Spawns under floating plants and scatters buoyant, floating eggs with no parental care; rarely bred by aquarists.
Buy a group of 6 young fish and grow them on. Sexing is very hard. Pairs form only in a mature group.
A 100+ gallon (380 L) tank with floating plants, 26-28 C and soft water. They are large and need space.
Warm, clean water and heavy feeding with algae and veggies. Hormones are often used on commercial farms.
Several thousand floating eggs per spawning; eggs hatch in about 24-36 hours and fry swim free about 2 days later.
Feed infusoria, then baby brine shrimp and crushed flake. Remove the adults after spawning because they eat the eggs.
One breeding tank for the kissing gourami, drawn to scale from the breeding guide.
Water: 26–28 °C · pH 6–8 · soft water
A plan from the breeding guide and an adult size of 30 cm. Tank shape is a standard 2 : 1 : 1.2 box, at least 6 adult lengths long. Check each step in the guide above.
A row of tanks on their own stands for breeding the kissing gourami in numbers.
In total: 3 tanks, about 1,900 L of water. A litre of water weighs about 1 kg, so check that the floor and rack can take the weight.
Sizes are worked out from the breeding tank in the guide. Tanks fit a standard 120 cm rack when they can; bigger tanks go on their own stands.
No reliable external differences; adult females are rounder-bellied than males when full of eggs.
Typical for egg scatterers
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Eggs are scattered over mops or fine plants, often at first light. Remove the parents straight after.
Most eggs hatch in 1–2 days. Keep the tank dim and remove white (fungused) eggs.
Fry use up the yolk and start swimming. Feed infusoria or liquid fry food several times a day.
Switch to newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. Start small, daily water changes.
Add finely crushed flake. Sort fry by size so the big ones don't eat the small ones.
Most small fish reach about 2 cm in 2–3 months and can join the main tank.
A general guide for this breeding type. Days change with temperature and species.
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Set up a virtual breeding tank and see what would likely happen.
An educational estimate from the breeding rules, not a promise.