Malta Aquarist Society

Are the pearls in your breeding projects for this year anyone ???? I like to have a go myself ..... 

martin

 You have a nice male there Martin, The Pearl gourami is my favourite one.

 Thanks Giann.... the only thing with these beauties is that the fry are very tiny when they hatch and they grow in so many different sizes that you have to cull frequently .

 martin

 Also they are very slow growing but worth a try if you haven't bred them before!

I had 200 fry once. It was a real nice big bubble nest. I wish to breed again these beautiful fish.

Now I dont have any. I dont have space

 Has anyone bred the moonlight ???

martin

 After several attempts I managed to breed the moonlight gourami ( T.microlepis ). The male was very rough with the female who ended up with several thorn fins. I removed the female immediately and left the father attending the nest. He made use of alot of fine leaves I left floating in the tank. I removed the whole nest and there are some very very tiny fry. I have never experience such tiny newly hatched fish in my life. Hope they will survive the first very delicate days of their lives. Here is the proud father ......

martin

 Hi maritn

congratulations on breeding the moonlight gourami. It is a very spledid spedies. I remember way back i had bred the golden gourami. And i had bred them in winter. I rememher i had to lower the height of the water, so that the fry would have a layer of air to breed from. I had read it was important to keep the air above the water warm, as the fry come up to the top to breathe. I had left an clear area for the male to make the nest and half o the tank i had put it a lof or plastic plants. The reason was after breeding the male chases the female away, and that way she had where to hide, after breeding.

I remember i had hundreds of fry and they many survived. The problem was to find them homes once they started to grow up as i did not have muxh space to keep them.

Hope you will post some photos of they fry

 Frank

 The drawback with gouramis is that they're slow growing....

 You are very right Giann. After almost a week, I can hardly see the tiny fry. I do not think there are alot of fry, or else they are hidden in the bunch of live plants in which they were hatched. They are too tiny for pictures , but as soon as they are recognizable I will take some shots. Keep you informed.

martin