# My chocolate gouramis are breeding! *UPDATE, FRY*



## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

The female has a swollen throat and is keeping all the other fish away from her. She is definitely carrying eggs!

I don't have any other tanks available for her right now, but I have some extremely dense stands of stem plants, so there is the possibility of some fry surviving.

I never knew these fish would breed in a high tech tank, perhaps I'll set up a breeding tank for them in the future.

Plus, now I know the big, mean one is a female:hihi:


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Minsc said:


> The female has a swollen throat and is keeping all the other fish away from her. She is definitely carrying eggs!
> 
> I don't have any other tanks available for her right now, but I have some extremely dense stands of stem plants, so there is the possibility of some fry surviving.
> 
> ...


Congrats for a rare event! I want pictures though! Hope mine will spawn in the future but spawning and getting them to carry to term I hear is difficult. I think they are the prettiest of the Gouramis' though.

Craig


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## Ashok (Dec 11, 2006)

Congratulations, those must be some happy fish. I understand most people have difficulty just keeping chocolate gouramis alive.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Mine spawned a few times. The females throat would swell up for a couple of days, but I never moved them to a separate tank, so I never got any fry. It's a pretty awesome thing. I'd planned on setting up a breeding tank after the cross country move, but unfortunately the chocolates didn't survive the move.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

That is amazing! I'd love to see pics of your chocolates! I have one, but I regret not buying more. There were 3, but one got some sort of sore and one disappeared. Breeding them would've been amazing.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Ashok said:


> Congratulations, those must be some happy fish. I understand most people have difficulty just keeping chocolate gouramis alive.


Some have, Mine seem to have settled in well. I've got a dozen of them in my Riparium and they are fun to watch and interact.

*Minsc-* What water temp are you keeping yours at? 

Craig


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Congrats on the spawn!

Get some pics if you can! :biggrin:


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I will try to get pics, but momma is being very antisocial. I will certainly try to get pics of any fry, but I'm trying to keep my expectations for their survival low.

Imagine my avatar, with the area beneath the mouth a bit puffy and pink

Craigthor: They are my favorite as well. I keep the tank at 76f, and it typically gets into the 80s in the summer. Right now it is just 76 day and nights, with water changes usually dropping it a couple degrees.

Ashok: Healthy specimens don't seem to be particularly difficult. Supposedly they do require soft water. Anyone with a tank that can grow Tonina and Erios should probably have the perfect conditions.

Jmhart: Sorry your fish didn't make it. It looks like your 120 could use 20 or so

Amazonfish: You can always get more! Do you have it in the same tank as sparkling gouramis? How is that working?
There are a couple pics here: http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/SSiska/4-17-10/

lauralee: Thanks!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Thanks, my tank varies based on temp. I set the heater low but being a high humdty riparium the air temp stays in the high 70s low 80s. Water temp runs between 76-80 depending on the temp of the apartment.

Craig


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I somehow missed your current tank journal, awesome tank! Looks perfect for them. I always thought mixing anabantoids was a no-no, but it sounds like they are getting along all right.

Got her:


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Congrats. It is always so much fun to have spawning fish. Until they start beating up on all of the other fish anyways.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Minsc said:


> I somehow missed your current tank journal, awesome tank! Looks perfect for them. I always thought mixing anabantoids was a no-no, but it sounds like they are getting along all right.
> 
> Got her:


 
It will be great if she holds full term. Yeah alot of people say not to mix them. They all get along in my tank with a couple of the Bettas' schooling around with the Gouramis from time to time. I think what makes this work so well is that I have such a large foot print for them and everyone has space to hide and move around. My current stock is as follows:

25 Betta Albimarginata
12 Chocolate Gourami
11 Badis Badis

So I've mixed Nanids and a couple of Anabantoids together. I will thin out my stocking eventually as fish grow and I can get some good M:F ratios but for know everyone plays well together.

Craig


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Minsc said:


>


Great pic! How long do you expect her to hold before she spits? I've never kept chocolate gourami...

My Betta simplex alpha male is holding again, though. I'm hoping this time to term since he ate the last batch.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Minsc said:


> Jmhart: Sorry your fish didn't make it. It looks like your 120 could use 20 or so
> 
> !


For sure! I almost went that route, but decided to stick with SA fish, however, I like Chocolates so much that I've got a 15g in the basement that might be dedicated to 6 or 7 of them in the future.

Good luck with the breeding!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Other than her looking skinnier and even more annoyed, still no change.

I'm delaying trimming the tank until some sort of resolution happens, to keep from stressing her and to provide more cover for the fry. Unfortunately, the tank is already starting to get quite overgrown. I may have a massive algae farm by the end of this.

Hurry up, fish!


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

if u post pics i made a thread in (fish)of new fish spawns so add it there to congrats its always nice to see the new additions.


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## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

could you be able to post a full body pic of the female?

I just bought 3 and want to see if i at least brought 1 female hoe with me


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

xJaypex said:


> could you be able to post a full body pic of the female?
> 
> I just bought 3 and want to see if i at least brought 1 female hoe with me


Typically they are near impossible to sex unless you get them breeding by what I have seen.

Craig


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

It is the same fish as my avatar.
I can't tell the difference between the sexes. My egg bearing female is the largest and thickest of the group, but I don't know if that has to do with her gender or not.

It has been 16 days since I noticed her condition, and still no fry. She looks like a balloon!


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## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

Bummer, i guess ill just have to wait and see. Do you feed your live food or just flakes?


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I just feed them New Life Spectrum pellets, ground up a bit between my fingers.


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## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

btw how long have you had these, and whats the ph?

Just asking because ive read they like to live in water with ph 4.0-5.0


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I've had them a year and a half.
The pH in my tank is yellow
My tap has very low KH, 1-1.5 degrees. Add CO2 to that, and it drops below what a standard pH kit will read. I could buy a low range pH test kit, but the fish always look happy, so I never bothered. Most of the fish in my tank are now 2 years old, so I don't think it bothers them at all.


Still no fry


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

The saga has ended. 

I hadn't planned on doing any maintenance so as to not spook her, but I ended up doing a massive trim yesterday for two reasons:

1) I was concerned about her health. Everything I have read has said they hold the eggs/fry for 8-14 days, and it had been 3 weeks!

2) My tank was rapidly approaching a tipping point. Overgrown plants can lead to algae and dying plants pretty quickly, and I'm sick to death of that headache.

So, she released whatever she was holding either during or after the water change, and after a couple failed tries, is eating again. So yay!
If there were any living fry, they are most likely in the Limnophila forest, which means there is next to 0% chance I will see them until they are ready to be seen.

So who knows? Maybe in a few weeks I'll have some miniature chocolate gouramis. If not, I'll set up my 10 gallon qt as a privacy suite for the couple one of these days.

At any rate, it was really interesting to watch. There were changes in behavior from both the male and female, while the third gourami in the tank just did its best to stay the heck out of their way.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Neat!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

*Dilemma*

So, I found two fry, alive and healthy
In my filter

The problem is, I don't know if I should pull them out, at least not yet.
They are safe from predation, and the water is rather calm on the inside of these cannisters. The question is, will they find enough to eat, and have room to grow?

I have a 10 gallon QT that is currently occupied, but could be cleared by Tuesday. Will it be okay to leave the fry in the filter at least that long, or should I really be making other provisions ASAP?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Awesome! Anyway to setup a breeder net in the QT tank?


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

heh, filter fry incubator. That'll be the next marketed product.

It's not safe in the filter either.

you can set up a breeder container in the tank.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks guys, using a net breeder had completely slipped my mind.
Here is one of them enjoying its new home:


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Sweet! Awesome pic too


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## Birds'nBunny (Sep 3, 2008)

That's great, congratulations! Good pics, too.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks!


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## bannh (May 3, 2008)

WOW, that is so cool. TY for sharing, great pics.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Well, they didn't make it. They fry didn't seem very active even when I pulled them from the cannister, and it wasn't long before they stopped moving altogether.

I don't know if was already too late, or if my fry husbandry skills are just subpar. Either way, it is pretty sad.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

:icon_cry:

At least you know you have a pair, right?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I wouldn't be surprised if you've got some still in the main tank hiding.

I didn't think any of my Betta simplex fry were surviving, either, but I just found some for the first time yesterday that look to be at least a week or two old...


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Captivate05 said:


> :icon_cry:
> 
> At least you know you have a pair, right?


Yeah, hopefully they will try again, and I will be better prepared.



lauraleellbp said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if you've got some still in the main tank hiding.
> 
> I didn't think any of my Betta simplex fry were surviving, either, but I just found some for the first time yesterday that look to be at least a week or two old...


Thanks, that is encouraging. How long does it take them to get up to non-edible by other small fish size?


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Fantastic! I currently have 5, but no signs of breeding. My TDS is ~60 and my dKH and dGH are non-existent but still nothing. 

What is your temperature set at? TDS?


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