Honey gourami fry help?

[Rachelrf]

I noticed that my honey gourami i bought made a pair, (lucky i know!) and so i raised the water level so the filter wouldnt disturb the surface so much. It worked and i put some floating plants on the quieter side to make some cover. The male built a nest and now there are fry and he is guarding them.

The only fry i have raised are cory cats and livebearers! Both of which did fine on flakes i smashed into powder. I have brine shrimp to hatch but i just now noticed the fry... I think they are not in the free swimming stage yet, but im not sure. Any advice?

This is a 55 gallon tank, well established, some plants, but it has other fish in it... Two apisto pairs (small ones), a guppy and some harlequin rasboras, but so far the papa gourami is doing a great job, especially for his first time!

 

[Mikaelf77]

I have bred honey gourami before and i fed them hikari first food however baby brine shrimp should do the job just as well if not better! i had a few phantom tetra in with mine and they ate all the fry once they became free swiming. they are TINY so be careful that hungry fishies dont eat them
it might be worth investing in a fry net to keep them from getting eaten once they are free swiming.

 

[henningc]

Just a suggestion, if you are serious about raising fry buy a 10gal and set the parents up to breed. Once the eggs are visable mom must go home. Once the fry are free swimming it is time for dad to leave and join mom in the mai tank.

 

[Rachelrf]

I have a ten gallon, but i need a sponge filter for it... I guess i could try and make one that ran off a air line. And i didnt expect them to be successful the first time! Lol. They are sitting in the middle of that bunch of floating plants and the dad is doing a great job guarding the area... I think they only get eaten right now if the male doesnt catch one in time to put it back in the nest... Then the waiting fish below get a snack. The rasbora have been used to the apistos breeding and pushing them to one side of the tank, so they mind their business pretty well when they see parents being protective.

I have a net that the box broke... So im thinking of lining a floating bredding box i have with that net so they wont go out of the box and get eaten... I have actually seen fish suck fry through the box holes that small when they get to the edge..

I guess for a fry tank all i would need is the sponge filter and some moss or floating plant to make them feel comfy... I will see what i can come up with for the sponge filter.. Any suggestions on a simple one?

 

[Rachelrf]

Thanks..... Ten gallon with make shift sponge filter and moss even set up and primed with de-chlorinator and stress zyme.

Also have the brine shrimp hatchery set up... Should be some hatched soon... Now for the hard part.. Catchin the little boogers.. Lol

 

[Rachelrf]

Ok, so the babies in the ten gallon didnt make it... Two batches worth. I think it had to do with not having enough humidity for their labyrinth development? But also i had put a baby apisto that started out as the same size as they were, but grew quicker and i think might have eaten some. I decided to put saran wrap on half of the 55 gallon and lots of floating plant with moss thrown into it for them to hide in and just let the parents try again in there. Is there something im missing? Besides putting the parents alone in the ten gallon for breeding purposes? I would try that but idk how i would get the mom out without disturbing the bubble nest after they mate.

 

[bigfuzzymonster777]

Did you cycle the ten gallon?

 

[Rachelrf]

It was never fully drained so snails and bacteria were already present. And when i made the sponge filter i took some sludge from a dirty filter and smeared it all over the sponge.... Checked the water for spikes and it didnt have any... But no i didnt wait 6 weeks for a new cycle...

 

[bigfuzzymonster777]

Okay, sounds like it was cycled then. Hmm.... It was most likely the humidity thing. Doesn't sound like it could be anything else...

 

[Fishfur]

You might want to try getting a microworm culture for the next batch. Tiny, high fat, ideal fry food. Banana and walter worms are even tinier, half the size of microworms. Easy to keep, no hatching like brine shrimp.

Damp oatmeal substrate and baker's yeast for food, quite cheap and can be restarted as often as needed. The worms live about four or five days in the tank too, so they don't ruin water by dying right away. Fry that are down in the low levels will pick them off the bottom too.

In a fry box, my Endler fry eat them off the bottom 'til they're gone and grow fast. Cultures are not very expensive, around five bucks usually, from other hobbyists, you won't often find them in stores.

 

[Rachelrf]

There are some white worms in the ten gallon that the apisto juvi is eating off of... I dont know where they came from... Lol..except that i left some water in there with snails when i cleaned it out last time.... I stopped trying to transfer the gourami to the ten gallon. I did cover half of the 55 and put in more floating plants to help them survive, but i dont think its working. I have been feeding ground up flakes, watered down egg yolk (from a boiled egg), and bbs. I will look up how to culture those worms and try to keep them going...

 

[Fishfur]

If you feed egg yolk the usual way to is hard boil it, then smash it up fine. Mix with just enough water that you can pour it. Add tiny amounts at a time, as any that is not eaten will foul water very quickly.

Microworms are really easy to keep. Main issue is if you have hot summers.. they don't like it very hot. So a cool room, AC, or fans to cool them, like fish, can be needed in hot weather.

 

[Rachelrf]

Thanks, and yeah i kept the boiled yolk in the fridge and smashed bits into some aquarium water to feed. All the fish like it. I feed the older fish mosquito larvae when i find them in standing water in the yard before dumping it.. They love that.

 

[Fishfur]

Live food is always better, and most fish really go for it.