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Honey gourami situation


Anomalocaris
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On 9/23/2021 at 1:57 PM, laritheloud said:

Gosh, I'm far from an expert! I just got deep in the weeds about gouramis! 😅

In any case, you have a pair for sure! The female looks quite a bit younger than the male. Her color looks a bit weak, too. Did you add the pair to the tank recently? How is she eating and how is her behavior? She might just need some time to settle and plump up to show her colors better (mine took a few weeks to really settle and show her bright orange fins), but if you suspect anything is off, I'd try a round of general cure or another mild anti-parasite. 

As she settles and gets happier/grows, you'll notice her fins will gain a more intense, brighter orange. My young goldie will also 'turn off' her stripe at night when she is resting, but I haven't seen her turn it 'off' turning the day yet.

EDIT: I want to add that I'm fairly certain both of your fish are still quite young. You'll notice as the male grows older the orange in his caudal fin will intensify. Gouramis grow very slowly, so this might take longer than you think!

I've had them for about three weeks now and the store had only just got them in when I got them so they probably are still quite young! I did notice today when taking photos what could be the start of a small bubble nest, maybe he's practicing? 😂 

You never know I might be hitting you up one day about how to save and raise honey gourami fry before they get eaten haha 

Edit: oh and your newly assigned role of 'honey-and-other-dwarf-gouramis'  expert is regrettably non-negotiable 🤣I wish I could say there was benefits over and above my gratitude but well just ask @Odd Duck aka the 'pea-puffer-and-parrot-and-various-other-aspects-of-the-hobby' expert 😅

 

 

Edited by KentFishFanUK
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@KentFishFanUK I have to agree that @laritheloud is our authority-in-residence for honey/dwarf gouramis! 🙇‍♀️ I’ve done a lot of breeding work but I don’t know nearly as much about the fish themselves. I feel like she and I are lab bench partners. 😄 

All that said, if you’d like breeding help, do tag me and I’ll be happy to assist as well!

(The growth/development thread in my signature is more about the physiology of the fish and less about how I raised them, but there’s some breeding/raising info scattered in there.)

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On 9/23/2021 at 5:23 PM, Hobbit said:

@KentFishFanUK I have to agree that @laritheloud is our authority-in-residence for honey/dwarf gouramis! 🙇‍♀️ I’ve done a lot of breeding work but I don’t know nearly as much about the fish themselves. I feel like she and I are lab bench partners. 😄 

All that said, if you’d like breeding help, do tag me and I’ll be happy to assist as well!

(The growth/development thread in my signature is more about the physiology of the fish and less about how I raised them, but there’s some breeding/raising info scattered in there.)

Duly noted! Though I keep telling people (myself mostly 😅) that I'm not intending to breed anything yet of course I'm secretly hoping eggs appear one day and then I'll go into full on panic about how to save them from my tetras and raise them somehow so I'll definitely be after your advice haha.

So, thanks!

Edited by KentFishFanUK
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@Hobbit just read through your thread about breeding yours, they are so cute! Looks a lot of fun too I hope I get the chance. 

Just so I'm forewarned I did think of a couple of questions - how do you collect the newborn fry to put into a breeder box? And what could you do about providing infusoria if you don't already have a culture going? 

Also I'm thinking I may have to get myself one of those macro lenses lol.

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On 9/23/2021 at 8:57 AM, laritheloud said:

 My young goldie will also 'turn off' her stripe at night when she is resting, but I haven't seen her turn it 'off' turning the day yet.

I'm actually curious about the stripe in females - what does showing it vs not showing it mean? I've noticed my female sometimes shows the stripe and sometimes doesn't, and it doesn't seem to depend on the time of day, so I kind of assumed it conveys mood of some kind?

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On 9/23/2021 at 5:40 PM, Anomalocaris said:

I'm actually curious about the stripe in females - what does showing it vs not showing it mean? I've noticed my female sometimes shows the stripe and sometimes doesn't, and it doesn't seem to depend on the time of day, so I kind of assumed it conveys mood of some kind?

I think showing the stripe vs. not showing the stripe is a bit of a mystery. I agree that it's most likely related to mood. Some suggest a stronger stripe in wild-types indicates breeding dress, but I don't actually see any hard evidence either way. Just one of their quirks. Because the female fish 'turn' the stripe on and off throughout the day, I don't think it's related to stress, either.

do think mature gold honey gourami females tend to lose the stripe or at least rarely exhibit it. I'm waiting for my young gold female to mature to that degree! They look like so, and I'm 99% sure @Hobbit's Mom Fish looks like this:

spacer.png

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At least a year. I've had my gold female for about 6 months, and she was incredibly small when we first got her. You can see her here in quarantine when we first got her with her gourami 'sisters' and the mis-identified thicklip female we got. 🙂
B74804E9-FD67-4E04-9A9F-B28C4CB50821.jpeg.a7bbac46ee597406fc633b9eba1ffb36.jpeg186543092_10102992285338039_7682900557748275372_n.jpg.887e319efc416f6bc7184a9129deb1b8.jpgAB7916A2-5DAE-4F7C-A554-56C782C53D23.jpeg.a085661121a3342ed5a5298d19868e45.jpeg

Edited by laritheloud
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On 9/23/2021 at 10:13 AM, KentFishFanUK said:

I've had them for about three weeks now and the store had only just got them in when I got them so they probably are still quite young! I did notice today when taking photos what could be the start of a small bubble nest, maybe he's practicing? 😂 

You never know I might be hitting you up one day about how to save and raise honey gourami fry before they get eaten haha 

Edit: oh and your newly assigned role of 'honey-and-other-dwarf-gouramis'  expert is regrettably non-negotiable 🤣I wish I could say there was benefits over and above my gratitude but well just ask @Odd Duck aka the 'pea-puffer-and-parrot-and-various-other-aspects-of-the-hobby' expert 😅

 

 

Thank you, but I’m not sure I qualify as an expert!  I just read tons and know a little about a lot of things.  Some I have actual experience with (those dratted, confounding, trouble making, pea puffers for instance) and I try to clarify when I’m actually guessing or have only read about, vs having experience with the topic or having digested a few, or many, scientific papers.

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On 9/23/2021 at 4:47 PM, KentFishFanUK said:

Just so I'm forewarned I did think of a couple of questions - how do you collect the newborn fry to put into a breeder box? And what could you do about providing infusoria if you don't already have a culture going? 

Great questions! The easiest way to collect the fry is to use a cup. Hold the cup at an angle and press the bottom into the water, so when you tilt the lip under the water surface, a bunch of water rushes in. Scooping doesn’t work as well as letting the water pull the babies in. I think I got that trick from @Brandy.

As for how to feed unexpected babies… honestly, I haven’t figured this out yet 😅 I’ve started to try to culture long-term stable infusoria for this reason. The fry are too small at the beginning even for microworms. The good news is you have a few days (at least three) between when the female lays eggs and when the fry need food. I’ve had honey fry survive at least five days in the bubble nest—they sneak out at night when Dad Fish (and everyone else) is sleeping to hunt. So if you leave them in the nest, you should be able to get something growing before they totally starve. Some people buy infusoria starter, so that might work in a pinch. I’ve also heard of people squeezing the mulm out of a sponge filter. I haven’t tried that myself but my guess is you squeeze it into a jar, let it settle, and pipette water off the top. Otherwise try to find a puddle outside and pull from that, maybe? 😄 

On 9/23/2021 at 5:40 PM, Anomalocaris said:

I'm actually curious about the stripe in females - what does showing it vs not showing it mean? I've noticed my female sometimes shows the stripe and sometimes doesn't, and it doesn't seem to depend on the time of day, so I kind of assumed it conveys mood of some kind?

Like @laritheloud, I’m not really sure. My two female juveniles are 5 months old now and their stripe is starting to fade. Sometimes it’s still very visible though! I can’t determine a pattern either. Maybe they really are mood stripes!

On 9/23/2021 at 6:03 PM, laritheloud said:

I'm 99% sure @Hobbit's Mom Fish looks like this:

Yep! My pretty Mom Fish with one of her girls:

04D8A80E-0947-4A61-98CE-FCF2F6C6B5AF.jpeg.8d8cd6159eba720637999c33be3bad20.jpeg

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On 9/24/2021 at 6:51 AM, Hobbit said:

Great questions! The easiest way to collect the fry is to use a cup. Hold the cup at an angle and press the bottom into the water, so when you tilt the lip under the water surface, a bunch of water rushes in. Scooping doesn’t work as well as letting the water pull the babies in. I think I got that trick from @Brandy.

As for how to feed unexpected babies… honestly, I haven’t figured this out yet 😅 I’ve started to try to culture long-term stable infusoria for this reason. The fry are too small at the beginning even for microworms. The good news is you have a few days (at least three) between when the female lays eggs and when the fry need food. I’ve had honey fry survive at least five days in the bubble nest—they sneak out at night when Dad Fish (and everyone else) is sleeping to hunt. So if you leave them in the nest, you should be able to get something growing before they totally starve. Some people buy infusoria starter, so that might work in a pinch. I’ve also heard of people squeezing the mulm out of a sponge filter. I haven’t tried that myself but my guess is you squeeze it into a jar, let it settle, and pipette water off the top. Otherwise try to find a puddle outside and pull from that, maybe? 😄 

Like @laritheloud, I’m not really sure. My two female juveniles are 5 months old now and their stripe is starting to fade. Sometimes it’s still very visible though! I can’t determine a pattern either. Maybe they really are mood stripes!

Yep! My pretty Mom Fish with one of her girls:

04D8A80E-0947-4A61-98CE-FCF2F6C6B5AF.jpeg.8d8cd6159eba720637999c33be3bad20.jpeg

The cup collection sounds easy enough, genius! When would you collect them? After they hatch or as eggs? I'd probably leave some for dad to take care of so I don't feel too bad haha. 

I don't really want to start a infusoria culture that I may never need so will have to try squeezing the sponge out. Or thinking about it I have a chunk of lava rock randomly sitting in my tank for some reason - that would probably have infusoria on it right? 

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