Eggs in the bubble nest

[Nikn]

My blue gourami made a bubble nest andI noticed that the bubble nest is yellow. Does this mean that there are eggs in it?


Should I remove the nest because the gouramis built it in my community tank. I wasn't expecting or trying to breed them but I'm familiar with the process and I have a emergency "tank". I would like to save babies if I can and try to raise them. I won't be able to get them any baby brine shrimp until Tuesday but I don't think that would be a problem. Please respond as soon as possible.

 

[mattgirl]

It does look like you have eggs. I am just assuming you have both a male and a female. If you want the eggs to hatch and the fry not get immediately eaten you don't have many other options than to move them.

 

[Luckyscale2003]

Oooh I hope they hatch never owned gouramis but always thought they where super pretty next to bettas and african cichlids

 

[Nikn]

yes I have a male and a female. so should I go ahead and remove the nest. Will this traumatise the fish and if I remove the nest will he make more in the future. This is all happening really suddenly and its 20:30 I'm a bit nervous.

 

[mattgirl]

yes I have a male and a female. so should I go ahead and remove the nest. Will this traumatise the fish and if I remove the nest will he make more in the future. This is all happening really suddenly and its 20:30 I'm a bit nervous.

He may look around to see what happened but no, I don't think it will traumatize him. Yes, I feel sure they will eventually lay more eggs. I would scoop the eggs/nest out with some kind of container to prevent the eggs being exposed to the air.

 

[Nikn]

ok it's done. I have it set up in a container. The nest did break a bit. I still hope at least some of them hatch. I won't put an air stone at this point yet because I'm not even sure if the eggs have been fertilised. I will leave it overnight and hope for the best. Is there anything I should do to increase their chances of survival or is it to early to do anything but hope at this stage? Thank you for your help.
also should I remove some pest snail i accidentally got in there? will they pose a threat

 

[mattgirl]

ok it's done. I have it set up in a container. The nest did break a bit. I still hope at least some of them hatch. I won't put an air stone at this point yet because I'm not even sure if the eggs have been fertilised. I will leave it overnight and hope for the best. Is there anything I should do to increase their chances of survival or is it to early to do anything but hope at this stage? Thank you for your help.
also should I remove some pest snail i accidentally got in there? will they pose a threat

I would remove the snails. The eggs may end up a tasty treat for them.

 

[Nikn]

ok thanks I removed all the ones I could see and I don't think there are any on the floating plants. I will know in the morning and keep you guys updated

 

[Nikn]

Hello. It's been almost a day since I took the nest out. The eggs are yellow those this mean that they are fertilised? There are no wigglers but I wasn't expecting there to be any. I guess I will know for sure tomorrow morning or evening. The temp of the tank is 25°C and the water the eggs are in is from the tank. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[mattgirl]

Hello. It's been almost a day since I took the nest out. The eggs are yellow those this mean that they are fertilised? There are no wigglers but I wasn't expecting there to be any. I guess I will know for sure tomorrow morning or evening. The temp of the tank is 25°C and the water the eggs are in is from the tank. Is there anything else I should be doing?

We really won't know until they hatch. I wouldn't give up on them sooner than a week. If at the end of the week you don't see fry I would think they aren't viable.

I would be using my turkey baster and very gently aerating the water the eggs are floating in several times a day. Once you have wigglers they need a cycled tank. If you have a seeded sponge put it in the tank you are going to put the little guys in to grow out just before you put the fry in it.

 

[Nikn]

So update; The fry has hatched and they are standing swimming next to the edge of the tank and floating plants. I have added more water from the tank, slowly so not to disturb them. I don't have any baby brine ready, but I can get them tomorrow and feed them on Wednesday morning. Will they be fine until then? I know some fry feed on their yolk sack. Also can I feed them a mix of home raised daphnia and baby brine? Thanks and here are some pictures;

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

So update; The fry has hatched and they are standing swimming next to the edge of the tank and floating plants. I have added more water from the tank, slowly so not to disturb them. I don't have any baby brine ready, but I can get them tomorrow and feed them on Wednesday morning. Will they be fine until then? I know some fry feed on their yolk sack. Also can I feed them a mix of home raised daphnia and baby brine? Thanks and here are some pictures;

Hi, very nice that this has happened for you
It’s not for me yet but definitely in the plans for the future. So the advice I can give is only what I have researched and some tips from my partner who has experience breeding Betta and Honey Gourami.
I found this piece on Animal World:


“The female can be removed after spawning because the male may become aggressive towards her. The male will then watch over the eggs until they hatch 24 to 30 hours later. The temperature should be about 80° F with a lower temperature extending the hatching time and a higher temperature decreasing it. After hatching, the fry will absorb the yolk sac in two or three days. The fry will not be large enough to eat baby brine shrimp for several days so they must be fed infusoria or cooked egg yolk squeezed through a cloth.

The larger anabantoids are easier to breed mainly because the fry are large enough to eat baby brine or pulverized flake food. For example, dwarf gouramis are harder because the fry are so small they need infusoria to survive the first week or so of life.”

Something you might want to do is make a cover for the tank out of cling film or something similar. It’s important that the fry have access to warm damp air so the labyrinth organ doesn’t get damaged as it develops.
I wish you luck! Keep us updated, seeing how it develops is always interesting to see. I would also love to see the parents

 

[Nikn]

Thank you. The spices that I'm breeding are blue gouramis. The fry is about a day old. I can get the brine shrimp ready by Wednesday so thats around the time they will start taking live foods. I do not have time to prepare any infusoria so I was wondering if I could get some small pre-prepared live foods such as daphnia and feed them that. Also If i get frozen blood worms and chop them to really fine pisces would that work as well. The temp of the tank is 24-25°C will that be enough or should I raise the temperature? I don't have a heater so I would need to get creative or buy another one. I could use a desk lamp as a source of heat but idk if that will damage the fry?

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Thank you. The spices that I'm breeding are blue gouramis. The fry is about a day old. I can get the brine shrimp ready by Wednesday so thats around the time they will start taking live foods. I do not have time to prepare any infusoria so I was wondering if I could get some small pre-prepared live foods such as daphnia and feed them that. Also If i get frozen blood worms and chop them to really fine pisces would that work as well. The temp of the tank is 24-25°C will that be enough or should I raise the temperature? I don't have a heater so I would need to get creative or buy another one. I could use a desk lamp as a source of heat but idk if that will damage the fry?

From what I've read in that article it seems to imply that Blue's would be fine on baby brine shrimp. Since they are a larger species. I think daphnia would be good, though avoid feeding too much. Blood worms are big and chunky and would probably be best avoided at this stage. I also don't think they are too good as a staple diet.

So, Blues are an incredibly hardy and wide spread species of Gourami capable of breeding in cooler water. If your fish bred at this temperature I would suggest keeping at this temperature and avoid fluctuations as much as possible.

 

[Nikn]

So the temperature of the community tank is 27°C. The fry tank is somewhere around 24°C. I also have a betta fish tank, but for some reason he jumped out (. This means that I have a heater and a hang on back filter available. This means that I could take the filter and keep the temperature in the fry tank at a steady level.

 

[mattgirl]

So the temperature of the community tank is 27°C. The fry tank is somewhere around 24°C. I also have a betta fish tank, but for some reason he jumped out (. This means that I have a heater and a hang on back filter available. This means that I could take the filter and keep the temperature in the fry tank at a steady level.

I am sorry to hear your Betta jumped out. I am assuming he didn't make it Sadly that happen more often than you would think. We need a tight fitting hood to prevent it happening.

Since you have more than one tank it might be a good idea to have more than one heater if at all possible. Thankfully they are not very expensive. Heaters are one of the things I keep back ups of. We never know when one might stop working. We do need to keep a fry tank at a constant temp. They don't handle changes as well as some adult fish can.

You also need to keep their water as fresh and clean as you can to keep them growing well. Fry emit a growth hormone that can prevent them from growing as well as they should. we need to keep that growth hormone diluted with fresh clean water. We also need to temp match the fresh water as close as we can to keep from shocking them.

Since the filter is a HOB type filter, actually most any kind of filter other than a sponge filter, you need to put a pre-filter on it to prevent fry from being pulled into it.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

So the temperature of the community tank is 27°C. The fry tank is somewhere around 24°C. I also have a betta fish tank, but for some reason he jumped out (. This means that I have a heater and a hang on back filter available. This means that I could take the filter and keep the temperature in the fry tank at a steady level.

Heater might be a good idea then but you want no flow in the tank. Gourami come from waters with little to no flow and fry won't be able to handle the current.

Like mattgirl has said, daily water changes are important with little fluctuation in temperature as possible. I would aim to slowly increase the temperature to match the community. Something like 1C at a time. Set the heater to 24C at first and then increase it.

 

[Nikn]

Thank you all for your comments. I will place the heater and a hang on back filter(I'm able to control the surface flow and the when I set it on the lowest setting, there is very very little surface movement. Also should I use dechlorinated water from the tap or the water form the community tank. The water perimeters are stable (0 ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) and a ph of 7.4 (the ph of tap water is 8). The water is 3 degrees hotter but I have a very thin hose from with the water can drip, so there is no surface movement. By doing the water changes this way the temp will not change too much or too fast giving the fry time to adapt. Thank you

 

[mattgirl]

Personally I always use fresh clean dechlorinated water. Just use the hot and cold water to get the fresh water to the correct temp.

 

[Nikn]

Ok so day 4 update: Most of the fry are free swimming now. Yesterday I put the first batch of baby brine to hatch. I thought they would hatch today but they didn't. I'm planning to set up another hatchery to have food for day after tomorrow and so on. However don't have any food for them today and I can only hope the brine shrimp will hatch by tomorrow morning. I been doing some research and I found that the only food I can make for them today would be the egg yolk. Should I feed them yolk and hope the shrimp hatch or just leave them be by the morning. I also considered crushing the flakes but idk how to get it to that fine power and I'm not able to go to the fish shop to buy any so any help would be greatly appreciated. Also when should I add the filter to the tank?

 

[mattgirl]

I would go ahead and boil an egg. Once free swimming I feel sure the little guys will be looking for food. You don't want to add too much egg yolk as it will foul the water quickly. Just put a tiny bit of it in some tank water. Mix it really well and pour it in there.

I am confused. I thought you already had the filter running. Since it is a HOB you want to put a sponge pre-filter on the intake tube to prevent the fry from being sucked up. Since it came from a cycled tank it should take care of the ammonia the fry will be producing. Along with the pre-filter sponge you may also need to baffle the out flow to slow down the water flow until these little guys get much bigger.

 

[Nikn]

I didn't put in the filter because most of them were still on the surface. I did put in it now and it is set on the lowest setting. I will boil an egg for them in a bit. Thanks for your feedback, if you want I can send you some pictures of the fry. I will still keep you guys updated as you have been a huge help for me. Also should I feed the fry 3 times a day with small amount of food or should I feed them more often?

 

[mattgirl]

I didn't put in the filter because most of them were still on the surface. I did put in it now and it is set on the lowest setting. I will boil an egg for them in a bit. Thanks for your feedback, if you want I can send you some pictures of the fry. I will still keep you guys updated as you have been a huge help for me. Also should I feed the fry 3 times a day with small amount of food or should I feed them more often?

I normally feed fry at least 3 times a day. This is another reason water changes need to be done more often in a grow out tank. You don't want to get a build up of leftover food in the tank. Once you start feeding brine shrimp just keep an eye on how many are still alive. No need to add more if the previous ones are still alive and active.

I would love to see photos as they grow

 

[Nikn]

Thank you for your help. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a chance.
Quick question: how long can baby brine live in the hatchery. I just fead babies eggs yolk and then I went to take a look at the brine shrimp and there are already hatched. Should I feed the shrimp now or can they wait until morning?
Also I have heard that I should not feed the shells of the unhatched eggs to the fry because they can choke on it? Is that a real thing or?

 

[Nikn]

Hey. It's been a few days since I posted here. All of my fry are live and growing a lot. I have been feeding them baby brine shrimp and/or egg yolk. However I have never seen any of the fry eat on of the brine shrimp. To be honest I haven't watched them for too long after I fed them. I did notice however that their stomachs are orange. I have also noticed that the baby brine shrimp are orange. So from that I have concluded that the babies do in fact eat baby brine. Are my assumptions correct? However I also noticed that there is a lot of dead brine shrimp at the bottom of the tank. Could this be because of overfeeding or because the babies aren't eating them? The are clear except for their eyes and stomachs. Thank you.

 

[Luckyscale2003]

over feeding but yes they are eating I use a airline tube to siphone leftover food off the bottom very day to every other day.

 

[Nikn]

Ok so its time for a 3 week update. The fish are growing rapidly, the temp is set at 26°C. I have been feeding them 2-3 times per day and doing water changes every day/every other day. On some of the bigger ones I can see their little side fins. They are much more active and go crazy for baby brine. I also use a DIY brine shrimp hatchery, works perfectly fine, but there is always room for improvement. Here are some pictures. I'm about to do a quick water change. I found a fast and efficient way to do a water change.

 

[Nikn]

Quick update. The fry are starting to look like real little fish. I can see their fins tails and eyes. They are moving really fast and my phone couldn't focus on one of them so here are some quick pictures of the fry.

 

[mattgirl]

Do you have any idea as to how many you have at this point? Many many years ago I ended up with hundreds from just one spawn.

 

[Nikn]

It's really hard to to tell. I think there is something around 60 of them. I will try to count them soon.

 

[Nikn]

Hello. I have a quick question. 3 of my fry died unexpectedly. What could be a reason for this. I want to minimise any fry deaths and I hope I'm not doing anything that can directly cause them to die. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Nikn]

Hello. I haven't posted here on here for some time now. Though I would give you a short update and ask some questions. So the fry are doing fine, growing and eating well. I have noticed that some are a bit bigger than the other. I have heard that I should separate the fry based on their size but I don't think I have the room or enough money for more heaters. They are all eating well I can see them going crazy for brine shrimp and a few days ago I started feeding them micro-worms. They seem to like them, but it's hard to see them eating the worms. Should I separate the fry based on their size or just make sure they all get enough food? Thanks

 

[mattgirl]

How often are you doing water changes in their grow out tank? Fry emit a growth hormone that can inhibit the growth of the fish. This growth hormone needs to be kept as low as possible with frequent water changes.

 

[Nikn]

I try to do water changes every 2 days. Sometimes every 3 and sometimes every day. I always add dechlorinated water which is roughly the same temperature as the fry tank. I also added an nirate snail to help clean up. Will this have side effects? Is it safe to do that? I'm planning to leave him there for a day or two no longer

 

[Nikn]

Hello it has been a while since I last posted. Quick update, the babies are doing fine and growing quickly. They are about 2-3 cm now and I was wondering how long until they reach selable size. I water change 3-4 times per week (30-40%) and feed regularly 3-4 times per day a mixture of brine shrimp, micro worms and even some flake food.

The parents haven't bred since but thats because I kept the air pump on so he can't build the nest because the female was looking pretty beat up. Now they are showing signs of breeding and I'm debating wether I should let them have another spawn. The problem is that if they don't reach sellable size by mid July or even sooner I will have to put them in the main tank for a couple of weeks because I will be in another country. Is there a chance that they will grown until then?

If not I could always get another automatic feeder and they should be fine with a filter, a heater and a bunch of floating plants.

But this brings me to my second question; Could I keep the new spawn with their older siblings or would they get eaten immediately. I doubt that would happen especially if I feed them well enough but there is always a possibility. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Hi, fish on sale are usually around 4 months I believe. Can’t say for sure about the second question.
Happy for you it’s gone this well.