Rules for breeding gourami at home

For both new and seasoned aquarists, raising gourami at home can be a fulfilling experience. Many people choose for these peaceful and colorful fish, but successful breeding needs some planning and knowledge.

Establishing the ideal habitat for gourami reproduction requires an understanding of their unique requirements. Every stage is vital to ensuring healthy progeny, from designing the ideal tank to knowing when and how to introduce the fish.

If you want to add some home-bred gourami to your aquarium, this guide will walk you through the essential guidelines and pointers to get you started. In your own tank, you can soon witness the flourishing and procreating of these stunning fish if you have the appropriate patience and approach.

When sexual maturity occurs?

The species’ representatives reach sexual maturity between the ages of 8 and 12 months. It won’t be feasible to have children sooner.

The female can spawn roughly four to five times a season when the right circumstances are met. There must be a few-week gap between each offspring.

After acquiring young, it’s critical that the gourami have time to relax and heal completely.

How to distinguish a male from a female and choose producers?

The choice of producers is the first step in gourami reproduction. You must be fully aware of the primary distinctions between the male and the female in order to accomplish this.

When gourami reach adulthood, their sexual dimorphism is quite evident. Male and female individuals can be easily distinguished from one another based on a few key features:

• in males, the dorsal fin is elongated and slightly pointed, while in females it is rounded and short;
• males are more slender and larger;
• males have a much brighter color than females.

To have children, only a pair that is sexually mature is chosen. It’s crucial that the producers are in perfect health so that the fish with the best looks are chosen.

Gurami that exhibit deviations in color or other characteristics are unfit for breeding. particularly if you’re looking for fish of a particular color.

Features of spawning

Both a shared aquarium and a separate spawning tank are suitable for the production of gourami offspring. However, in the latter scenario, a portion of the progeny pass away from natural causes (such as starvation, being devoured by other aquarium occupants, etc.).

In a common aquarium

Every variety of gourami has a "quiet" personality. The fish coexist peacefully and amicably with their neighbors. However, because of their placid disposition, it is challenging to keep healthy progeny in a standard aquarium.

When gourami procreate in a shared aquarium, larger fish typically eat some of the fry because they think of them as live food.

The ideal way to reproduce gourami is to use a different spawning tank, and once the fry are large enough, move them to a shared aquarium. But using an extra tank isn’t always an option.

When spawning takes place in a shared container, it’s important to follow these few easy guidelines:

• There should be many floating plants on the surface of the water (horn, rod, duckweed, etc. D.);
• It is impossible for the aquarium to have a strong current, otherwise the foam nest built by the male will be destroyed;
• At the bottom there should be shelters where the female can hide;
• For several weeks, the producers need to be fed correctly, preferably using live food.

Even in a standard aquarium, the following water parameters must be kept in mind for gourami reproduction:

• temperature – within + 24 … + 26˚С;
• acidity – 5.8-6.8;
• hardness – 4-10.

Arrangement of a spawning tank

A gourami spawning tank has a capacity of roughly thirty liters. It needs to be set up properly for the fish to feel at ease:

• shelters (resting places for the female) are required in the aquarium – driftwood is perfect;
• an essential condition is the presence of floating plants;
• the spawning tank is equipped with a heater, since the temperature must be within + 25˚С;
• to stimulate the gourami to start spawning, it is necessary to soften the water;
• the container is filled with 50% water from the common aquarium and 50% with clean, pre-settled water;
• It is not allowed to install powerful aeration equipment and filters, as their action destroys the nest built by the male during spawning;
• the spawning tank is filled with water to a level of 15 cm – it is a small aquarium and a low water level that encourages the reproduction of gourami;
• a thin layer of gravel is laid on the bottom;
• if stones are to be used as decoration, they should not be collected from rivers and lakes, as they can change the pH of the water (only store-bought specimens are suitable);
• do not cover the aquarium with a lid more than 1/3 – there should be a small gap, gourami take oxygen from both water and air.

Fish cannot be moved from a general aquarium to a spawning tank where the water temperature is different. Raising the temperature should only happen after the gourami are placed there.

How to properly prepare a male?

It is best to put the future father in a different tank beforehand. It’s critical to properly and heavily feed the male. He completely gives up eating after spawning and devotes all of his energy to guarding the young. Should the person lack energy reserves, they will quickly pass away from extreme fatigue.

Following a few key nutritional principles is imperative:

• before spawning, the male needs to be fed live food – bloodworms and tubifex are excellent, as they are very nutritious and ensure normal mucus removal, which is necessary for creating a nest;
• intensive feeding lasts at least 7-10 days.

You can split the territory into different sections and separate multiple males at once if the tank is large enough. The reception will guarantee that the eggs are fertilized to a high standard (one male may not be able to fulfill his duty).

The fact that the male is already fully prepared for fertilization is very clear. He gets busy actively constructing a nest. The foam structure will have a diameter of roughly 8 cm.

You can launch the pregnant female a few days after the "construction" is finished. Her belly is rounder and larger, indicating that she is ready to spawn.

Gourami mating dance

The male starts luring the female to the nest so she can fertilize the eggs. The latter willfully responds to courtship if she is already prepared for procreation. The female tries to hide in shelters when she isn’t ready. However, the man is obstinate and won’t let her be by herself.

The male gourami’s mating dance appears to be very fascinating:

1. First, the male drives the female to the nest, where he turns her belly up, then presses his whole body and literally squeezes the eggs out of his partner.
2. The eggs appear one by one, the male fertilizes them, takes them in his mouth and sends them to the nest.
3. Mating games last several hours and stop only after the male has processed all the eggs.

400–10,000 eggs are brought by gourami at a time. Everything in this case is based on the kind of fish.

Completion of mating and the appearance of offspring

Once spawning is finished, the male turns hostile. He starts pushing the female away from the nest as well. During these times, females lose their stunning tails and fins. During this time, the weakest female fish perish.

Characteristics of goura reproduction:

1. The father takes care of the offspring exclusively. He constantly guards the eggs.
2. The female shows no interest in the clutch. But sometimes there are situations when she wants to take part in the process, which the male will never allow her.
3. After spawning is complete, the female must be moved to a common aquarium and after 20-30 days she will be ready for breeding again.
4. The fry appear approximately 37 hours after fertilization of the eggs. Outwardly, they look like small hooks with eyes.
5. After about 5-6 days, the larvae grow up and become more like fish.
6. When the larvae appear, the male must be removed, since during this period his paternal instincts become weaker.

The male may start eating his young if the temperature regime is broken. It won’t happen if you take him out of the spawning tank as soon as possible.

A balanced diet to promote spawning, the proper habitat with warm, clean water, and careful management of the fry after they hatch are all necessary for successful gourami breeding at home. You can successfully raise healthy gourami in your home aquarium by making sure these conditions are met.

Features of caring for fry

Giving fry the care they need will improve the odds of their progeny surviving. There are numerous crucial guidelines:

• after transplanting the producers into a common aquarium, lower the water level, provide light aeration and constant heating;
• to ensure the survival of the fry, the water will need to be enriched with oxygen (gourami fry have a peculiarity – the gill labyrinth is not sufficiently developed);
• the water temperature is maintained within + 27 … + 29 ° C;
• remove all large plants, leaving only duckweed floating on the surface (the fry can get entangled in the algae and die).

Diet and nutrition of fry

The young don’t need to be fed for the first three to four days. They will consume the contents of the gall sac during this time. The food is then fed to the fish five to six times a day in small portions so that they finish it; otherwise, the water will get very dirty and need to be changed too frequently.

Small fish should not be fed simple food. They just won’t be able to reach for it with their mouths. Live dust is the staple food.

Wiping the pipe worms in the gruel and adding them to the water is not prohibited. It has every valuable ingredient required for healthy development and vigorous growth.

Fry are moved to different kinds of feed as they get older.

• Naupupli;
• ciliates;
• small plankton;
• crustaceans;
• Special feed for fry.

Give out a boiled chicken egg yolk on a regular basis. He is falling into the water with ease.

The adult generation’s diet consists of the following foods:

• ciliates;
• Kolovrates;
• Liquid feed for fry.

Young animals should eat a diet high in protein. It improves the accuracy of scale development and intensifies coloring.

Aspect	Guideline
Tank Setup	Use a separate breeding tank with gentle filtration and plenty of plants.
Water Conditions	Maintain a temperature around 26-28°C with a pH of 6.5-7.0.
Pairing	Select a healthy male and female gourami, ensuring they are of similar size.
Feeding	Provide high-quality food like live or frozen bloodworms to condition the pair.
Spawning	The male will build a bubble nest; once ready, the female will lay eggs.
Post-Sp

Gourami breeding at home can be a fulfilling endeavor. You can establish the ideal conditions for them to flourish and procreate by being aware of their particular needs.

The most important things are to keep the water clean, have a large tank, and regulate the temperature. Keep a close eye on what they eat, and make sure they have lots of plants and hiding places to feel safe.

When your gourami starts to breed and raise its fry, you’ll soon be able to enjoy the results of your labor with patience and close observation. Although it’s a laborious process, it’s all worth it when you see new life flourish in your aquarium.

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