phil saint

am i right in thinking that female gourami are not as brightly coloured as the male and have a less pointed dorsal fin than the male iv just notice that the one i belive to be female is very swollen around the belly area above the vent. could it be filling with eggs i havent seen a bubble nest either in the tank or being constructed not that im even sure where or how big a bubble nest would be ! or could there be something wrong with the fish

thanks in advance phil

Shawnie

hi phil
yes you are correct on the fems less colorful and more rounded dorsal fin....so its possible she could be egg bound...try fasting the tank for a day, then go 2 days with just feeding small bits of frozen/thawed/shelled peas...the bellies are the size of their eyes so cut them up small ..then repeat for a week..it wont hurt the other fish and it will help you know if your baby is constipated or egg bound..if you can do this with just her in a breeder net, that would be better..but if not, the tank wont suffer from having a few peas

phil saint

thanks......i feed every 2 days and today was an off day so i'll start the peas tommorrow, my mum (she used to keep fish back in the day) sugested a thin slice of cucumber, iv also seen this done in a shop but i have no idea about the pros and cons of doing it ? im currently cycling a new aquarium (not ready yet) so the breader net will have to make do for now.

Shawnie

if your fish will eat it, cucumbers are great..as well as zuchinni , big leafed lettuce, spinach....veggies are great just remember to take them out the next day if they arent eaten...and sometimes it takes them a few weeks to get use to it

phil saint

thanks again shawnie

Shawnie

welcome phil