How To Breed Gouramies

Gouramies are preferred by some aquarium hobbyists because they are fairly sturdy and require very minimal care. You can have a thriving population of gourami fish by correctly following the steps in breeding them. These are general procedures that will work for most species of gourami. You should seek specific information on the particular types of gourami you might want to put in your aquarium.

1. Prepare the breeding tank.  You need to get a tank that can hold up to 20 gallons of water. Have the bottom of the tank covered with a thin layer of gravel substrate. Position a gentle foam filter in one of the aquarium's corners. Remember not to use a filtering system that churns out strong water currents especially if the type of Gourami you are breeding builds a bubble nest. Have some aquatic plants in the aquarium. This is to provide the female Gourami with some hiding spots since a male Gourami will sometimes tend to bully the female. Set the water heater between 25 to 28 degrees Celsius. Keep the water's pH levels between 6.6 and 6.7.
2. Put the female gourami in the aquarium first.  A male gourami can be extremely territorial and will usually bully other fish. To avoid injuring the female before the breeding, put the female gourami in the designated breeding aquarium a few weeks first. This will give her a chance to get comfortable in her breeding environment. It is very crucial to feed the female with highly nutritious food to ensure optimum health. A variety of frozen or dried brine shrimp or blood worms and flake food are ideal choices.
3. Put the male gourami in.  Once you put the male gourami in the tank, the female will start building her bubble nest in preparation for laying the eggs. They will perform a courtship dance and will eventually embrace each other. The act of the embrace is performed to squeeze out the eggs from the female's ovipositor. This will last for several hours until the female lays over 500 eggs in the bubble nest. The male will then fertilize these eggs. Once the fertilization process is complete, scoop the parents out from the aquarium careful not to disturb the nest.
4. Reduce the water in the breeding aquarium.  Firstly, turn off the filter and siphon the water out until the aquarium is half empty. Again, be very careful while doing this to avoid upsetting the bubble nest.
5. Feed the fry.  In a day, the eggs will hatch. After about 4 days, tiny fish fry will be seen swimming around the aquarium. Feed them with finely powdered fry flake food. You can also feed them with liquid fry food.

Once the fry are almost an inch in length, they can now be transferred to the tank with the other fish.