Oi. I have gourami guilt.

[Allivymar]

So I got a bunch of plants for my 10g which currently has 2 male dwarf gouramis. The dominant male has taken to pulling off the dead leaves, and has made this HUGE bubble nest. And of course, I keep pulling the dead leaves out and messing up all his hard work LOL He must hate that big hand coming near the tank now.

I'm wondering if getting a female would be a good idea. Would give the poor guy a reason for a bubble nest, although I'm not sure about what else is involved in gourami breeding (angelfish I can do...gouramis are a whole new world for me). Would I need to pull fry? What do they eat? Will the adults eat THEM?

And, do I even stand a chance of finding a female? I actually saw a couple of dwarf gouramis at Wallymart (eek, I know). They both were very small, and had barely any markings or color, but I don't know if thats cause they were male and come into color later, or were actually females. Obviously, I don't want to make a mistake and add ANOTHER male to that tank.

 

[madasafish]

Little chance that they were females: they're almost never sold in stores. I've noticed that the neon blue males often resemble very lightly colored dwarf males. In terms of sexing them, here is a picture of the female neon blue dwarf gourami: http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/gourami_neon_blue_female.jpg I think the female is generally grayer in color... Here is some more info about the species: http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/gouramis/dwarf_gouramis.htm#top2

In terms of gourami breeding: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=974 will give you the low-down (as you can probably tell, I love liveaquaria.com).

Hope this helps... You can get the females on aquariumfish.net if you can't get them elsewhere (does your LFS order specific fish for you if you ask?).

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah, is what I figured madasa. I have the 2004 annual AquariumUSA issue which has an article on Gouramis. Says very little about the Colisa lalia (dwarf gouramis) other then they're small and several variants have been bred which include colorful females. Ack LOL

I'll check with my good lfs. I'm still waiting for them to get a hold of pygmy corys and some cardinal neons for me, so I think my chances of getting female gouramis are slim.

 

[TankGirl]

I think in a 10-gal your chances of success with a pair are iffy. I have found that in the larger tanks (at least 20) the dwarfs are MUCH more agreeable and less aggressive, and in the 10-15 gallons that I have kept them in they tend to be very aggressive. This may just be the two that I have and not representative, but I can't keep fish with them in the small tanks. I have not tried it but I have read accounts of female and male dwarfs killing each other, or at least injuring each other in small tanks, and other times I have read of two males being kept together in a small tank. I am very tempted to try this myself, as I adore my dwarfs, but I think I would try it in a 20 or 29. My males' personalities changed drastically when I took them out of the 10 and the 15, respectively. Also, maybe there is a local FW club in your area that you can join. I think that is the best way to get fish, and someone surely could hook you up with some females (that sounds like pimpin'! 8O )

 

[Allivymar]

Bwaahahahaha a local club. You know, I have been searching for one for MONTHS. The closest I can find is some guys beeper number...and that just seems a bit too wierd even for me!

Yeah, I guess breeding em will not be a great idea. Just kinda popped into my head when I tore down the bubble nest yet again. Poor guy is workin SO hard, and all for naught LOL I started feeling bad for him. I did read the rest of the AquariumUSA article, and they talk about pearl gourami breeding. They say the female needs to be removed asap, and the male should be removed once the eggs hatch. Supposedly there is an outside chance the female will harass the male, and the male should get a break once the fry are free swimming. Feh. If they could have lived all together in the tank with no one having to be removed I might consider it more. Oh well.

 

[TankGirl]

I have read the same thing. I am so in love with my Leopold, my flame dwarf, and it would be the best thing to breed him. He also takes bites out of my plants to make his nest, and sometimes he takes really big chunks out, especially the asian ambulia, and it is so cute to see him scurrying around with this big green branch in his mouth. I feel like he should be able to hook up with a female and do what comes naturally. I am not having any luck hooking up with a club in my area, either, as it seems everyone is SW.

 

[madasafish]

Does anyone know of any such clubs in the tristate area??? It would really be nice to get involved in one!

 

[Allivymar]

Heh maybe I need to start one madasa...all the ones I looked into aren't in the area (meaning outside the NYC area). Brooklyn has a really good one associated with the Aquarium, but there isn't anything in the Weschester area. *sigh*

LOL I didn't think the gourami (haven't named him...I rarely name my fish LOL I'm so bad at it) was TAKING bits of the plants off for his bubble nest. Cause the plants are pretty new, and were shipped, I just assumed he was takin the dead bits for his nest. If I catch him ripping my new plants apart tho, we're gonna have a talk Course, it would explain why I find the plants floating in the morning....

 

[madasafish]

yep, my gouramis tear my anacharis apart! I think they did the same to my tiger lotus (strangely, my amazon swords survived w/o a bite!)

 

[Allivymar]

He appears to be grabbing bits of my cyperus helferi....aaauuuggghh! The one plant I special ordered cause NO ONE carries it. He's lucky he's cute; thats all I can say for him

 

[Terry]

Allivymar
I find it really facinating how differant types of fish are hard to get in one country and easy to get in another. you would think that being a multi billion dollar industry that it would be the same all over.
Now down to your Gourami's, you said that you have a male Colisa Lalia(Dwalf Gourami) It is probably the same as you but in the UK we get the Red and Blue Variaty. Here in the UK they are nearly always sold in pairs, The male being of striking colour and the female being smaller in size and a silvery gray in colour, the other differance being that the females dorsal and anal fin are rounded at the rear. ( you probably already knew that). As for breeding the gourami it doesn't look at though you are doing anything wrong, they do like the water to be calm so that they can build there nest and to have plant matter to use to build it, you have everything you need except a female. When it comes to breeding, well once the eggs are placed in the nest the female needs to be removed, the male then guards the nest. The eggs will hatch in 24 hours, and the fry stay in the nest for about 3 - 5 days. Once they leave the nest the fry will require a plentiful supply of infusorians and rotifers. or as i once did was ground up some flake untill it was a very fine dust and fed them that.
I hope this was of some help.

 

[Allivymar]

Amazing; here in the states (least on the east coast) its unusual to find female gouramis. Not sure if this is 'cause if retailers think Americans are more interested in looks (males having better color) or by not providing females we are forced to buy more gouramis instead of breeding our own...either way its a PITA.

I do think I'll give gourami breeding a pass atm. I've 5 angels; 4 of which are coming into breeding age and I'd like to keep my empty tank available for angelfish fry; won't work well if there's a female gourami living in there Curious tho; the only reason I came across for removing the female was she would "harass" the male. No further explanation. Is that why YOU recommend removing the female? If so, why does the female bug the male and how? Or is it simply she'll eat the fry?

 

[Terry]

Hi Allivymar
The reason i would remove the female is when the male is guarding the nest, he is very protective of the young and he won't even let the female near. This stops the female from getting a good kicking from the male. It's a bit like love em! and leave em!. hahahah

 

[TankGirl]

Yes, Leopold definitely takes chunks of plants. He is the only fish out of 4 tanks that I have ever named!