Cross breeding gouramis??

[Cichildlife]

Can you cross breed a female honey and a male red gourami, they sold them to me as both as sunset gourmis...

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Nope, they are from a different genus

 

[LyndaB]

Why would you want to? Anything that came as a result of it (I see above that it's not even possible) wouldn't be sellable. You'd be stuck with the offspring.

 

[Cichildlife]

Great, well hears a pics of them maybe someone can conferm type. Same. Or different?

 

[Shetland James]

They're definitely different I'm afraid Cichild.

A pair of breedable H. Gourami's are like this:

What you have is a Red/Red Neon Dwarf:

 

[Cichildlife]

Ok thx ill get a few more honeys nd bring the red back

 

[Shetland James]

I can give you a blurb about how I got my dwarf's to breed if you'd like.

 

[Cichildlife]

Sure id love tips!

 

[Shetland James]

Well, alrighty then!

You've probably read a lot about the hardness/softness/acidity/alkalinity etc etc etc and also the preparation (separate the male and female, NEVER add the female after the male etc)... Well I'm here to tell you that the common advice did not work for me.

I haven't even taken any measurements from my Gourami breeding tank. I had it running for a bit before I put the Gourami in... I don't know if they call it cycling or something. Anyway I had the male G in first for a month or so and he built a bubble nest but because our washing machine was nearby, the vibrations broke up his nest. Once I realised this I also got hold of a female and moved the tank to a quieter location and put them both in.

I hadn't conditioned her at all, hadn't put her in first to let her get to grips with the tank or anything, just both it at the same time. (To be honest a lot of what I've read in books is nonsense about fish-keeping but that's another argument.). After about 3 days in the new tank the MG build his bubble nest and then after a few days of feeding them flake, peas and bloodworm I caught them in the act and so I knew the mating had worked. Now, once the eggs are in the nest and the mating ritual is complete, the male defends his nest aggressively and will chase and batter the female if she dares come to that half of the tank. I put in a net-breeding trap and left her in it for 24 hours to give her a break.

I found the hatched fry hiding around the nest some days later. They were very, very, very tiny. You need to look for a few minutes before you see them.

Unfortunately they've all since died because I was under-prepared: I had no nursery set up. Currently 'cycling' one or whatever and next time it happens I'll be ready to catch them.

A few things to remember:

- Still, quiet area of the house
- Water level about half of the tank, IE 6/8 inches.
- Lots of plants. Lots!
- Hiding places for the mom
- Temperature about 28'c, although if you put them in at 26 and increase to 28 over a few days, that'll encourage breeding.

Here's a video of my male defending his nest, you can see the tank conditions, etc:

[youtube]

 

[Cichildlife]

Thx ill change wat i need to, also can u tell me if this is a gal or a guy??(my guess is female):

 

[Cichildlife]

Pics: male or female???

 

[Shetland James]

Need a clearer picture. Honey Gourami's can be tough to sex. Oftentimes one is advised to "buy three and hope there's a pair". Some help otherwise:

Females: Usually larger and plumper, honey's have a brown horizontal stripe, short rounded dorsal fin
Males: Long pointed dorsal fin, smaller and more slim, usually much more vibrant in color.

But of course that only helps if you have two.