how long have you had them, what tanks are available to you/what fish are in them and are you sure you have a male and female?
 
I only have a 2 foot tank and also a breeder net. i've had them for around 2 weeks now. they're definatly male and female as the size and colour made it clear.
 
You won't be able to breed the gouramies unless you can get a seperate breeding tank of at least 10 gallons. I'm assuming the 2-footer is the tank the adults (and any other fish you have) are currently in. The breeder net is of no use to you for breeding gouramies.

What you would have to do is set up the seperate tank with a sponge filter, heater and tight-fitting hood w/ lights. A bare-bottomed tank with nothing but a few floating plants (or a styrophoam cup cute lengthways and placed with the concave side down) and a ceramic pot is best. Then you lower the water level to half and increase the temp to about 80 deg. F. If you have left the sponge filter in your established community for a week or so beforehand, it will have enough bacteria so as to instantly cycle the breeding tank. That will save you water changes later. If you put the pair in now and they have been conditioned on live/frozen, generaly rich, nutricious foods, the male will build a bubblenest and then entice the female under and get her to relaese the eggs which he will then fertilise. He then proceeds to chase her away. At this point you need to remove her and the ceramic pot (which is just a place for her to take refuge from the male when he begins to chase her away). The male will guard the nest for the next couple of days. Don't bother feeding him. Once the fry are free-swimming, remove him. Start feeding them on infusoria, liquid foods, microworms and later powdered flake. After about a week, fill up the tank completely. Make sure the sponge filter is on and add an airstone, if necessary (won't usualy be with a sponge filter in operation), to break the surface tension. Ensure the hood fits very tightly. You'll want to do water changes as often as possible to keep water quality good. Use a white bucket so you can see any fry you accidentaly syphon out.
 

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