Honey Sunset Gourami

pish · 11-08-2008, 09:36 PM

Hi all. I am fairly new to the board and have enjoyed a lot of reading. My wife and I have a pair of Colisa chuna (Honey/Sunset Gouramis). The female is gravid. Toady is the first time I witnessed them croaking. I didn't know these croaked. I have a breeding tank almost prepared. Temp is at 26C. Ph is 7.2. I have a small HOB filter with the water level raised so there is not a lot of surface turbulence. A long story short, we are wondering what range of live foods might be offered. Should we keep it limited to Brine Shrimp and blood worms? Or, can they eat small pieces of tiny earth worms as well? Any other breeding advise is welcome. Thanks for having me. Our 30g isn't planted yet, so please don't make us walk the plank.

thanks!

Tim

lauraleellbp · 11-08-2008, 10:36 PM

The food choices sound good to me. Frozen foods and a quality staple flakes are also excellent choices; I always feed a rotation of all of these.

IDK about the breeding tank setup, though- personally, I'd take off the HOB and go with either a small corner or a sponge filter to really minimize the water movement and the risk of fry being blown around or sucked up into the filter. Since gouramis are bubblenest builders, water movement can really be bad for the bubblenests.

Gouramis also are jumpers, so the high water level would worry me- it's common to have some pre-spawning aggression and the female may try to jump away from the male, and land in "inner space."

When breeding bettas, I only filled the spawning tank 1/2 way. This eliminated those issues. Also, once the fry were free swimming, it allowed me to just add a little water at a time in lieu of water changes, making "water changes" a little safer for the super-delicate babies.

pish · 11-08-2008, 11:26 PM

Thanks for the help, lauralee. I did some more reading and noticed the water level should be around 6 inches. Thanks to your explanation, now I see why. I love these two fish. I hope we are successful with this. I've got a sponge filter. Now I just have to find a submersible heater. So, earthworms are cool?

lauraleellbp · 11-08-2008, 11:30 PM

IME fish absolutely love chopped earthworms. There is some debate due to the possibility of transmitting parasites, but personally I've never had any issues with earthworms and vastly prefer them to blackworms or tubifex (I think there are much bigger parasite issues with the last two than with earthworms).

11-08-2008, 09:36 PM	#1
pish Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Goodwater, AL Posts: 3	Honey Sunset Gourami Hi all. I am fairly new to the board and have enjoyed a lot of reading. My wife and I have a pair of Colisa chuna (Honey/Sunset Gouramis). The female is gravid. Toady is the first time I witnessed them croaking. I didn't know these croaked. I have a breeding tank almost prepared. Temp is at 26C. Ph is 7.2. I have a small HOB filter with the water level raised so there is not a lot of surface turbulence. A long story short, we are wondering what range of live foods might be offered. Should we keep it limited to Brine Shrimp and blood worms? Or, can they eat small pieces of tiny earth worms as well? Any other breeding advise is welcome. Thanks for having me. Our 30g isn't planted yet, so please don't make us walk the plank. thanks! Tim

11-08-2008, 10:36 PM	#2
lauraleellbp Fresh Fish Freak (View User Tanks) PTrader: (69/100%) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 22,486	The food choices sound good to me. Frozen foods and a quality staple flakes are also excellent choices; I always feed a rotation of all of these. IDK about the breeding tank setup, though- personally, I'd take off the HOB and go with either a small corner or a sponge filter to really minimize the water movement and the risk of fry being blown around or sucked up into the filter. Since gouramis are bubblenest builders, water movement can really be bad for the bubblenests. Gouramis also are jumpers, so the high water level would worry me- it's common to have some pre-spawning aggression and the female may try to jump away from the male, and land in "inner space." When breeding bettas, I only filled the spawning tank 1/2 way. This eliminated those issues. Also, once the fry were free swimming, it allowed me to just add a little water at a time in lieu of water changes, making "water changes" a little safer for the super-delicate babies. __________________ Geckos galore: Geckos in Tails, and follow Geckos in Tails on Facebook 29 gal Planted Tetra Tank, 46 gal Betta simplex community, 90 gal Low Tech Community, Amazon Fishing; my Journal of 10 days in Bolivia along the Rio San Martin

11-08-2008, 11:30 PM	#4
lauraleellbp Fresh Fish Freak (View User Tanks) PTrader: (69/100%) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 22,486	IME fish absolutely love chopped earthworms. There is some debate due to the possibility of transmitting parasites, but personally I've never had any issues with earthworms and vastly prefer them to blackworms or tubifex (I think there are much bigger parasite issues with the last two than with earthworms). __________________ Geckos galore: Geckos in Tails, and follow Geckos in Tails on Facebook 29 gal Planted Tetra Tank, 46 gal Betta simplex community, 90 gal Low Tech Community, Amazon Fishing; my Journal of 10 days in Bolivia along the Rio San Martin

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11-08-2008, 11:26 PM	#3
pish Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Goodwater, AL Posts: 3	Thanks for the help, lauralee. I did some more reading and noticed the water level should be around 6 inches. Thanks to your explanation, now I see why. I love these two fish. I hope we are successful with this. I've got a sponge filter. Now I just have to find a submersible heater. So, earthworms are cool?