Breeding Pearls

[Tim N]

I recently added 2 pearl gouramis to my tank. I picked them up as a pair from my lfs. The female looks like she is full of eggs, however she has been acting strange. I never notice her eating, and she often sits vertically breathing from the surface. From time to time the male will nip at her and she'll take off across the tank (ie. she doesnt seem weak). I have the tankl set up nicely for them with lots of floating plants and java moss. The male still hasnt built a bubblenest yet. Is any of this normal behavior?

 

[karlp]

I'm not an expert, but it sounds most like the female is stressed if she's spending quite a bit of time vertically breathing from the surface.

Are there any other symptoms ? Does she have any fin damage or is she being bullied a lot by the male ?

If the male is interested in breeding but the female isn't he could be aggressive toward the female.

You could try adding more tall plants etc for her to seek refuge from him and/or add another female to divert his attentions.

The other thing to check are water quality (what are Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, KH, PH ?)

and check for any other signs of infection or disease (flicking, spots, inflamed gills, stringy faeces etc)..

 

[sylvia]

How large are the fish in question? How long ago did you add them? Does the male have any orange on his belly and are you certain they are a male and female? What else is in the tank? Also answer the questions posted previously.

To me it sounds like you've put a couple of young pearls in an uncycled tank. I could be wrong but the female certainly sounds stressed out and, if they're young and were only recently added, chances are the 'bloating' is actualy constipation or an internal bacterial infection. The 'vertical' surface breathing is deffinately not a good sign - she should be coming up for air every now and then but she would only be constantly hanging at the top like this if something's wrong.

Do not expect your pearls to breed until they are healthy and acting as such. You need to give them more time to settle in as well and understand that it's not even enough to simply add a pair and expect them to spawn - they need to be in breeding condition, in a tank with excellent water quality and be mature enough to do so also.

I wander whether you've considered what you'll be doing with any fry you manage to get from a spawning? Raising them in the same tank as the parents is unlikely to work after a point and the male guarding his nest while being kept with the female is going to stress her out.