welp, it seems i have baby sparkling gourami's - Dallas Ft Worth Aquatic Plant Club DFWAPC

mythin · 07-25-2009, 07:12 PM

I cant really count how many they are, and im guessing they will all get eaten or something, but for now they are hiding out in a floating mass of riccia, and the father is keeping gaurd of the nest. Has anyone had any success raising the fry? they are in a community tank, but its fairly densely planted, and the biggest fish in the tank are celebes rainbows who are content staying in the front area of the tank, and most of the plants are in the back.

supersmirky · 07-26-2009, 07:29 AM

wow congratulation. Yes, I have had success in Gouramis however I usually keep them in a tank by themselves.

Hopefully there will be enough hiding areas for these little guys and you might end up with a couple adults

Tex Gal · 07-26-2009, 10:25 AM

So neat! Maybe you could either get a net breeder and scoop up the entire riccia mat and protect it hanging in your tank or you could remove it to another tank. Hate to see them become fish food.

northtexasfossilguy · 07-28-2009, 01:03 PM

Yeah I agree with Texgal, if you want to keep them or sell them to a LFS or to us, a net breeder is a must in a non-species tank, somebody's bound to get hungry. Congrats on the babies.

Tex Gal · 07-28-2009, 03:59 PM

Years ago I had a pair of flame gouramis. They spawned all the time. I was constantly seeing the fry but not one every made it past the fry stage.

mythin · 07-29-2009, 03:18 PM

I decided to buy a little breeder net and scoop them up, its been a couple days and they are all still alive. I went and got some liquid fry food, I dont even know if they can eat it, they are microscopic. I have to squit to even see them lol. And this morning I caught the parents mating again, Im guessing they are already going for another batch...

Tex Gal · 07-29-2009, 07:53 PM

If you keep them in the net you just might have something there. They are probably feeding off the bacteria in the riccia. Just make sure you don't feed too much. You don't want to pollute their little nesting place. They say the stomachs of fish are as big as their eyeball.

supersmirky · 07-29-2009, 08:09 PM

very exciting...keep us updated on the progress of these little guys

MacFan · 07-30-2009, 06:48 AM

Yes, at the very small stage, a bunch of riccia or java moss provides plenty to eat in the way of organisms we can't even see.

Give it a go and worst case you'll probably have another spawn before too long, but in my experience, if you keep predators away, more often than not, you'll keep them.

mythin · 08-07-2009, 01:56 PM

you werent kidding about a new spawn, I have what i can count about 5-10 babies that are about 2 or so weeks old now, and now the parents have already had another spawn that has hatched. I see new fry floating near the surface in yet another riccia mat. I dont know If i should scoop that mat into this same breeder net, the new fry are about half the size of the 2 week old fry, but i mean thats like comparing 1 mm to 2mm haha.