Giant Gourami breeding?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
fishdance;913982; said:
I have bred the common Grey Giants if you want some info. Earth ponds, very low tech. Mostly watch and net out babies.
Click to expand...


I figured as much. Did you record the water temp. during the spawn? I figure the weather was warmer since you're in australia. Do they show any patterns with regards to when they spawn?

Also, did you use any floating plants in your pond? I'm going to try keeping Nymphae zenkeri or maybe hyacinth, just to see if that helps them build nests at all since I've read they like to use plant matter and small twigs and what not to build their bubble nests.

TIA
 
Hey Fishdance! Great work! How old were the adults when they started? And what size did they start? I'd love to hear about your experiences and the behaviors involved. Jude
 
I am overseas for a few months more at the moment - which actually allows me the time to spend online recently :) so getting pics is a little hard. Photos of ponds are a little boring since they are just holes in the ground but I did find a couple of photos for Flagtail.

First pic shows one pond drained and empty. The pipe you see laying on its side is the standpipe (if it rains I dont want my ponds to overflow and fish to escape). The top end has the sieve to stop small fish escaping. The bottom of all my ponds have a concrete drain so I can drain and harvest the pond by myself simply by pulling this standpipe out. The concrete well is just to stop erosion and create a place to collect the fish. The water drops by gravity into some lower ponds and I pump it back after harvest. These size ponds are approx 100 tonnes and they are about 2m deep unless I change the standpipe height. The other pipe you see standing is an airdriven PVC uplift to turn over the water column. It has a concrete foot for weight and stability and some small holes for water to get sucked up. The thin black tube you see is 1 inch polypipe (normally used for low pressure irrigation) which is run off air blowers. If you look really closely you can see some pleco holes/nests in the far side.

The second photo shows a pond being filled by pump and will be full when the standpipe is covered. Basic ponds but suitable for what I want.

Regards breeding; I would recomend a few firm vertical wooden stakes protruding near the 1m depth since male Gouramis do build a plant nest. I dont use water hyacinth since thats a prohibited species for us but that would be a good choice. Nesting and spawning behaviour is very obvious both from the disturbance of surrounding vegetation and fish behaviour. You wouldnt need ponds this big to breed a single pair. In Asia they throw quite a few pairs in together and they do nest surprisingly close to each other. Over there, they check almost daily and rob the nest by simply removing the whole thing (its like a ball of vegetation) and hatch artificially. There is a bit of literature on this since they are a food fish.

I suggest you start on some common greys first for the experience. Good luck!!

pond01.jpg




pond02.jpg
 
Cool - thanks for sharing!

Did you happen to see my questions? I'm curious how old, and how big they were when breeding activity started. Will fry survive if left with the parents, or dad, anyway? (Will mom help, or get chased away?)
Any breeding triggers?
I have 5 O. laticlavius, 2 pink O. goramy, and 1 gray O. goramy, so I won't need to worry about "which to start with." Your mention that the pink ones weren't breeding was interesting, though. (There are a couple other guys on here that we'll be working together, on this, as well.)
 
The bigger sixe the better for broodstock but even 2-3 year old fish may be okay. My fish are around 50 - 60cm and about 6 years old. The females dont take part post spawn and are driven away. A pond is a fairly natural environment so yes the fry will survive if left with parents. I use a low maintenance approach for this type of breeding but you may not find this suitable and hormones can also be applied. As suggested, I recommend you search for some scientific literature or perhaps visit a few Asian fish farms. Trust me .... the thrill of breeding your own monsters will be much much greater of you have to do a lot of the legwork yourself :)
 
Hey fish
Thanks for the awesome help! Visiting an Asian farm won't be happening, unfortunately :) Unless somebody buys me a ticket! LOL but I'm sure, like you said, there are references online.
Thanks again
 
OK third interested party, this is a topic that I am very interested in. At the moment I have what I still believe to be 3.1 Redtail Teenage Gourami's, but I still am in search for more info and a possitive Female. I may just have to go bother some importer to get a few, but only as a last result. Imports can be a pain in the you know what when they wanna be.

Presently I have 1 Truely Awesome Male, I could easily sale in the Asian market for top dollar ( Mucho Red and Red highlights). The one I believe to be a female is the smallest and newest to my tank, she is only 4" inches, but a good eater. I have seen and been offered Gold or Albino Gourami Gourami, but they where too small to ad to my tank and I didn't want to setup a 55G just for them at this time.

Please any infomation that anyone could provide me would be of great help. ie: foods - though unless it's some wonder food I don't think I'll be changing diets anytime soon, problems, acquiring females, tank size - though that shouldn't be a problem, breeding programs, Fish you may have for sale etc etc,. I can acquire a few breeder size beasts if I need too but I prefer those that I have already.
 
How can you tell males from females! I got 2 giant gouramis. Pink by the way. Not white, really pink. One is 15 inches long (2.54cm = 1 inch) and the other is 13 inch long. The little one is very friendly. I can take him out of the aquarium in my hand. He stays very calm in my hand. I would like to know at what would be thier age at this size? I am guessing 2 years old! Am I right?
 
I am not able to breed the white/pink Gouramis either with each other or with proven grey breeders. It must be possible though :) :)

15 inches is still not very big for a Gourami and size isnt a good indication of age since they get much thicker and bulkier with age so overall length is unreliable unless you have 2 fish the same age with different growth rates in different tanks. Males have a bigger forehead and fleshier lips. They are more territorial and may have longer fins. It would be easier if you had quite a few to compare but behaviour is a good indication if your unsure/inexperienced. How a known male reacts to an unknown fish for example.
 
The store keeper had a 2 feet long pink gourami. But it was too big for my tank. How old could my gouramis be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom