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Just traded for a few, and I hear they have really badly built bubblenests , and since id like to breed them I was wondering if anyone had any tips? Does anyone recommend any plants they might like to use to build the nests up or anything?

Still, I kept dwarfs for years and a suppose theyre much the same only scaled up, and probably healthier.

Heres the wee beastie by the way for anyone who didnt know.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_4037.jpg

You could try something like a betta breeding setup, with the styrofoam cup. http://www.bettatalk.com/how_bettas_spawn.htm It would keep the nest contained and hopefully intact.

I'm sure others have ideas as well, this is just what first came to mind... I'm still half asleep.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Hello there!

A friend of mine has had good results with nesting gouramis using Elodea on the surface of his tank. Avoid any strong currents that may destroy or alter the nest's structure.

Here are some sites that may give you more ideas:

* http://assamagribusiness.nic.in/Fishery23.pdf (PAGE 57)
* http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/gourami/breeding2.php
* http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Hertziger_Breeding_Pearl_Gourami.html
* http://feeds.feedburner.com/PetFishTalk-NewsFeed (Play post dated 09/28/2005. Its an old talk show but they give some intresting stats on water parameters and nesting suggestions on gouramis around the 8th minute)

Good luck and congratulations on the beatifull fish.

J.

Hornwort/foxtail type things are ideal for bubblenesters, and salvinia isn't too bad either (though keep it under control, aim for 1/3rd tank cover max)

Try providing several nest sites, the closer to natrural the fish are, the more they tend to pick up and move entire nests in the middle of the night. You might also want to offer the standard half cup, bubblewrap and nashi pear mesh, just in case they aren't content with plant cover. If you can find Indian Almond leaves they make fantastic nest sites.

Watch the substrate. Bare bottom breeding tanks are preferable as the eggs generally fall and if you have gravel the fish just can't get to them. Use something like peat or a small sprinkling of grit/gravel or just leave it bare. Alternately place a piece of slate or other flat rock under the nesting site.

Keep it covered! Dry air will pop all the bubbles very quickly. Depending on how the nest is made this can be a problem, so try to keep it lidded as much as possible.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I have also seen Dwarf Gourami's build the entire nest out of duckweed so you may want to add that.

-Vincent

Oh, and failing all that, find a good VT betta and use him to blow the nest, transfer it and let them use that It works betta to betta for some, so it might be worth a shot

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I've kept these fish for quite some time. They are native to where I live. Mine used the long vals leaves that float on the surface to build nests. However, after the eggs have been laid, the nest is hardly visible. They really dont invest much effort in maintaining their nests.

I've never seen a wee beastie before.

Now I know............thanks for posting it!

Attached Image:

These fish are gaint gouramis (Colisa fasciata) they should behave like the dwarf gourami (C. lalia).

Thanks for the info everyone, the aquarium is all suitably adjusted now, and hopefully when theyve settled in properly we'll hear the patter of tiny fins Ive gone with floating plants and adjusted the flow so that they all stay in a corner and dont float about too much. Hopefully the males will take advantage of the situation an pack the bubble nests in under and around them. My old dwarf gouramis used to be able to tack together huge floating rafts , so hopefully even a Colisa fasciata will figure it out.

They are indeed Colisa fasciata , but the shop got em wrong, . , I wanted the bigger species, so alls good! We still call em indian gourami's in these parts though, cos to us the GIANT gourami is- well a 2.5 foot giant gourami