My Gouramis Are Breeding

[chishnfips]

Hello folks,

My two red honey gouramis are starting to breed, they have built a massive bubble nest in the corner of the tank, the female keeps carrying bits of plants up into the corner and builds it up and chases away the male whenever he goes near.

so
1. I thought it was the male that did all the work.

2. My tank will be due a wee water change in a day or two, so how can I do that with the bubble nest there, without ruining it.

3. If the nest is builkt when will they start mating, and when will the eggs hatch.

4. when the eggs hatch (if it all goes smoothly) how will I get the baby fish into their own tank, (the gouramis started all this in my community tank).

I am scared to move them because I dont want to interupt nature at work, I think that if they managed to and felt secure enough to breed there, then I should let them get on with it.

I have the temp up a wee bit higher than usual so its warm for them, and I am feeding them a wee bit extra.


cheers Folks

oh and I have a spare 14 g tank that I was going to sell but I am setting it up at the mo. B)

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

It does happen sometimes that the female will get involved. Depends on the nature of the male and female involved. As I have said elsewhere some of my girls blow bubbles. I've had a female betta destroy a bubblenest she was so unimpressed with it. Oddly the male now builds far more impressive ones.
If your two are ready to breed then doing a water change won't stop them, assuming you don't go out of your way to stress them and detroy it. I'd check the nest, if pos, for signs of eggs already present. If they're not then go ahead with the water change. If they are then wait for a few days until the eggs hatch. And then keep well away from their little area. I wouldn't give them too much more food, it'll only pollute the tank. They're obviously happy enough as it is.
Best of luck.
Hugs,
P.
P.S:In regards to the other members, watch for aggression levels and if you want the fry to survive you will probably need to remove them after three days. Depending on how defensive the parents are of them. As it is you may find that the other members are herded into a corner to cower in fear, like many of mine were.

 

[chishnfips]

Cheers dibs,

How noticeable are the eggs, will they be visible from the top or the bottom?

I presume there will be loads and loads of eggs there

also if I were to remove the fry after they hatch what would i use? would I use a jam jar because the holes in my net are tiny, I wouldn't want to totally stress them out or if the parents are protective will they be ok in the community tank?

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Nets won't work. Apart from anything it'll kill them almost immediately and they're that small they'll fall through the gaps anyway. I use a see through jug (Jam jar would be fine) and take a smeg load of time and patience trying to catch them. If the parents are very protective it will be obvious and you may get attacked if you put your hand in. I know I was the first time. In which case just wait til you see that phase pass then get them out. And keep an eye on the other fish. They may harass them for the fry or they may be harassed to the point of injuries. Just takes vigilance.
Hugs,
P.

 

[sylvia]

Are you certain you have a male/female pair? Though female honeys can sometimes get involved with bubblenest building - particularly if the male is not in the mood himself or immature/inexperienced - it is far more likely that you have not sexed them correctly and you either have the opposite of what you think or 2 males. Males will build nests without females being present so that would not be unusaul.

Has your 'male' built a nest at all? If only the female is doing it, you probably won't get a spawn as he is not yet ready. The male should also develop a dark blue-black underside when in breeding condition so it'll be obvious.

Eggs/fry are unlikely to survive in a community tank even if they do spawn. If you have anything other than bottom-dwelling catfish/loaches, they will try to eat the eggs/fry and stress the parents/destroy the nest in the process.

Honey gouramies are not aggressive towards their tankmates so that won't be an issue (Miss Dib Dabs has three-spots as far as I know so they are far more aggressive fish) though they do become more territorial and will chase away intruders (as you say you are already seeing).

In most cases the adults will start to eat fry once they are free-swimming and, realy, there should be no other fish in the tank besides the male and fry if you want him to do his job well (he cleans eggs, retrieves fallen eggs/fry and keeps the bubblenest in good condition).

Also, unless your tank is heavily planted/decorated or your filter is very weak, small fry can and will get sucked up and killed by a power filter. A small sponge filter is best for a breeding tank but, obviously, is not going to work in your community tank as you'll get a re-cycle.

Test your water, unless nitrAtes are particularly high, I would delay your water change until after the fry are free-swimming (at which point you don't need to worry about destroying the nest and any fry you syphon out can be retrieved from a light-colored bucket where they'll be visible). Having said that, if the fish you have are not actualy ready to spawn or you've made a mistake sexing them, you may as well destroy the nest and do your water change. When they are redy you can put them in a breeding tank and they'll spawn again - under better circumstances.

 

[chishnfips]

cheers for the replies,

I am totally sure the female is building the nest, The male goes really dark over his face and belly with a yellow anal fin and dark tail fin, the female is all red with a bright blue dorsal and anal fin.

when I looked this morning the nest was almost gone, it seems to be a pattern, the nest is built and is massive throughout the day but at night it must get destroyed and in the morning its tiny. although there are bubbles still there.


the male did start trying to build nests in the early days but they never stuck.


should I just move them to my other tank and let them get on with there, (they will be totally alone in there.)

 

[sylvia]

Can you clarify something up for me? Are the two honeys you have different color morphs? It actualy sounds like you have 2 males as opposed to a pair. The normal variety will get the dark blue-black throat color but the red one that your 'female' fish sounds like it is does not always do so. Do you happen to have a picture of the two? They haven't actualy tried to spawn together right?

 

[chishnfips]

I will get a pic of them for you

Hiya sylvia

this is n't my one but it looks the same I got this from google, I think this is the female.

 

[sylvia]

Your fish is male - it also isn't a honey - it's a dwarf (colisa lalia). At least it is if it looks exactly like that pic. Also, the female version lacks blue on the dorsal or only has a pale blue-ish highlight. Do you have a picture (or can find one that looks like) your other gourami? I'm just curious as to whether that one is a honey.

Link : http/www.tropicalfishfinder.co.uk/dbimag...d_neon_1(1).jpg

I should add that there's a hybrid honey X dwarf circulating but it doesn't look as 'substantial' in build as the fish in that pic and rarely has as vibrant a blue (if any).

Kind of off-topic but does anyone have a picture of a HONEY (colisa chuna/sota) gourami with any blue on it's dorsal that they own (and that is not dyed)?

edit: hopefuly fixed the link

 

[chishnfips]

omg sylvia, I have been hoodwinked by the fish shop!

they told me it was a female, pah.

I am wondering if the dorsal fin stretches back that far on my fish, I will check tonight.

Here is a pic of my other one, the colours aren't as vivid in mine as in this pic I am about to show you, but they are there and it's dorsal fin is pointed at the back.

 

[sylvia]

That one IS a male honey (colisa chuna/sota).

More out of curiosity than anything else, could you tell me what sizes each of the fish are?

 

[chishnfips]

The Male red honey Gourami is about 2 inches long


and the male/female dwarf imposter is about 2.5 inches

cheers for your help sylvia at least I know now that I wont get the pitter patter of tiny fins in my tank. Not unless they adopt lol.....

 

[sylvia]

Lol - funny thought

The sizes sound right too so now I'm 100% certain. There is no way you'd have a 2.5" female honey (not even males get that big for that matter).

Anyway, good luck with them!

 

[chishnfips]

Cheers for the help sylvia