HElp with breeding

[Jamie69]

i need help with breeding my platie which i think is pregnant and my gouranmi whick isnt that has two males with it what should i add to accomadate this?

[MotorcyclesFish]

ok your platy will sort itself out - the trick with livebearers is to stop them breeding. Is there a male in with her?

gouramies need a bit of care to breed. It's hard to know what to tell you, as you haven't said what sort of gourami you have, and whether it's in the same tank etc, but general tips for breeding gouramis are:

- provide floating plant cover (salvinia etc.), and densely planted areas for the female to retreat. the floating plant is for the bubblenest to adhere to.
- condition with a diet of high-quality live/frozen foods
- lower water level to approximately 6", and raise temperature by 1 degree C.
- if spawning occurs, remove the female to safety as most males suddenly see her as a threat and become quite aggressive.
- once the fry hatch and are free swimming (normally a couple of days), remove the male also, as that's where his programmed parenting ends, and he suddenly sees lunch.

hope this helps


having just reread your post, you may find that the two males will fight, unless they're a smaller species of gourami, in which case the females tend to be more feisty.

maybe someone else can post from experience once we know what species you're on about...

[thom336]

i would imagine your platy is gravid even if there isnt a male in there....she would have probably have been doing it in the shop, and they can give birth upto 6 times i think from just one mating. i dont really know about gouramis except that they are bubble nest builders like motor said, and do best in just a single pair - so i would remove that other male.