101 Gold Gourami Fry and still learning!

[Anthony]

So I figured I would try and breed some of the fish I have, (noob here with beginner fish of course), and settled in on my gold gouramis.. I did my research in regards to their spawning needs, and it played out perfect in a 10g tank! The fry started free swimming on 09/07. I removed mom and dad back to their community tank. I had hundreds of fry! I couldn't believe I hit pay dirt this quickly. Surely beginners luck. After a day or two I became very concerned about a smell, like rotten eggs permeating from the fry tank.  I began to trouble shoot this smell, and maybe it was some eggs gone bad, but I think it was more a substrate issue.  Ultimately, I had to get them out of there, and into a safer environment.  A clean cycled 10g tank was my answer. Lesson number one: Have an all the way through plan from pairing up two fish, all the way to what your going to do with hundreds of new fish!

Migrating them all to a better world, I fumbled my way through an extracting process from the bad tank, and lost many of them due to not having a tried, and true transfer method. Had it not been for the putrid smell in the original tank, I may not have had to move them at all. 

Anyhow since then, I decided to upgrade them all into a 20L last week located on my covered patio. The water changes, and vacuuming are easier for me there. So in growing them out  from a 10g to the 20g, I was able to count them all in the transfer. I yielded exactly 101 fry, lost one a few days ago via a 20% water change, just didn't see the little guy. 😞 The benefits of the upgrade are obvious both ways. For me it's more time between water changes and cleaning. The fry are loving the extra space, and my ability to maintain a constant temperature for them, or more importantly avoid a drastic temp. change on them, is much easier. Our late nights, and early mornings here in San Antonio, Texas were dipping into the low 60°s high 50°s a week and a half ago, my heater kept the 20L in the low 70°s still.

What I've learned in the macro thus far is that it may be easy to breed some fish, it's work in ensuring the growth and development of fry.  That being said, the work spawned from an inner passion yields an inner reward. In my case the reward is the feeding of that passion. I want to see these little guys grow, I want to transfer all of them again into a 55, and see them all color up before they are ready to go to their new homes. That part of the story is to be continued... I didn't have an all the way through plan. 

Many of you have may have been on this path a hundred times over, and reading about my first time happening now, I hope brings a smile into your day.  Comments and advice most welcome.

One question. Should I dose these fry at just over 4 weeks old with a preventative antibiotic? Thank you for taking the time to read and or respond.  Where else could I share this adventure ? 🙂 Pics soon. 

[Mridul Singh]

Congratulations on the Gourami Fry!!!

I have never dosed any of my fry. I have dosed eggs as a preventative from fungusing, but never fry.

As for moving them into a 55, I would do it, so there's more water volume, and you can see the fry better.

Keep on feeding, maintaining, and enjoying your fish, and they'll be happy!

[Anthony]

Mridul, thank you for the words of encouragement, your time, and the advice on dosing. I was on the fence with that issue and good to hear the feedback. Last thing I want to do is to go out of my way to convince myself of doing something that may not be needed. 🙂 Putting them in that 55 might just happen sooner now rather than later lol! I will post a pic when I do it.

[Frodo]

Congratulations on your fry (fries?)! 
My honey  gourami ones just hatched yesterday and they look like they are already swimming. I am literally 3 weeks old in this hobby and already have to take care of with this. Don’t get me wrong, so excited but a bit overwhelmed as tank is still settling and feel like it can take a turn for worse any moment.  

I did not dose them though. They hatched with no special requirements.

 I can see around 50 moving fry of which I have moved like 30 into a breeder net box. I didn’t have the heart to take all of Mo’s (my Male Gourami) eggs away! He takes care of rest and is so paternal. 
Luckily I haven’t seen Corys bother him or the fry. Just when the female wanders in his corner, he chases her away but is not aggressive. 
I can’t wait to see how many would survive. Trying my best. 

[Anthony]

Frodo. Just seeing your post on the thread. Apologies for that. Some real life stuff happening regarding my dad's health. However I am happy to read about your gouramis! Your right it can be a lot especially at 3 weeks in. I am curious to know how your coming along and how many you have yielded now that some time has passed?. I am sure you have learned a few things in the last few weeks 🙂 Thats whats great about the hobby, your successes and failures feed the passion to learn more, improve, and do even better. Imagine your success rate when you calculate to breed, and set yourself up with all the preperation your experience has led you to? Much success !