Neptun
Marbled gourami aquarium fish obtained by crossing spotted and blue gourami. Its coloring resembles polished marble. Fish large calm and peaceful. Its majestic slow movements calm and pacify the observer, no matter how turbulent was not his past day.
The species is unpretentious. Does not need constant aeration of water, which makes it suitable for aquariums located in the bedroom, as there is no noise from the compressor. Peaceful disposition makes it possible to keep it with many other species. And the endurance and unpretentiousness of marbled threadfin give the opportunity to recommend it to novice amateurs.Латынь: Trichogaster trichopterus sumatranus
Marbled Gourami Areal
Marbled gourami does not exist in nature. This subspecies is obtained by crossing the spotted and blue subspecies. Wild ancestors of the marbled gourami live in shallow standing and low-flowing waters of the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java, the peninsulas of Indochina and Malacca. They prefer water bodies with dense vegetation.
Marbled gourami Description
A member of the labyrinth family. It has a gill labyrinth. Therefore, it needs oxygen from the atmospheric air for respiration. Has an oval oblong flattened from the sides of the body, resembling the shape of a leaf. Throughout the body of light gray scattered dark gray spots of irregular shape, resembling the pattern of polished marble. Thanks to this species and got its name. The anal fin extends from the anal opening to the base of the caudal fin. On it passes the coloration from the body. Sometimes it has a reddish edging.
The dorsal fin is relatively short. Caudal as well as pectoral fins are almost transparent. The pelvic fins are transformed into whiskers – tentacles. With them the animal gropes various objects and other fish. This ability inherited it from wild ancestors, living in a turbid environment in which the ability to touch – not a luxury. Sexual maturity is reached at 6-8 months. The length of the body reaches 11 centimeters. Under good keeping conditions, life expectancy is 5 – 8 years.
Marbled Gourami Sex Differences
It is difficult to determine sex before sexual maturity. In sexually mature fish (6 – 8 months) sex determination is easy. Male and female can be easily distinguished by the dorsal fin. In the male it is slightly more elongated towards the tail and pointed at the end. In the female it is more rounded.
| kingdom | Animals |
| type | Chordates |
| class | Bony fish |
| division | Perch |
| Suborder | Labyrinthine |
| Family | Macropods |
| genus | Threadneedles |
| species | Trichogaster trichopterus sumatranus |
Marbled gourami aquarium maintenance
Newly purchased fish should be actively quarantined before being placed in a community aquarium.
This is due to the fact that the fish itself, being very resistant to various bacterioses, can be a spreader of various pathogenic bacteria. And after planting fish in a common vessel without quarantine soon in this vessel will be left alone. The rest of the fish will die from bacterial infections.
To avoid such troubles just purchased fish should be kept for about a week in a quarantine aquarium daily baths with antiseptics. Saline solutions, solutions of antibiotics (oxytetracycline, biomycin), a weak solution of brilliant green, rivanol, methylene blue. Duration of the bath 10 – 20 minutes. Rest between baths fish should rest in fresh clean water.
A pair of fish can be kept in a 15-20 liter tank with a length of about 40 centimeters. But it is better to keep in an oblong aquarium with a capacity of 50 liters or more. In such a container can keep 6 – 7 fish. The aquarium must necessarily be covered with a lid or at least glass. Distance from the surface of the water to the glass is approximately 5 – 8 centimeters. This is necessary, as the fish breathe atmospheric air. And if the room air will have a temperature much lower than the water, then catching this cold air, they can catch a cold.
Soil
As a soil you can use small pebbles, granite crumbs, coarse river sand and even quarry sowing. It is desirable that the soil was a dark shade on which the color of the fish will greatly benefit. At the bottom, it is desirable to arrange small shelters of large stones or shards of pottery flower pots.
Plants
Plants should form fairly dense thickets along the rear and side windows. Cryptocoryne, pistillate, cattail, cattail, elodea, valisneria can be used. Plants such as ritchia, cassava, pistia should float on the surface.
Water parameters
Nitenosets are thermophilic. The optimal temperature for its content is 22-24 ° C. Hardness is of no particular importance. pH-6,5-7,5.
Marbled Gourami Compatibility
Gourami marble content with any other peaceful species with suitable conditions of confinement and commensurate size tolerates well and does not create problems for their neighbors. Sometimes can give a thrill to small fish and arrange fights between males. However, such entertainment always ends safely, without any negative consequences.
Marbled Gourami Feeding
You can feed almost any kind of live, dry and frozen food. Moths, trubichnik, chopped meat, scalded shredded leaves of lettuce and dandelion. And hungry threadfin, as well as many other species of labyrinth fish, is very quickly able to deal with parasites that got into the aquarium with food, such as planaria hydra. Just as quickly they will reduce the snail population. He will cope with this as well as macropod, but you do not have to remove the fish.
Marbled gourami breeding
When breeding, it should be borne in mind that interspecific crossing is relatively easy. However, the coloration of hybrids, as a rule, worse than in pure lines. Therefore, it is desirable not to allow crossing, for example, marbled gourami with pearl. About a week before the expected spawning males are removed from females and abundantly feed producers live feed. On spawning otzazhivayut usually in pairs, but since not every male is able to fertilize the eggs sometimes practiced group spawning. But in this case, the aquarium should be of sufficient size so that the males do not fight among themselves for territory.
Preparing the spawning ground
A 30 to 50 liter aquarium is needed for breeding. With plants floating on the surface of the water, such as riccia or cassava. Fish are quite timid, so in the spawning period they need to provide complete peace. Some aquarists advise to close the paper even the front viewing glass. Stimulus spawning is an increase in water temperature to 26 – 28 ° C. Lowering the total hardness to 10 °dH. pH should be 7.
Having planted the spawners in the spawning tank, set the thermostat of the heater to 28°C. Gourami marble breeding begins after the construction of the nest. The male begins to build a nest of air bubbles embedding in it plates of richchia or leaves of cassava. When the nest is ready, the male invites the female under the nest, wraps her abdomen with his body and squeezes out a few eggs. Then picking up fertilized eggs with his mouth, he places them in the nest. Then again squeezes out of the female a few eggs and so on until the female does not give all the eggs. This dance can go on for several hours. During which the female is able to expel up to 2000 eggs.
After spawning.
After spawning is over, the father is the main caretaker of the offspring. Sometimes the female helps to take care of the offspring, but if the male drives her away from the nest, it is better to remove her. The incubation period lasts about 36 hours, and after another three days the fry will swim and begin to feed independently. Now the male should be removed, as his paternal instinct is now fading, and he can eat all his offspring. You should lower the water level to 10 – 15 centimeters for three to four weeks (until the fry do not develop a labyrinth). Turn on a weak aeration. And start feeding the fry.
Starter food infusoria, nauplii crustaceans. Can be fed and dry food and hard-boiled egg yolk (watch for cleanliness!!!), but in this case the results will be much worse. Fry grow quite quickly and unevenly. Larger ones can eat smaller ones. To prevent cannibalism fry should be sorted by size.
Marbled gourami can decorate any aquarium. Its behavioral features make watching them especially interesting. And during spawning for a couple of fish can be watched for hours without tearing off. Fighting with parasites is his main profession. Such a sanitizer is worth keeping in your household. I hope you like this fish, and you will be friends with it for many years.
