9 Months Update - (Saving Amano Larvae) NO filter, NO CO2, NO Ferts 5 Gallon Nano Tank
- 3 years ago
This is 9 months update. The fish are called Sparkling or Pygmy gourami.
This was a crazy month. I lost my favorite shrimp of all time.
Breeding Amano:
Half of the water is tap water b/c I wanted to grow algae. Specifically brown diatoms. Top off and water changes were done using ro/di water. 10% water change every 3 days to remove surface protein.
I used hydrometer and thermometer in one to just check the fluctuation in salinity and the temperature in real time due to evaporation b/c the tank is so small.
I don’t know why the larvae only lived for 19 days. Maybe the temps were too high 26~28°C (79~82°F). Or maybe the salinity was off. ~33ppt. Or the water quality wasn’t good since the tank was so small and relied only on algae for water quality. The light was 14W daylight color single T5 fluorescent left on for 18 hours day for one week, then 13 hours thereafter. I lightly fed them yeast and spirulina every few days, but mostly they were eating the diatoms.
Finding out male or female (sparkling gouramis):
It’s pretty straight forward. At certain angle and the light behind them with preferably light background color, the belly will be transparent. The female has long “organ” and the male doesn’t. Once you see it, you can’t unseen it.
The gouramis only fight like this when they pair up and start to breed. They also seem to go after the shrimp when they breed. Usually they leave the shrimp alone.
This was a crazy month. I lost my favorite shrimp of all time.
Breeding Amano:
Half of the water is tap water b/c I wanted to grow algae. Specifically brown diatoms. Top off and water changes were done using ro/di water. 10% water change every 3 days to remove surface protein.
I used hydrometer and thermometer in one to just check the fluctuation in salinity and the temperature in real time due to evaporation b/c the tank is so small.
I don’t know why the larvae only lived for 19 days. Maybe the temps were too high 26~28°C (79~82°F). Or maybe the salinity was off. ~33ppt. Or the water quality wasn’t good since the tank was so small and relied only on algae for water quality. The light was 14W daylight color single T5 fluorescent left on for 18 hours day for one week, then 13 hours thereafter. I lightly fed them yeast and spirulina every few days, but mostly they were eating the diatoms.
Finding out male or female (sparkling gouramis):
It’s pretty straight forward. At certain angle and the light behind them with preferably light background color, the belly will be transparent. The female has long “organ” and the male doesn’t. Once you see it, you can’t unseen it.
The gouramis only fight like this when they pair up and start to breed. They also seem to go after the shrimp when they breed. Usually they leave the shrimp alone.