Pearl Gourami

All labyrinthine fishes (this sub-order includes not only gourami, but also males, macropods and lalius), received their name because of the presence of a labyrinth organ. This body allows the fish to breathe atmospheric air. Of course, like all other fish, thisThe suborder also has gills, but in this case they perform only an auxiliary, rather than a basic function. Therefore, for all labyrinth fish, there must be a surface of water that is not covered by plants. Otherwise, the fish simply suffocates.

Aquarium gurus are very peaceful fish, they are good for other aquarium inhabitants. Sometimes you can even say that the pearl gouramia bit timid and always tries to hide from harassing other fish. To smaller inhabitants of the aquarium fish gurami also treats quietly, so will not fight with them. Yes, and you can not worry that small fish can be eaten by pearly gourami, because the mouths are small enough. The big pieces of food gourami can just choke.

Pearl gourami features a long, compressed body from the sides in the form of an elongated oval. Its color is very beautiful: on a silver-violet background there are a lot of whitish-cream spots that look very much like pearls. That's why these fish were called pearl gurus. Tactile fins of pearly gurami serve them as an organ of touch. These long tentacles, which have a body length of a fish, gurami feel algae, stones, other fish, glass in the aquarium.

To distinguish males from females in pearly gurus is very simple. Like all species of gourami, males have a longpointed dorsal fin. But in samochek it is rather short and round at the end. Sexual differences are seen when the fish reach the age of 5-6 months. For spawning, the fish are ready at 8-10 months of age.

Pearl Gurami: Content

Pearl gourami is quite a shy little fish, so for its maintenance is required the presence of thick algae in the aquarium, among which it can hide. Try to have seaweed in your aquariumwere always located in small groups, thus changing the open space where the fish can swim and the places where it will hide.

For pearl gurus, lighting is very important. They love a bright light. The source of its origin is not important for gurami - whether it is sunlight or artificial light. Try to always maintain the warm water temperature in the aquarium. Pearl gourami perfectly feels at a temperature of 25-27 ° C. Also, the fish can tolerate short-term temperature fluctuations from 20 to 30 ° C.

Although the pearl gourami and floats to the surface to swallow fresh air, the crystal clear water is important for it. therefore equip the aquarium with good water filtration. But here is the strong current to create at allit is undesirable. Also, to keep pearl gurus, use soft water. Soften the hard water will help you special reagents. But if you have soft water flowing from the tap, you will not need to use them.

Pearl gourami eats both dry food, and live. It is important that the size of the food pieces is not very large, otherwise the fish will choke.

Gurami pearl: breeding

To grow pearl gourami should be in a separate aquarium. A couple of weeks before the spawning of the selected individualsplanted in different aquariums and fed only live food, best of all bloodworm. Also, fish can be stimulated to spawn by adding fresh water and increasing its temperature to 29-30 ° C. It is advisable to take care that the water in the aquarium for spawning is softer than in general. When everything is ready, you can plant fish in the aquarium for spawning.

Ready for spawning male begins to build a nest that consists of thousands of small air bubbles, held together by the saliva of the fish. It takes about a day to build a nest for a male. Only sometimes he will be interrupted to eat and show off before the female. When the nest is ready, the fish will spawn. They will swim under the nest that is on the surface of the water. Fallen eggs of the male gourami will collect and spit out into the nest. Among the air bubbles will develop and grow fertilized eggs.

After spawning, the female is recommended to be immediately ejected from the aquarium. But the male should be left - he willcare for the offspring. When the fry will hatch, you can also plant the male. It is also necessary to lower the water level in the aquarium to 6-10 cm and keep it that way for a month, while a labyrinth apparatus is formed in fish. In the first 2-3 days the fry can be fed from the yolk sac, but in the next 5-6 days they will need very small fodder - infusoria. Then you can go to zooplankton.