So the bubble nest is finished and the deed has just been done

[Gill Passman]

Hi All,
Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????

Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off - plenty of
hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java Moss....any
suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing a
wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can get some
survivors :-)

Gill

[NetMax]

"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
> Hi All,
> Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????

Hmm, in this case you *want* the tank to get sunlight, to encourage algae
growth and the micro-organisms which live in it. Taking algae covered
decorations from other tanks works too. Eggs hatch in about 2 days
(depending on temperature, which should be between 76 & 81F). It's been
a long time since I bred gouramis (and it was thick-lipped gouramis, a
larger cousin), but the fry are very small. Freshly hatched brine shrimp
might be too big for them. See if you can find fry food (powder) for
egglayers, baby infusoria or if all else fails, boil an egg and drop tiny
portions of the yolk in near the fry (but watch you don't pollute the
tank).
--
www.NetMax.tk

> Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off -
> plenty of
> hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java
> Moss....any
> suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing a
> wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can get
> some
> survivors :-)
>
> Gill

[bassett]

What about frozen baby daphnia. If you can concentrate the kids in one
area, so they swim in the food, they might get the idea.

bassett

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> .. .
>> Hi All,
>> Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????
>
> Hmm, in this case you *want* the tank to get sunlight, to encourage algae
> growth and the micro-organisms which live in it. Taking algae covered
> decorations from other tanks works too. Eggs hatch in about 2 days
> (depending on temperature, which should be between 76 & 81F). It's been a
> long time since I bred gouramis (and it was thick-lipped gouramis, a
> larger cousin), but the fry are very small. Freshly hatched brine shrimp
> might be too big for them. See if you can find fry food (powder) for
> egglayers, baby infusoria or if all else fails, boil an egg and drop tiny
> portions of the yolk in near the fry (but watch you don't pollute the
> tank).
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>
>> Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off - plenty
>> of
>> hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java
>> Moss....any
>> suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing a
>> wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can get
>> some
>> survivors :-)
>>
>> Gill
>
>

[Gill Passman]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> .. .
> > Hi All,
> > Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????
>
> Hmm, in this case you *want* the tank to get sunlight, to encourage algae
> growth and the micro-organisms which live in it. Taking algae covered
> decorations from other tanks works too. Eggs hatch in about 2 days
> (depending on temperature, which should be between 76 & 81F). It's been
> a long time since I bred gouramis (and it was thick-lipped gouramis, a
> larger cousin), but the fry are very small. Freshly hatched brine shrimp
> might be too big for them. See if you can find fry food (powder) for
> egglayers, baby infusoria or if all else fails, boil an egg and drop tiny
> portions of the yolk in near the fry (but watch you don't pollute the
> tank).
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>
> > Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off -
> > plenty of
> > hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java
> > Moss....any
> > suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing a
> > wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can get
> > some
> > survivors :-)
> >
> > Gill
>
>

Thanks....

I'll move an algae covered ornament from one of the other tanks if the fry
hatch but I guess it's not a good idea to disturb the water surface just
yet. Unfortunately the tank is positioned to minimise algae growth and is
newly set up - they obviously couldn't wait <grin>. I've got live bearer
fry food (powder) not sure how this differs to the fry food for egg layers -
I'll get some fry food on the next LFS trip.

Thanks again
Gill

[NetMax]

"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
>
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
>> .. .
>> > Hi All,
>> > Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????
>>
>> Hmm, in this case you *want* the tank to get sunlight, to encourage
>> algae
>> growth and the micro-organisms which live in it. Taking algae covered
>> decorations from other tanks works too. Eggs hatch in about 2 days
>> (depending on temperature, which should be between 76 & 81F). It's
>> been
>> a long time since I bred gouramis (and it was thick-lipped gouramis, a
>> larger cousin), but the fry are very small. Freshly hatched brine
>> shrimp
>> might be too big for them. See if you can find fry food (powder) for
>> egglayers, baby infusoria or if all else fails, boil an egg and drop
>> tiny
>> portions of the yolk in near the fry (but watch you don't pollute the
>> tank).
>> --
>> www.NetMax.tk
>>
>> > Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off -
>> > plenty of
>> > hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java
>> > Moss....any
>> > suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing
>> > a
>> > wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can
>> > get
>> > some
>> > survivors :-)
>> >
>> > Gill
>>
>>
>
> Thanks....
>
> I'll move an algae covered ornament from one of the other tanks if the
> fry
> hatch but I guess it's not a good idea to disturb the water surface
> just
> yet. Unfortunately the tank is positioned to minimise algae growth and
> is
> newly set up - they obviously couldn't wait <grin>. I've got live
> bearer
> fry food (powder) not sure how this differs to the fry food for egg
> layers -
> I'll get some fry food on the next LFS trip.
>
> Thanks again
> Gill


afaik, livebearer fry food is larger than egglayer fry food, so would
probably not be entirely suitable. bassett's suggestion of daphnia fry
sounds great, but I have no experience on how to do this (other than a
small tank in the window sill with flake food, which would take several
days to get going).

Even if no fry are viable, it's fun to watch the routines. Consider it a
practice run for them ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Gill Passman]

NetMax wrote:
> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> .. .
>
>>"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>>
>>>"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
>>>
>>>>Hi All,
>>>>Any advice on keeping my Dwarf Gourami babies if they ever hatch????
>>>
>>>Hmm, in this case you *want* the tank to get sunlight, to encourage
>>>algae
>>>growth and the micro-organisms which live in it. Taking algae covered
>>>decorations from other tanks works too. Eggs hatch in about 2 days
>>>(depending on temperature, which should be between 76 & 81F). It's
>>>been
>>>a long time since I bred gouramis (and it was thick-lipped gouramis, a
>>>larger cousin), but the fry are very small. Freshly hatched brine
>>>shrimp
>>>might be too big for them. See if you can find fry food (powder) for
>>>egglayers, baby infusoria or if all else fails, boil an egg and drop
>>>tiny
>>>portions of the yolk in near the fry (but watch you don't pollute the
>>>tank).
>>>--
>>>www.NetMax.tk
>>>
>>>
>>>>Mr Gourami is guarding the nest and the female has been seen off -
>>>>plenty of
>>>>hiding places for her....the bubble nest is close to some Java
>>>>Moss....any
>>>>suggestions as I've never bred Gourami's before....the male is doing
>>>>a
>>>>wonderful job at the moment...It would be quite exciting if I can
>>>>get
>>>>some
>>>>survivors :-)
>>>>
>>>>Gill
>>>
>>>
>>Thanks....
>>
>>I'll move an algae covered ornament from one of the other tanks if the
>>fry
>>hatch but I guess it's not a good idea to disturb the water surface
>>just
>>yet. Unfortunately the tank is positioned to minimise algae growth and
>>is
>>newly set up - they obviously couldn't wait <grin>. I've got live
>>bearer
>>fry food (powder) not sure how this differs to the fry food for egg
>>layers -
>>I'll get some fry food on the next LFS trip.
>>
>>Thanks again
>>Gill
>
>
>
> afaik, livebearer fry food is larger than egglayer fry food, so would
> probably not be entirely suitable. bassett's suggestion of daphnia fry
> sounds great, but I have no experience on how to do this (other than a
> small tank in the window sill with flake food, which would take several
> days to get going).
>
> Even if no fry are viable, it's fun to watch the routines. Consider it a
> practice run for them ;~).

The bubble nest disintegrated over night - the male has been wandering
aimlessly up and down the tank most of the day taking time out to look
at its location....he looks quite folorn (as much as a fish can express
itself). The female has been nipping at his tail - from what I've read
so far maybe he peaked too soon???

The whole experience of watching these fish behaving this way has been
absolutely fascinating....I wasn't prepared or ready for this to happen
- in fact bloke in LFS told me they would "never breed" - going to see
them tomorrow and poke my tongue out - lol

Anyway, as they seem to have the inclination maybe I will prepare for
this better in the future and try to successfully raise some. My only
concern is that with past experiences with breeding Live Bearers and
Mbuna's is that I end up with more fish than I can cope with....but it
would be great to give it a go even if just the once....

Tested the water today and the tank appears to have completed its cycle
- another factor in this failure I'm sure....next step will be chosing
the tank mates

Thanks for your responses....looking forward to doing this successfully
one day (well not me personally but the fish getting their act together)

Gill