**Disclaimer: This is a purely personal experience of breeding gouramis and in no ways should be taken as canon**
My Opaline Gourami Breeding project.
Step 1: Buying the fish.
I bought a pair of healthy opaline gouramis from Jackson Aquarists on the 13th of September 2014.
A main sub step I would like to add is the identification of the male and the female gouramis.
i. The male has a pointed dorsal fin
Image 1
ii. The female has a more rounded dorsal fin.
Image 2
I introduced both fish into my main display tank for a good 3 months before I decided to breed them. This helps to rest them well, including the quarantine period, checking for any defects in the fish, treating for general illnesses etc. The rest period is particularly necessary since the fish will be pretty stressed out, a result of its journey from the breeder to your local aquarium shop to your aquarium.
Step 2: Conditioning the fish
For conditioning the fish, the following can be used
1. Freeze dried tubifex
2. Freeze dried blood worms
3. High protein fish food
4. Live foods like mosquito larvae, earthworms, live tubifex and live blood worms and maggots.
Care should be taken to ensure that these foods are all eaten as they can pollute the water pretty quickly.
Image 3: Freeze dried bloodworms.
Step 3: Setting up the breeding tank.
I used a shallow tank 4 inches deep, 15X10 inches wide. I introduced the male gourami first and the female a day later. The tank had no filters and no water movement, so daily water changes were a must. Float half a Styrofoam cup or a piece of Styrofoam. In a day or two the male will start building the bubble nest around the piece of Styrofoam. Once the bubble nest is built, the male will try to mate with the female, so watch the bubble nest carefully. Be careful while performing water changes. You don't want to damage the bubble nest in any way.
Step 4: Wait for the spawning
In 2 weeks, my gouramis had spawned. Gouramis are anabantids. That means in addition to using their gills they can also gulp down air from the atmosphere. Another notable feature of gouramis is building bubble nests, like the Betta. That is our marker for a successful spawn. The moment you see tiny fry as shown below, stop making water changes.
Below you will find my 1 day old fry.
Image 4:
Once you see the fry, remove the female. Otherwise the male will harass the female and possibly kill even. The male will pick up the fry that fall off from the bubble nest and put them back in. Keep the male in the breeding tank for a couple more days till the fry are free swimming. Since the male does not eat during the time between spawn and the free swimming fry, it may try and eat some fry. Once the fry are free swimming remove the male.
My Opaline Gourami Breeding project.
Step 1: Buying the fish.
I bought a pair of healthy opaline gouramis from Jackson Aquarists on the 13th of September 2014.
A main sub step I would like to add is the identification of the male and the female gouramis.
i. The male has a pointed dorsal fin
Image 1
ii. The female has a more rounded dorsal fin.
Image 2
I introduced both fish into my main display tank for a good 3 months before I decided to breed them. This helps to rest them well, including the quarantine period, checking for any defects in the fish, treating for general illnesses etc. The rest period is particularly necessary since the fish will be pretty stressed out, a result of its journey from the breeder to your local aquarium shop to your aquarium.
Step 2: Conditioning the fish
For conditioning the fish, the following can be used
1. Freeze dried tubifex
2. Freeze dried blood worms
3. High protein fish food
4. Live foods like mosquito larvae, earthworms, live tubifex and live blood worms and maggots.
Care should be taken to ensure that these foods are all eaten as they can pollute the water pretty quickly.
Image 3: Freeze dried bloodworms.
Step 3: Setting up the breeding tank.
I used a shallow tank 4 inches deep, 15X10 inches wide. I introduced the male gourami first and the female a day later. The tank had no filters and no water movement, so daily water changes were a must. Float half a Styrofoam cup or a piece of Styrofoam. In a day or two the male will start building the bubble nest around the piece of Styrofoam. Once the bubble nest is built, the male will try to mate with the female, so watch the bubble nest carefully. Be careful while performing water changes. You don't want to damage the bubble nest in any way.
Step 4: Wait for the spawning
In 2 weeks, my gouramis had spawned. Gouramis are anabantids. That means in addition to using their gills they can also gulp down air from the atmosphere. Another notable feature of gouramis is building bubble nests, like the Betta. That is our marker for a successful spawn. The moment you see tiny fry as shown below, stop making water changes.
Below you will find my 1 day old fry.
Image 4:
Once you see the fry, remove the female. Otherwise the male will harass the female and possibly kill even. The male will pick up the fry that fall off from the bubble nest and put them back in. Keep the male in the breeding tank for a couple more days till the fry are free swimming. Since the male does not eat during the time between spawn and the free swimming fry, it may try and eat some fry. Once the fry are free swimming remove the male.
