Need Some Help With Baby Gouramis Asap

[vonjankmon]

I have a tank of gouramis, 55 gallon with 2 Goldens, 2 Pearls, 2 Paradise, and 1 Pink Kissing Gourami. The golden male has been trying to build bubble nests on and off for a couple of months so I began to setup a 15 gallon tank to use as a breeding tank, unfortunately I found out tonight that they beat me to the punch. I have little baby fish swimming around and a 15 gallon tank that isn't ready for them.

So I need some questions answered and some opinions on how to take care of the fry.

First thing is what can I feed them? I have a brine shrimp hatching station and I started it up tonight but are they small enough to feed to the fry? The fry have to have hatched sometime today or yesterday they're so tiny. And if not the brine shrimp what should I feed them?

Next thing I want to try and do is segregate them off. I'm going to try and get one of those hatching containers that hang in the tank for them but I'm not sure if that is the best thing.

Any other advice would be greatly appriciated. This really caught me off guard and on a good note is that WW3 is not taking place in my tank, the male is hostile but it's not killing the other fish, it also helps that for a 55 gallon the tank is a bit under stocked. There's plenty of live plants in the tank so the fry also have plenty of places to hide but I've already seen a few of them eaten.

 

[murphyk32]

Personally, i have no clue.. but would recommend posting in the tropical discussion forum for more faster answers.. for whatever reason the gourami forum is extremely quiet and ur situation seems to need immediate action.

goodluck

Murphy

 

[Colin_T]

Use some of the tank water to set up the 15gallon tank. You only want the tank about 6inches deep. Then scoop the fry out and move them into it. Put a coverglass on the tank to keep the air warm. If you have an air operated sponge filter then put that in the fry tank along with a heater.

Baby gouramis are tiny and need green water and infusoria as a first food. They can’t eat newly hatched brineshrimp until they are at least a week old, usually 2 weeks old. Green water & infusoria take time to culture so I would recommend getting some liquid fry food and adding a few drops of that to a small phial of tank water. Shake it up until you get a milky liquid, then pour that in the tank.
You can also get powdered fry foods and these can be used as well. Just add a small amount to some water and shake. Then add to the fry tank.

If you can’t get to a pet shop then boil up an egg. Use the yellow egg yolk and push it through a handkerchief. Then add the little bits of mushed yolk to a container of tank water. Shake hell out of it and use an eye dropper to add a few drops of the liquid to the tank.

Monitor the water quality and do partial water changes (with old tank water) to keep the tank clean.
In a few weeks you can start adding newly hatched brineshrimp and increase the water level in the tank.

 

[vonjankmon]

Thanks Colin_T, so far so good. I used the boiled egg method you explained and it looks so far like they love it. Can I keep the solution in the fridge for a couple of days safely?

I emptied the 15 gallon and filled it about half way with water from my 55g and put about 40 or so of the fry in there, leaving 60-80ish in the 55 gallon. Figure I'll split the difference incase something happens to either tank. I stopped by the fish store today and got some Hikari Fry Bites but it looks like it will be a couple of weeks before they can eat that, even as small as the powder is, it still looks to big for them although they did show a little bit of interest in it when I put a tiny bit in but they show far more interested in the egg so just holding off for now on the fry bites.

Day 3 and so far so good. Cleaned the canister filter out on the 55 gallon today also to make sure the water quality stays good in the 55 gallon. A little concerned about the fry getting sucked into it but I sat and watched for about 10 minutes and it didn't seem like a problem so far.

 

[Colin_T]

If the baby gouramis show interest in the Hikari baby food then keep adding a small amount each day. Do this for a few weeks and when you see all the fry eating it, and having full stomachs, then you can stop using the egg. Also whenever you add a new food, (ie: newly hatched brineshrimp) you should continue feeding the older food/s for a couple of weeks in conjunction with the new food. This allows the fry a chance to adapt and accept the new food and means they won't starve if they don't eat it straight away. It also gives any small fry a chance to keep eating the other foods until they get big enough to eat the new foods.