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Honey Gourami Breeding


Patrick_G
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Should I put one male and three females in the breeding tank or just a pair? 
Also I’m a bit confused on the infusoria thing. I have green water in my guppy tub. Do I just squirt some into the fry tank? How do I know if the micro critters are in the water? D87A4D23-A9A0-4A99-822A-7B578C8FEEF2.jpeg.be44c53d694a14b07750f0bef343eb99.jpeg

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I would put the pair in if you’ve noticed he has indeed paired up but if he’s not tight with one of them then yes throw all 4 in breeding setup. 

Ive done it a few ways - simulated a dry and wet season - let the water evaporate down then done cooler water water changes every couple days for a couple weeks; just done a couple cooler water changes; and I’ve done nothing special. All led to bubble nests and action. I’ve not had room for that many fry so I’ve scooped out the bubble nests. 

Infusoria - I’ve done green water and I’ve done just squeezing out a sponge filter and taking some of that and squirting it in. Personally I’ve used some dingy Java moss from my blue dream and blue Hawaiian guppy tub and because it’s covered in mulm the fry just pick pick all day long. After 1-2 days I just used powdered fry food or taken the crappy sera not so onip tabs and crushed them to a fine powder with mortar and pestle. 

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My two females arrived weak and never recovered. Today I’ll be up north so I’ll try and get three from Aquarium Coop. 
Here’s my breeding tank plan let me know what you think.

5-10 gal with black sand substrate. I’ll add as much Java Moss as I can and some PSO or other bushy stems. I have a sponge cycling now and I’ll add it next week. I’ll monitor the fish while they’re in the display tank and if they pair off I’ll move that pair to the breeding tank. 
Ok so far? 

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On 8/22/2021 at 4:13 AM, Guppysnail said:

@Patrick_GTotally not pertaining to your question but I must say you really have an eye for things. That is a beautiful fish and contrasts so lovely with the tank mates. You really need a television reality show where you design and stock others tanks for them. Ps if you do me first please and thank you 😁

Thanks @Guppysnail! Do you watch MD fish tanks YouTube? I think scaping tanks and making videos on YouTube is his only job. I usually look at what he does and sort of copy it with my budget and locally available material. 

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On 8/22/2021 at 9:50 AM, laritheloud said:

@Patrick_G did you lose your females? I remember when I saw them they looked quite a bit smaller/younger than your male, I was about to say I'm not sure if your females were old enough to try breeding yet. If you go for more honeys, different color morphs can be very difficult to sex in the shop.

They were very small and I really shouldn’t have bought them. Even the LFS thought they were small and asked if I really wanted them. 
I’m pretty confident the ones at the Coop will be hardier. I hadn’t thought about the different color morphs. I think mine is a sunset, but I’ll have to check the invoice.  Maybe I should buy a new male an three females? 

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Yeah, if they were small then they were likely very young. I got my gold female very young. She's growing, but slowly; I don't think she's reproductive age yet.

I don't think you need to buy a new male and three females. Regarding what color morph you have, that looks like a Gold Honey Gourami to me. My sunset female (and the males in the tank with her) looked very different. Their bodies are silvery-gray with an orange/purple sheen, both in the males and the females. Females have orange-rimmed top and bottom fins with an orange-tinted caudal fin. Male sunsets are also silvery and could have the stripe down the side that females do, but they will have a bright lemon yellow 'mohawk' on their top fins and really vivid orange caudal fins.

Wild-type honeys look virtually the same between males and females in the shop tank. I peered in on them once and laughed because there was no way to tell them apart.

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He's sort of 'fired up' in that photo, he's surrounded by females so he's kind of turning on his 'beard' throughout the week. 😆 He builds nests but my sunset female isn't totally interested yet......

In any case, Honey Gouramis can be kind of mysterious and difficult to sex. There's the additional challenge that many stores (NOT Aquarium Coop, I'm pretty sure) mislabel Sunset THICKLIPPED Gouramis as honey gouramis, and they're not true honeys. Their bodies are solid orange to a ruddy rusty brown. They grow a bit larger, and some say they are more aggressive. I totally disagree as I have a female sunset thicklip and she's a total sweetheart.

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On 8/22/2021 at 10:40 AM, Patrick_G said:

My two females arrived weak and never recovered. Today I’ll be up north so I’ll try and get three from Aquarium Coop. 
Here’s my breeding tank plan let me know what you think.

5-10 gal with black sand substrate. I’ll add as much Java Moss as I can and some PSO or other bushy stems. I have a sponge cycling now and I’ll add it next week. I’ll monitor the fish while they’re in the display tank and if they pair off I’ll move that pair to the breeding tank. 
Ok so far? 

Where were you able to order just females?

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On 8/26/2021 at 5:15 PM, Patrick_G said:

I couldn’t make it to Aquarium Coop last Sunday but I’m planning to go this Sunday. I’ll try and pick up a couple if they’re available. 

Hmmm…you at aquarium coop only buying two fish…let us know how that works out for you 🤣. I can’t wait to see what awesome goodies you haul away. Since I’m on the east coast I’ll live vicariously through your adventure 😁

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On 8/27/2021 at 3:15 AM, Guppysnail said:

Hmmm…you at aquarium coop only buying two fish…let us know how that works out for you 🤣. I can’t wait to see what awesome goodies you haul away. Since I’m on the east coast I’ll live vicariously through your adventure 😁

Haha, you’re right! I might need a few sponge filters. I have been doing a lot of measuring in my fish area. A nerm with a tape measure can only mean one thing! 

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On 8/29/2021 at 3:52 PM, laritheloud said:

I don't think substrate is strictly necessary. Gosh, those ladies are SO beautiful. I hope you have good luck breeding them!

They look sooo good considering they’ve been in a bag for hours. I’m super happy. I’m counting on you, @Hobbitand @Fish Folk to walk me through this process! 

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On 8/29/2021 at 7:13 PM, Patrick_G said:

They look sooo good considering they’ve been in a bag for hours. I’m super happy. I’m counting on you, @Hobbitand @Fish Folk to walk me through this process! 

I don’t think you need substrate. Floating plants and adding a Catappa leaf, water ca. 7 inches only. Divide male from female(s) and feed high quality foods. Sponge filtration. Watch for him to build a bubble nest…

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Yay! Definitely following! I agree that substrate isn’t necessary. I’m not sure it’s even necessary to separate the male and females at first—but in that small of a tank, you’ll need to watch closely and get the females out once the male has eggs in the nest. I haven’t done anything special in my 55 gallon and my pair are mating all the time. I’ve only ever bred that one pair though so it may be different depending on the fish’s personality.

Your group looks so good! I can’t wait to see how they do!

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