I see babies!!!

[ruecole]

So far I've counted 3 of the little miters hiding out in the gravel under the driftwood (where the bubble nest was). :19:

So now what?

My 10g isn't quite ready for them (it's got a bacterial bloom going on--though I'm not sure if it's the ammonia-eating or the nitrite-eating bacteria), so should I try and suck them up with the gravel vac and stick them in a Ziploc bag, like I did the danio fry?

Thanks!

Rue

[squirt_12]

are these the little gourami fry????

congrats....well i would maybe try to shyphon them or let nature take it's course. They will take about 3 days to consume their egg sac where then you will have to feed them micro worms, BBS, and you COULD try powdered flake food but fry that small like stuff that moves...it is better for them.

Congrats.

[CAF]

are these the little gourami fry????

congrats....well i would maybe try to shyphon them or let nature take it's course. They will take about 3 days to consume their egg sac where then you will have to feed them micro worms, BBS, and you COULD try powdered flake food but fry that small like stuff that moves...it is better for them.

Congrats.


Look at you go Squirt.... Good info.


Rue, is daddy still guarding the rest of the fry? If so, let him take care of them otherwise go ahead and slurp them up. Make sure you try not to get too much mulm and ickiness as it would not be good for the fry.

[ruecole]

Yep, they're the gouramis! Looks like they didn't get eaten after all!

Anyway, my research said that they'd stay in the nest until there yolk sac was consumed, so these guys are now free swimming.

I'm hoping they'll live off my home-made fry food (a ground up blend of tubifex worms, shrimp pellets, and flake food), as I've been unsuccessful in finding anything at any of the LFS that resembles fry food. Not even BBS! :rolleyes:

Oddly enough, they were out and swimming around (that's how I spotted them) and neither mom nor dad seemed even remotely interested in eating them. But, while dad's still in his protective mode, I'm not sure how much longer that'll last. So I don't wanna risk it!

Thanks!

Rue

[ruecole]

Hi, CAF! We cross-posted!

Yes, daddy is still watching over them and running off any fish that even come anywhere near the nest!

So when will I know he's done protecting them and I should step in?

Thanks!!!!

Rue

[CAF]

Hi, CAF! We cross-posted!

Yes, daddy is still watching over them and running off any fish that even come anywhere near the nest!

So when will I know he's done protecting them and I should step in?

Thanks!!!!

Rue

Most likely if these are not in the nest, Daddy doesn't know they are down there. Go ahead and pull them. However, as long as daddy can keep them in the nest they are fine. Once they start free swimming, they will get picked off by fish:18: , get sucked into the filter, get stuck in the substrate, etc. Once you see them begin to cloud around daddy, go ahead and suck them up and move them over to the 10g.

Daddy WILL NOT like you doing this... I recommend for future spawnings, when you want them to breed, move them into a bare bottom tank with a sponge filter. There is a lot less chance of something wrong happening to the fry this way. (I learned this the hard way with Angels)

[squirt_12]

Your homemade food....is it like a liquid???? or like a slushy kind of mixture?? don't forget that the fry will usually eat things that move so when you go to feed them take an eye dropper and shoot it in the water...make sure the eye dropper is IN the water...this way they may think that the food is moving and attack it. but don't aquezze too hard or it will sink to the bottom before they have a chance to eat some.


can you post some pics??? or are they too small??

P.S.>
For BBS you can ask your LFS to order you some egs and you can hatch them yourself...they are SOOOO easy to hatch.

Good luck with the fry!!! :D

[squirt_12]

Look at you go Squirt.... Good info.


Rue, is daddy still guarding the rest of the fry? If so, let him take care of them otherwise go ahead and slurp them up. Make sure you try not to get too much mulm and ickiness as it would not be good for the fry.
o...and thank you very much...i have been researching so much for my bettas that the same kind of foods apply with the bettas as they do with the gouramis.

1 question though....do gouramis wrap to like bettas????

EDIT- wrap: as in when spawning.

[CAF]

o...and thank you very much...i have been researching so much for my bettas that the same kind of foods apply with the bettas as they do with the gouramis.

1 question though....do gouramis wrap to like bettas????

EDIT- wrap: as in when spawning.
LOL... I know what you mean by wrap...

Both Bettas and Gouramis are anabantoids. I have not spawned either genus myself, however I have many different articles on it. I would assume from the articles andd from what I have heard, that yes, Gouramis probably do some form of the wrap. Considering they both make bubble nests it does make sense they would mate in a similiar way.

[squirt_12]

yeah thats what i thought......so the male would be larger than the female....i am guessing????

[ruecole]

Thanks, guys!

I decided to suction out the gravel and collected 7 babies that way. But I've counted another four or five clinging to the driftwood. And if they swim away, daddy collects them and puts them back! He's such a good daddy! :luxlove:

I'll wait until they "cloud around daddy," though, to remove the rest, CAF. Glad to know what to watch for now!

As for wrapping. YES, the definitely wrap together. It's the coolest thing!

My male, however, is smaller than my female. My male is also darker in colour than my female. (Now I know why the one fish was always lighter! I was always worried maybe she was stressed!)

I feel bad for my female, though. She got one night of lovin', and has been spurned every since! She keeps trying to swim near to daddy, but he flares and chases her away. She looks so forlorn!

My home-made food is powder, but I mix it with liquid in a cup, then squirt it into the bag with my trusty syringe (couldn't live without that thing! :sbiggrin:). I gave the babies a tiny bit of food when I put them in the bag, but they don't seem to be eating it yet. I've noticed the daddy fish collecting planaria (after I removed the babies I did a small water change, so the planaria probably got washed out of the filter/gravel in the process) and (I guess?) putting it into the nest area. So I don't know if they're eating that or something else?

Anyway, the seven so far seem fat and happy (though still hanging off the sides of the bag). So hopefully they'll be okay!

I'd take pics but my camera sucks. They're a little bigger than the head of pin, not counting the tails. You almost need a magnifying glass to see them!

Thanks for all the help and support so far, guys! This is all very much trial and error for me!

Rue

[CAF]

You are doing a great job Rue! Thanks for the updates.

[ruecole]

So this morning I was able to count eight babies in the driftwood! Including the ones I've already got in the bag, that makes FIFTEEN BABIES!!! (And probably more! :sbiggrin:)

I'm not sure if I should be concerned about my bag babies eating or not. They mostly seem to just hang off the sides or float at the top. This morning I actually thought they were all dead! But when I lifted the bag, they all swam free. PHEW!

I seem to recall the danios behaving much the same for the 4 or 5 days, though, just hanging out and not swimming much or seeming to eat, and they're all still alive and healthy.

Anyway, the gouramis still seem to have fat bellies, so I'm probably just being an over-anxious new mommy! :hmm3grin2orange:

Rue

[squirt_12]

Well how old are the babies now?? you should not be feeding them anything until their egg sac is all gone...then you can feed them because they wont eat the food until the egg sac is gone. Also i would put a live plant in the bag so that they don't run out of oxygen or you could put an air tube in it...your chice. cause you don't want them to run out of oxygen.

Congrats on all of the fry. Keep up the good work :thumb:

[CAF]

Well how old are the babies now?? you should not be feeding them anything until their egg sac is all gone...then you can feed them because they wont eat the food until the egg sac is gone. Also i would put a live plant in the bag so that they don't run out of oxygen or you could put an air tube in it...your chice. cause you don't want them to run out of oxygen.

Congrats on all of the fry. Keep up the good work :thumb:

Airstones may knock them around too much...

Plants would be fine. Java Moss, or other aquatic moss would probably be best as infusoria grows like candy. It will give the little guys food to eat.

[squirt_12]

Airstones may knock them around too much...

Plants would be fine. Java Moss, or other aquatic moss would probably be best as infusoria grows like candy. It will give the little guys food to eat.
yeah good point....and if you can sort of mix up their diet...don't always feed them the same thing.

P.S.
What is in that mixture that you are using for their food???

[ruecole]

Well, I'm feeling particularly frustrated right now. :ssad:

Earlier this afternoon I suctioned about two dozen babies out of the big tank because I noticed daddy was having a MUCH harder time keeping the little monkeys stuck to the big driftwood and they kept swimming off, with both mommy and daddy in hot pursuit. And daddy didn't always get there first. :scry:

So after watching mommy gulp down several of her offspring, I had enough and stuck the gravel vac in there and sucked up as many as I could before the bucket got filled. There are still probably a dozen (or more!) babies in the big tank--though I don't know for how much longer.

I'd just suction them all out and stick them in the ten gallon, but it's not even STARTED to cycle yet! :smad: So I've got babies in a bucket, babies in a bag, and babies in the tank and no idea how I'm going to care for them all!!!

Fortunately, the few still left in the tank seem to be VERY quick little swimmers--much quicker than the danios were at that age!--so they're managing to escape to the safety of the gravel/driftwood/plants before they become lunch.

So what do I do now? :confused:

Anyway, to answer a few questions:

The babies hatched out, I think, Sunday morning. That's when I first noticed the nest had disappeared and daddy had taken up guarding a different part of the driftwood.

I don't know what the babies look like when they're still feeding off their yolk sac, but I've seen nothing attached to them--they're just two beady baby eyes and a tail. I don't know if they're eating my homemade fish food (ground up tubifex worm, shrimp pellet and flake food) either, though. But I've got some duckweed floating in the water for them. Hopefully, that's good enough. If not, I've got some baby java ferns I could probably remove from the parent plant and put in with them.

Any ideas/suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks!

Rue (feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment... :sigh:)

[CAF]

(feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment... :sigh:)


LOL.... I'm sorry Rue. Get another tupper out and place all of the babies in it and float it in the tank. If the eggsac is still there it will look like they have REALLY fat bellies, this will shrink until they look more like a torpedo until they begin to fill out and look more like Gouramis. Once you have moved the fry into the tupper, dump the bucket back in or do an unplanned WC. Then suck out the rest and place them into the tupper. Move those in the bag to the tupper and you have them all in one place ::Ta Da!!!:: Go ahead and put in the Java Ferns as well as the Duckweed in the tupper as well to give them the infusoria on the plants. Wait about 2 days and then start feeding your food. I would recommend getting some Walter Worms, they are very easy to culture and are great fry food. The fry (if you can) should be fed small amounts 4 to 6 times daily in order to grow quickly.

[squirt_12]

Also when they are 1 week old i would start to feed them BBS (baby brine shrimp) if you can. Cause they need live foods. I know that infusoria would come off of the plants so thats good but i would give them some BBS at 1-2 weeks old.

[ruecole]

Oh, geez! I totally forgot (once I got the 10g) I was going to get some cheap plasticware from the dollar store...and now they're closed for the night... :rolleyes:

Okay, maybe I can stick them all into a bigger Ziploc bag for now and get a container tomorrow. (I'd use one here from home, but I'd worry they might get sick from the detergent and bleach and stuff I've used to clean them. :ssad:)

I can do this. :sbiggrin:

Rue

[ruecole]

OMG! So I THOUGHT I had about two dozen babies--more like FOUR dozen and maybe even more!!!! The big Ziploc is bulging with little tiny babies!!! And there's still a few more in the tank!!! (They are HARD to catch! They're incredibly fast and STRONG swimmers!!!!)

Anyway, I'm pooped. I spent at least two hours suctioning babies out of the buckets of water! But at least they're safe for now (unless I somehow kill them... :ssad:) and I can sleep knowing I did my best. :sbiggrin:

Thanks for all the help so far!

Rue

[squirt_12]

WOW....that is VERY good that you are getting all of these babies. Well you will def. have to post some pictures.

[ruecole]

To be honest I'm completely stunned at how my fish keep breeding! I'd read that their first time, gouramis often only manage 15-30 eggs. Either mine are better practiced than I first thought or they're just naturally good at making babies... :hmm3grin2orange:

I borrowed my friend's camera and took some pics tonight, but I have to figure out how to download them. When I do I'll be sure to post 'em!

Thanks again!

Rue

[squirt_12]

wow....that is soooo amazing....congrats once more....thumbs2: :22:

[CAF]

To be honest I'm completely stunned at how my fish keep breeding! I'd read that their first time, gouramis often only manage 15-30 eggs. Either mine are better practiced than I first thought or they're just naturally good at making babies...
I borrowed my friend's camera and took some pics tonight, but I have to figure out how to download them. When I do I'll be sure to post 'em!

Thanks again!

Rue


Ooohhh.. :18: :18: Rue said pics :18: :18:


WOO HOO!!!! I like pics..........

[ruecole]

Haha!

Okay, so here they are. The first is of the parents. The second two only show a few of the babies in the bag. I was trying to count them this morning and I think there may be closer to 60 or 70 of the little critters! :sbiggrin:

Rue

[CAF]

WOO HOO Thanks for sharing the pics Rue!!!!

[squirt_12]

thanks for sharing the pics. Those fry are TINY!!!!!!!

how old are they now???

[ruecole]

Thanks, guys.

The fry are either four or five days old. I think they started hatching on Sunday and were all hatched by Monday.

They're starting to eat now. I've noticed them hunting (probably infusoria?) around the bottom/sides of the bag. If I watch really close, I can actually see their tiny mouths open and close! It's pretty cool!

There were a few dead ones floating at the top of the bag this morning. They looked like they still had their yolk sacs, too. Either that or they were bloated up (eww!). I assume that's normal to lose a few?

And there's still a few alive in the main tank! I occasionally see them hiding out in the gravel or swimming from plant to wood to plant, trying not to get eaten!

I've tried suctioning them out, but they're just too darn fast! :sbiggrin:

I guess I'll just leave them in there and see if any make it. :guilty look:

Rue

[squirt_12]

Yeah you will probably lose some in the process but 1 or 2 here and there arn't that bad. its better than losing like 20 or something at once. But best of luck to you.

Keep us updated.

[ruecole]

Well, there were six. So I hope that's not a bad sign. But I've started feeding the others my baby food. I've also discovered you can disolve flakes by adding a few drops of water and rubbing them between your fingers. I've been adding one or two flakes a day. So I'm hoping they're getting enough to eat.

I'll definitely keep you all updated, though! :sbiggrin:

Thanks!

Rue

[CAF]

You are going to lose some, it is inveitable. I have killed more fry than I would ever care to count, easily in the high tens if not hundreds of thousands...

[squirt_12]

well you will prob. lose more when they start to get their labrynths because they wont know enough or can't get there in time and they will sufficate and die that way. But you should only lose a few that way.

i think that this is about 5 weeks old when this happens but i am not sure.

[ruecole]

Awwww, now you guys are depressing me... :ssad:

I didn't know exactly when they were supposed to start developing their labyrinth organs, so I'm glad you told me Squirt! I understand you're supposed to drop the water level to make the air really humid then, otherwise they don't develop properly and they die.

Thanks!

Rue

[squirt_12]

yeah they have to have humidity for their labrynth organs to develope properly. So when you see them going up to get air and ater about 4-5 weeks lower it a little an dalways make sure there is air in the open part of the bag.
I will give you the exact number after i do a little research. I think it is 5 weeks but i am not sure.

[squirt_12]

well i can't seem to fins the time line but when you see them going to the top and sticking their nose out of the water then you know that it is time. lol.