I've had a male dwarf gourami for about 6 months now, who lives with some honey gouramis, zebra danios, and peppered cories. This week my local fish store got a supply of female dwarfs, so now I'm considering the idea of getting him some girlfriends. I'm looking advice/experiences with breeding gouramis beyond the basics (2 females per male, floating plants for bubble nest). Any thoughts?
Breeding dwarf gouramis
- Thread starter enderwiggin
- Start date
Raising the temperature, lowering the water level in the tank and feeding live food can all help trigger spawning. The reason being that the higher temperature and lower water level simulate the dry season in their native habitat.
You'll probably have to remove the females after spawning, as the male may become lethally aggressive toward them if they approach the nest.
You'll probably have to remove the females after spawning, as the male may become lethally aggressive toward them if they approach the nest.
Dwarf Gourami Breeding
Gourami species are usually comparatively easy to breed in aquariums. All Gourami species are egg-layers, and several species are renowned for building very beautiful bubble-nests in which they keep egg and fry. If you want to try breeding one of the bubble-nest Gourami species, the Colisa Lalia (Dwarf Gourami) is a very good choice for beginners. Remember that the bubble nests are very sensitive and can be ruined by water movement. Keep all water movement to an absolute minimum while you have a bubble nest in your aquarium. The guidelines offered in this article is true not only for Colisa Lalia but for many other Gourami species as well. It is however always a good idea to also check breeding information regarding the specific Gourami species that you wish to breed, to make sure that its requirements are not different from most Gouramis.
Firstly, breeding Gourami will require the set up of a separate breeding aquarium. This aquarium does not have to be very high or large; a height of six inches and room for 10-20 gallons of water is quite enough. Cover the bottom of the aquarium with a thin layer of gravel and place a small foam filter in one of the corners. Do not use any type of filtering that produces strong water currents if your Gourami species is a bubble-nest builder. Since the male Gourami can be quite a pest for the female Gourami, you will need to provide her with good hiding places in the breeding aquarium to reduce stress and stay out of harms way. Live plants are advisable and other sheltering aquarium decorations, such as clay pots, are also very good hiding spaces for a female Gourami. Java moss is a hardy plant that is often used in Gourami breeding aquariums.
A male Gourami will always claim a territory and fiercely defend it. It is therefore recommended to place the female Gourami in the breeding aquarium first. Give the female Gourami a few weeks to get accustomed to her new home before your introduce the male Gourami. It is advisable to wait until the female is evidently gravid before you introduce the male. The diet is important if your want your female Gourami to become gravid, and she should ideally be fed meaty foods such as blood worms and brine shrimp. Keep the lighting in the breeding aquarium subdue. The water temperatures should be kept in the 25-28 degrees C range and the pH between 6.6 and 7.6.
Once the male Gourami has been placed in the breeding aquarium the female will commence her bubble nest building, if your Gouramis are bubble-nest breeders. Regardless of Gourami species, the female and male Gourami will start dancing with each other. Soon you will be able to see how the male Gourami cups the body of the female Gourami and wiggle close to her. Finally the female Gourami will release her eggs and the male will fertilize them. The eggs will be safely placed inside the bubble-nest. This behaviour will be repeated a number of times and after several hours the female Gourami will have deposited more than 600 eggs. When you notice that the process is over you should remove both parents from the aquarium. Be very vigilant not to disturb the bubble-nest when you remove the parents from the aquarium.
Now is time to turn of the filter completely in the breeding aquarium. Using a siphon you should remove water from the breeding aquarium until it is half empty. Use a small siphon and be extremely careful, otherwise you might harm the bubble-nest. Low water pressure and warm temperatures are beneficial to the offspring, and the breeding aquarium should be covered. If you keep the offspring in a breeding aquarium where the water pressure is too high or where the temperatures are too low, the young Gourami will not develop perfect labyrinth organs. After less than 24 yours the Gourami eggs will hatch and after 3-5 days you can see free swimming fry in the breeding aquarium. Feed the Gourami fry newly hatched brine shrimp or liquid fry food. It is imperative to keep the water quality superb, and any dead fry or excess food must be removed. Larger fry will commonly attach smaller fry. When the surviving fry are ½ inch long you can place them in the community aquarium with the parents and other fish. Don’t loose your enthusiasm if you end up with no surviving fry at all during the first spawning. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get everything right. If you keep detailed records of water temperature, feeding procedures etcetera it will be easy for you to adjust things that do not work out well.
Gourami species are usually comparatively easy to breed in aquariums. All Gourami species are egg-layers, and several species are renowned for building very beautiful bubble-nests in which they keep egg and fry. If you want to try breeding one of the bubble-nest Gourami species, the Colisa Lalia (Dwarf Gourami) is a very good choice for beginners. Remember that the bubble nests are very sensitive and can be ruined by water movement. Keep all water movement to an absolute minimum while you have a bubble nest in your aquarium. The guidelines offered in this article is true not only for Colisa Lalia but for many other Gourami species as well. It is however always a good idea to also check breeding information regarding the specific Gourami species that you wish to breed, to make sure that its requirements are not different from most Gouramis.
Firstly, breeding Gourami will require the set up of a separate breeding aquarium. This aquarium does not have to be very high or large; a height of six inches and room for 10-20 gallons of water is quite enough. Cover the bottom of the aquarium with a thin layer of gravel and place a small foam filter in one of the corners. Do not use any type of filtering that produces strong water currents if your Gourami species is a bubble-nest builder. Since the male Gourami can be quite a pest for the female Gourami, you will need to provide her with good hiding places in the breeding aquarium to reduce stress and stay out of harms way. Live plants are advisable and other sheltering aquarium decorations, such as clay pots, are also very good hiding spaces for a female Gourami. Java moss is a hardy plant that is often used in Gourami breeding aquariums.
A male Gourami will always claim a territory and fiercely defend it. It is therefore recommended to place the female Gourami in the breeding aquarium first. Give the female Gourami a few weeks to get accustomed to her new home before your introduce the male Gourami. It is advisable to wait until the female is evidently gravid before you introduce the male. The diet is important if your want your female Gourami to become gravid, and she should ideally be fed meaty foods such as blood worms and brine shrimp. Keep the lighting in the breeding aquarium subdue. The water temperatures should be kept in the 25-28 degrees C range and the pH between 6.6 and 7.6.
Once the male Gourami has been placed in the breeding aquarium the female will commence her bubble nest building, if your Gouramis are bubble-nest breeders. Regardless of Gourami species, the female and male Gourami will start dancing with each other. Soon you will be able to see how the male Gourami cups the body of the female Gourami and wiggle close to her. Finally the female Gourami will release her eggs and the male will fertilize them. The eggs will be safely placed inside the bubble-nest. This behaviour will be repeated a number of times and after several hours the female Gourami will have deposited more than 600 eggs. When you notice that the process is over you should remove both parents from the aquarium. Be very vigilant not to disturb the bubble-nest when you remove the parents from the aquarium.
Now is time to turn of the filter completely in the breeding aquarium. Using a siphon you should remove water from the breeding aquarium until it is half empty. Use a small siphon and be extremely careful, otherwise you might harm the bubble-nest. Low water pressure and warm temperatures are beneficial to the offspring, and the breeding aquarium should be covered. If you keep the offspring in a breeding aquarium where the water pressure is too high or where the temperatures are too low, the young Gourami will not develop perfect labyrinth organs. After less than 24 yours the Gourami eggs will hatch and after 3-5 days you can see free swimming fry in the breeding aquarium. Feed the Gourami fry newly hatched brine shrimp or liquid fry food. It is imperative to keep the water quality superb, and any dead fry or excess food must be removed. Larger fry will commonly attach smaller fry. When the surviving fry are ½ inch long you can place them in the community aquarium with the parents and other fish. Don’t loose your enthusiasm if you end up with no surviving fry at all during the first spawning. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get everything right. If you keep detailed records of water temperature, feeding procedures etcetera it will be easy for you to adjust things that do not work out well.
Excellent advice above. Here is the original article.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/gourami/breeding2.php
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/gourami/breeding2.php
Do you have to use live plants. I have platic and material Plants. I have done everythig you have said except for live plants and alll my Gourmai do is fight.
after they spawn I suggest removing the male as well. Or if it's more logical carefully moving the whole bubble nest. Even though the male guards it 24/7 I witnessed my sparkling gourami eating fry as they hatched while he was watching them. So having them alone completely is your best chance at a good survival rate.
I use Hornwort trimmings. Hornwort is a cheap plant that grows like a weed, and the fine leaves make for an excellent base for a nest and fry. I just recently had a pair of dwarfs spawn for me, but it took a while. My male is particularly territorial, and when the female was introduced (after he started building his bubble nest for the umpteenth time after it was broken by water changes 
), he didn't like her. At all. It was beyond normal chasing and he was rather aggressively going for her fins. So I had to remove him for roughly a week and let the female establish herself first. When he was reintroduced, there was still some chasing for a few days, but nothing too bad, then walah they spawned. I did not change the temperature of my tank (my heater is one of those presets with no dial for adjustment - permanently set to about 78) or lower the water level as is often recommended.
I removed the female immediately after (they were alone in a 10 gallon tank, aside from some Otos), and I admit, I accidentally messed up the bubblenest. However, despite that, most (if not all) of the eggs did hatch and I have more little black wriggly specks in that tank than I can accurately count atm
Dad is still busy taking care of his babies (which hatched probably sunday afternoon or maybe this am or so since they spawned saturday evening). In a couple days I will offer some food, see if he has an interest in eating or not. Once he starts showing that interest, I will probably remove him as well, as by then the fry are likely to be free swimming. Each male is different. I had a male Paradise Fish that would continue to care for his young for over a week! But you have to watch him carefully as eventually he will grow tired of trying to keep his young in their nest and will just start eating them instead.
It should also be stated that sometimes, certain fry grow much more quickly than others, and may in fact start eating their smaller tank mates, so a seperate grow out tank or two would probably be good to have in case this happens to you.
Other than that... I can't offer much insight that the aforementioned article can I don't think
), he didn't like her. At all. It was beyond normal chasing and he was rather aggressively going for her fins. So I had to remove him for roughly a week and let the female establish herself first. When he was reintroduced, there was still some chasing for a few days, but nothing too bad, then walah they spawned. I did not change the temperature of my tank (my heater is one of those presets with no dial for adjustment - permanently set to about 78) or lower the water level as is often recommended. I removed the female immediately after (they were alone in a 10 gallon tank, aside from some Otos), and I admit, I accidentally messed up the bubblenest. However, despite that, most (if not all) of the eggs did hatch and I have more little black wriggly specks in that tank than I can accurately count atm
Dad is still busy taking care of his babies (which hatched probably sunday afternoon or maybe this am or so since they spawned saturday evening). In a couple days I will offer some food, see if he has an interest in eating or not. Once he starts showing that interest, I will probably remove him as well, as by then the fry are likely to be free swimming. Each male is different. I had a male Paradise Fish that would continue to care for his young for over a week! But you have to watch him carefully as eventually he will grow tired of trying to keep his young in their nest and will just start eating them instead.
It should also be stated that sometimes, certain fry grow much more quickly than others, and may in fact start eating their smaller tank mates, so a seperate grow out tank or two would probably be good to have in case this happens to you.
Other than that... I can't offer much insight that the aforementioned article can I don't think