kissing gourami

Kissing gourami are one of the most famous fish of gourami family. They have gain this name because of their thick lips. They appears to be kissing when they eat food or graze algae from stones. They also kiss with each others just to show the dominance and to solve the issues. This behaviour is rarely related with spawning because 2 males are also observed kissing each other. In wild they are greenish in color but in aquarium trade pinkish one are famous. Kissing gourami is widely accepted as food in many parts of world especially in Asia. Kissing gourami are laterally compressed and can grow up to size of 10 inches under good care. They can easily live up to 5 - 6 years in captivity.
Fish Tank Set Up 

Kissing gourami demands large size aquarium since they can grow really well. Fish tank of capacity 30 gallon will satisfy the space requirement. Since kissing gourami is a labyrinth fish like Betta fighter that's why they require open surface to breathe. It must be ensured that they are able to access the air above the water. Fish tank must be heavily planted with hardy aquatic plants. Live plants will also be a source of food for them. Fake plants also will be a good option to reduce their stress. It should also have lots of hiding places because larger members like to bully smaller ones. A strong filter must be used and periodic water changes must be carried out since kissing gourami have good appetite. The tank substrate should be of larger debris and stone so that algae can grow on it. The temperature of the fish tank must be in between 22 - 27 degrees Celsius.

Feeding and Tank Mates

Tank mates for kissing gourami should be chosen wisely. Due to their large size they may harass smaller fishes especially at the time of feeding. Fishes of similar size would be ideal tank mates. If any clashes are observed between tank mates then it would be ideal to separate them. Feeding them is not a big deal for owners, they readily accept wide range of food. You can easily give them phytoplankton, tubifex, brine shrimps, lettuce leaves, blood worms and flake food.

Care : Easy
Lifespan : 5 years +
Tank Size : minimum 30 gallons
Size : 10 inches or more
Diet : omnivores
Nature : Semi - aggressive
Temperature :22 - 27 degrees
Breeding : moderate

how to reduce stress of aquarium fishes

Stress on fish is one of the major factor responsible for their short life span, breakout of various diseases resulting in death of fishes. Since fishes are in captive there is more chance of  stress as compared to wild condition. Stress decreases the immune system of fishes and they loose their natural tendency to fight against pathogens. It is observed that stress causing factors are basically created by the owner of aquarium. So it very important to decrease stress.
Reasons and ways to reduce stress:

1. The most common stress causing factor is the water quality. When quality of water becomes poor, there is more chances that your fish get stress. Water quality degrades after passing of time because of increase in ammonia level because of waste products produces by fishes and extra waste food. So do partial water change of about 40% in week and don't overfeed your fish.

2.When some one purchases a fish from aquarium dealer and transfer it. During the time fish may suffer from stress. Because fish may got scare because of outer world. So put her in plastic bag then in dark bag.

3.Add slowly plastic bag to tank so that sudden temperature change doesn't occur. Then add fish.

4.Over populated tank may result in stress so keep only required number of fishes. The number of fishes can be calculated, you can put 1 inch of 1 fish in per gallon or 4 liters of water. Example if you have 2 fishes whose size are 2 and 3 inches then you require 5 gallon aquarium.

5.Sudden change in pH or temperature of aquarium may result in stress, so use aquarium heater wisely and make sudden change in aquarium heater efficiency.

6.Lights are also major factor don't keep on lights 24 hrs a day. Try to maintain as normal as outside.

7.One of the most important way is to provide lot of hiding places in aquarium.

8.Try to provide water plants to aquarium fishes.This also helps in decreasing stress.

9.Also provide good nutrient diet rich in protein and vitamins to fishes. This also decrease stress and keep them healthy.Also provide live food to fish who are omnivorous.

10.Avoid scaring of fish by children, surrounding change and movement of water roughly.

11. Compatible tank mates, otherwise they will chase each other and increase stress.

12.Some fish likes to live in group like rosy barb etc so keep them in groups.

By following above points you can decrease stress to great extend.

requirement of salt in aquarium

Many times yours fish got disease due to some possible reason and you rush to aquarium dealer but in many cases the treatment methods lie at you home. Ordinary salt is very good for treatment of several freshwater diseases. It helps in healing injuries of fishes, helps fishes to fight against several infections, prevents growth of parasites as in case of itch and others parasites as well, improves gill function reduces the uptake of nitrite and many more. So it necessary to add salt to your fish tank in required amount.

Note:Before adding salt get proper information because several fishes and plants can not tolerate it.

When to use salt:

Nitrite poisoning:

Salt helps in preventing nitrite poisoning in newly set up tank because in newly set up tank the amount of beneficial bacterial is zero which hep in breaking of harmful nitrite in other unharmful compounds. So the amount of nitrite increase and may result in stress to you fish. Keep in mind don't add it to scaleless fishes such as catfish because they cant tolerate it.

Parasites:

Many parasites can be easily controlled and treated by salt especially costia infestations.

When not to use salt:

Live plants: Live plants can not survive in brackish water means water having salt dosage. So if you are having live plants avoid use of salt. So in case if you want to treat your fishes with salt it better to keep separate tank for treatment.

Scaleless fishes: Scaleless fishes are extremely sensitive to salt especially cordidoras. Tetras are also sensitive to some extent.

So before adding salt please do complete homework.

Types and amount of salt:

Common table salt is suitable for treatment however it is considered that it should not be iodized. Actually it is believed that iodized salt have iodine and additives which can kill you fish but this is a myth. I have my personal  experience with this method i will talk about it later. Rock or Kosher salt are excellent choice. Add 1 table spoon of salt per 1 gallon or 4 litres of water. Don't add it directly add it in other beaker, add some water and dissolve it. Then add that water to your main tank.

treatment of itch on fishes

Since itch is very common fish disease it's treatment methods are widely common and effective. Whenever you found symptoms of itch on your fish which i have told in previous topic you should immediately take a steps for treatment, it because it is extremely communicable and fatal disease.

Treatment :

Most Basic :
The itch is life cycle is temperature dependant. On raising temperature itch cycle speeds up and on further increasing temperature to 30 C/86 F, stops the itch reproduction cycle and on further increasing temperature to 32 C/90 F, the itch starts dieing. But it is extremely important to see that your fishes can tolerate that amount of temperature. So if you are having tropical fishes which are temperature resisted you can try this. Also it is important to see that on high temperature metabolism rate of fishes increases and they require more oxygen. So increase aeration in your tank. This method is sometime adopted with salt method.In salt method some amount of aquarium salt is added to the tank. The quantity is 1 teaspoon of salt per 4 litres or 1 gallon. There are controversies regarding use of table salt(iodized). Some people says that it can be used for treatment but some says it doesn't. Also keep in note that you should no use this method with scaleless fishes like cat fish because their skin is very sensitive.
So raise the temperature to given value and add the required amount of salt .And keep the temperature up to week.And keep changing 1/4 amount of water daily.

Note:Do not change temperature instantaneously.1 c/2 f in 4 hrs till it reaches the specified marl.
Also do not add salt crystal first dissolve salt in other container then add that solution to tank .

Other method:Use of medication
You can go to pet store and ask for medication for itch treatment. The medication which are available are malachite green, methylene blue, quinine hydrochloride etc are easily available. You can use as prescribed on them or by the dealer. Raise the temperature to increase rate of life cycle.If you have scaleless fish cut the dosage to half. Discontinue carbon filtration as it remove chemicals. Perform treatment for 10 to 14 days even after itch is removed.

Precaution:
1. Do not add any thing from tank which was infected by itch before treatment.
2. Put newly bought fish in quarantine tank for 2 weeks to check for any sign of any disease.
3. Maintain good water quality .
4. Avoid any kind of stress to your fish.
5. Give a good diet to fish rich in vitamins and minerals.

my fish is getting white spots on them

If your fish is having white spot over its body then it may be due to ick or ich. This is parasitic infection cause by Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. It is also know as white spot disease. It is extremely communicable disease and grasp whole aquarium in few hours. This is extremely fatal to your fish and may kill. Actually itch does not kill your fish directly but instead it decreases your fish's immune system and hence your fish dies because of other infection.

Symtoms of Itch :

Your fish will develop small white slat like spots all over its body.
Your fish will rub itself against the walls of aquarium,stones or with other fish.
Your fish will become lethargic in advanced stages.
Bloody streaks may develop on the body.

Why fish get itch :
The main reason which is believed that lead to break out of itch is stress. Stress on fishes decreases the immune system of fishes. This may result in fishes to more susceptible to these types of infection. So try to avoid stress on fishes .

It is also observed that introduction of new fish into tank may infect other fishes.

For treatment it is important to understand life cycle of itch :

Life cycle of itch :
The life cycle of itch is divided in several stages
Once the itch protozoan attaches to fish body, it start eating the fish cells, and tissues. Which results in irritation to fish. During this stage Protozoan is know as trophozoite and it grows on the body of fish. They have wall of cyst which protects from medication. So it is almost impossible to treat itch at this stage. After maturing it is know as trophont and burst thorugh cyst wall and falling in aquarium and divise into hundreds of itch causing units know as tormites. This stage is temperature dependent .Higher temperature increases speed of tormites life cycle and vice verse. So inccrease temmperature to eradicate them soon. They realse tomites which attach on fishes repeating the life cycle. During this stage itch is more easily killed by medication.

bristlenose catfish

Bristlenose catfish is one of the most popular algae eating catfish. They have distinct look and peaceful nature which attracts most of the aquarist. The other advantage is they are algae eater. They have sucker mouth and long tentacles on their mouth when they are fully grown (6-9 months old). Bristlenose catfish are generally have black or brown background with yellow and white spots. They indulge themselves for cleaning of your fish tank night and day. They are bottom dwellers and eats all the uneaten food from the bottom. Bristlenose catfish are hardy in nature and adaptable to wide range of water parameters. However you should avoid the extremes. They do not grow to very large, males generally grow up to 6 inches and female up to 5 inches. They can live up to 10 years under proper care.

Feeding

Even though they eat algae but you should also feed them specifically. Take care that they do not lack in specific nutrient or vitamin. Bristlenose catfish are omnivorous , they readily accepts food from wide domain. They happily eat vegetables like cucumber, hard boiled green pea (not skin), zucchini, lettuce leafs,spinach etc. They can even fed on sinking algae wafers, blood worms, pellets etc. However it is advised to shuffle the diet regularly.

Fish Tank Set Up
Bristlenose catfish can happily live in small fish tanks. 10 gallons capacity tank will be sufficient to carry few pairs. Bristlenose catfish spends most of their time in hiding. The fish tank must contain lots of hiding spots in form of drift wood, caves, plants. Keep the temperature ranging from 22 - 27 degrees Celsius. Maintain the water quality at its peak by regular water changes.

Tank Mates

Since bristlenose catfish are peaceful fishes they can easily housed with other peaceful fishes such as neon tetra, guppies, mollies, platies, danios and hatchets. If you are having large tank they can easily live with angelfishes, firemouth, tiger barbs and few gouramies.

Care : Easy
Fish tank size : 10 gallons or more
Size : 6 inches males ( 5 inches females)
Lifespan : 10 years or more
Nature : peaceful
Breeding : moderate
Diet : omnivorous especially vegetable

oscar cichlid

The oscar cichlid is one of the popular fish of cichlidae family. This family of fishes is famous for very beautiful and intelligent aquarium fishes such as angelfish, green terror cichlid, discus and many more.The breeding of oscar cichlid fish is easy and family of fishes shows their love , affection and care for their babies. The other names for oscar fish is velvet cichlid, peacock cichlid or marble cichled due to their vibrant coloration. Oscar fish are sturdy and beautiful. They can grow up to size of 15 inches or more. Due to their large size they demands fairly large aquarium space for swimming. Oscar fish have healthy life span of about 10 years if care is taken properly.

Oscar fish came to surface at feeding time and may touch the hand of owner.  Oscar fish sold at low size in aquarium shop so don't get confused and have well prepared long fish tank for them. Oscar is basically carnivorous fish and can have brine shrimps, beef heart, blood worms, frogs etc. However they have learnt to fed on pellets and flakes. Keep changing their diet so they never lack any specific nutrient so take care of it. Never compromise on the food quality. They reach at sexual maturity at the age of about 1 year.

 Oscar cichlid fish is not a good community fish and can become predatory to other fishes and definitely kill them. Fishes of same size and nature can become good tank mates. The temperature of fish tank should be around 23 - 28 degrees Celsius. Always maintain regular water changes and maintain good water conditions. Feeding oscar cichlid other small fishes regularly may lead to deficiency in certain vitamins and may susceptible to other deadly diseases.

Care : Easy

Nature : Aggressive

Fish Tank Size : 55 gallons or more

Temperature : 23 -28 degrees

Breeding : Moderate

Lifespan : 10 years or more

Size : 15 inches or more

Food : Basically carnivorous ( pellet and flake can be fed )

Breeding 

Oscar cichlid fish are very selective while choosing their partners. This can be done by letting them forming pairs themselves. Just bring about 6-8 small fishes and so that they can form pairs while growing.  You can also ask aquarium dealer for proven pairs. Breeding oscar fish somewhat resembles breeding other cichlid fishes such as discus and angel.

While growing oscars will form pairs. Hopefully you will get 1-2 pairs. When the pairing is done their aggressive nature increases. Now the tank mates which were tolerable up till now soon seem to be in threat. So remove every other fish except the pair. Give them protein rich food especially live food such as brine shrimps, cricket, blood worm, earth worms, bait fishes etc. Change 20 -25 % of water every week and add peat moss to encourage breeding. Raise the temperature from 78 F to 84 F. Spawning is generally aggressive ,both may seems to having lip lock and tail slapping.

Now they will find a site and start cleaning it off. You can put spawning slate or marble piece so that they can lay eggs. They may even dig a pit in substrate and lay eggs in it. Also do not disturb the oscar cichlid too much during spawning. Soon the female will give about 1000 of eggs and after some days  fry will come out. Fry are sensitive to poor water condition so avoid it. You can try feeding them crushed flake food or baby brine shrimps.

yellow spotted triggerfish

Yellow spotted triggerfish is one of the extremely beautiful marine water fish. They often have yellow spots on greenish or blue background. When they are young instead of spot you can find yellow colors patterns and margins. Yellow spotted triggerfish is laterally compressed with oval shape body structure. They are extremely hardy and gorgeous which make them popular in marine aquarium trade. These are quite aggressive and territorial in nature so tank mates must be chosen wisely. Yellow spotted triggerfish have long lifespan and they can grow up to 2 feet of length. Feeding them is easy, you can give them shrimps, mussels, flakes, clams, crabs or dead fish.

They are quite intelligent species and can learn hand feeding. However hand feeding is not recommended because they may bite on hand while eating. Since they eat coral reefs and shells due to which they have very strong teeth. Biting on hand will be painful and disturbing.

Fish tank set up

Extra care must be taken while choosing fish tank for yellow spotted triggerfish. Since these are territorial and marine fishes they demand extra large space for swimming and patrolling. The aquarium containing them should contain rocks, caves and other decorations. So that yellow spotted triggerfish can hide in them whenever felt threatened. Yellow spotted triggerfish are quite curious and love to mess with things present around them. So keep things tightly bound with bottom. Take care while maintaining water conditions, it is not at peak then they may get stressed out. Temperature of fish tank must be in between 74 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Care : Moderate

Tank Size : 125 gallons or more

Breeding : very rare in captivity

Diet : meaty food (shrimps, mussels, flakes, clams, crabs)

Temperature : 74 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit

Nature : aggressive

Size : about 2 feet

Fish type : marine water

black moor goldfish

Black moor goldfish is unique and popular breed of goldfish .Black moor have rounder shape with one of the best coloration present in goldfish. These goldfishes have metallic scales, with dark colors. Black moor are hardy, sturdy in nature and can be easily suited to beginner. They can grow up to size of 5 inches under normal care. They have healthy lifespan of 10 years if care is taken properly in terms of food , tank space and water. Feed them balanced diet, same kind of food again and again may lead to problem. These are omnivorous and can accept wide range of food varying from flake, pellets, live, fishes, worms etc. Also do not put them with fast moving tank mates because black moor goldfish are too slow to compete for food. So take care while choosing tank mates. They can easily thrive in small aquariums of size 10 gallons or more.

Breeding black moor goldfish is not rocket science which adds 1 more point to their features. They are cold water species and the fish tank temperature should be about 10 C -20 C (50 -70 F). These are peaceful in nature but can uproot or even eat the plants so hold them tight. Also in case of telescope moor, do not add sharp objects in aquarium because it may damage your fish eye. These are hardy and can accept wide range of water temperature, and quality. However goldfishes have good appetite due to which they pollutes water very much, so take care of changing water. They can form very beautiful community tanks with other gold fishes or peaceful fishes.

Care : Easy

Nature :Peaceful

Size : 4 inches

Tank Size : 10 gallons

Breeding : easy

Diet : omnivorous

Lifespan: 10 years

Temperature : 10 -20 C(50 -70 F)

Breeding

Black moor goldfish breeding is possible under normal circumstances that is in your home aquarium. Black moor goldfish breeding is egg layer as these fishes give eggs. They gets mature for breeding at the age of 1 year. Maintain the temperature of tank at 20 C ( 70 F) to induce spawning. Also maintain the water quality of fish tank at its best by regular water changes. The male's are slender and smaller then female goldfish. Also during breeding season the males develop small spots or bumps known as breeding tubercles near the gills and neck area. The female will become thicker because of eggs. Soon the male will start chasing the female black moor, forcing her to release eggs. She can lay up to 500 -1000 eggs at a time. After laying eggs put few drops of methylene blue to prevent fungus on eggs. The eggs will we sticky in nature and will stick anywhere in tank. In 4- 5 days eggs will hatch and small black moor's babies will come out. After the laying of eggs remove the parents goldfish and any other tank member to separate fish tank. Otherwise these fishes (even parents)will eat the eggs. You can feed them baby brine shrimps, crushed flake or crushed live food .

tiger barb

Tiger barbs are little aquarium fishes. They are found in some parts of south east Asia. They have black color strip on their body like tiger. That's the reason  they got the name "Tiger Barb". Their lifespan is of about 5-6 yrs if care is taken properly. Their maximum size is of about of 3 inches when kept in big place. They are omnivorous in nature and eat almost any thing which fits in their mouth. They are active swimmers and utilises aquarium space very well. Tiger barbs adds lot of activity and liveliness to your fish tank. They are aggressive in nature and they can eat fins of slow moving tank. Those fishes who have large fins like angels and tetras can become their target. Tiger barbs can be kept in temperature ranging from 23 - 26° C (74-79° F).

Temperature : 23 C to 28 C

Tank size : 10 gallon

Lifespan : 5 yrs

Care : Easy

Size : 3 inches

Nature : Semi - aggressive

Breeding : Moderate

Difference between male and female tiger barb

It is quite easy to distinguish between male and female tiger barbs. The females are generally bigger in size then males and have rounder belly. Males have distinctively red noses and above black part of their dorsal fin you can find characteristic red line. While dorsal fin of female tiger barb is mainly black. The male tiger barbs are also have darker body as compared to females.

You can easily get idea by looking at the above images. The top one is female while the bottom one is male with darker body and red nose.

Tiger barb breeding

Tiger barb fishes are easy to breed. They are egg layers and give hundreds of eggs at once. To carry out breeding you will need 5-6 fishes in a aquarium. Let them pair up themselves to form good pair. Put some plants so that they can lay eggs on their leafs. They release about 300 eggs at once. Tiger barbs achieve sexual maturity at the age of 7 weeks. After spawning they eat their eggs so you need a proper measure to protect eggs from their parents. You can try layer of common glass marble on bottom of tank to protect eggs. Use large water tank of about 20 gallons capacity to breed. When female will become fat it means she is carrying eggs. Soon the male will fertilise them after their release.

 In few day extremely small fry will come out from eggs. The fries becomes free swimmers in about 5 days and you can feed them newly hacthed brine shrimps. Fry are extremely sensitive to poor water conditions. So keep water quality at its peak. Also protect fries from getting sucked up by aquarium pump. Breeding tiger barb is easy if proper measures are taken.

indian glass fish

Indian glass fish are famous for their transparent body. All the organs of the fish are completely visible like their bones etc. So due to this nature they gain some name in the aquarium world. These fishes are readily available in some parts of Asia especially in India. Due to this reason they are also famous by the name of Indian glass fish. Indian glass fish can grow up to size of 3 inches .They lives in standing water and breed heavily in rainy season basically in July -August. They feed on small worms or any other small edible insect. Since these fishes are tropical fishes so they demand some temperature in water. The temperature should be in between 20- 30 degrees. They can live up to age of 3-4 years if good care is taken.

They are schooling fishes and should be kept in group of 6-7 or more otherwise they will become shy and nervous. The breeding type is egg layers ,female gives batch of eggs and male fertilises them. The fish tank of indian glass fish should be heavily planted and the tank mates should be peaceful other wise they will harass the glass fish. For breeding glass fish the aquarium should be heavily planted and with adequate sunlight. Some time these fishes can be found in several color however this color is not natural. This is done by injecting dye in their tissues. After coloring these are sold under the name of " Disco Fish ". Injecting of dye should be discouraged as they suffers from torture during injecting dye and become vulnerable to other infections. They can be easily kept with peaceful fishes which include most live bearers like molly, small loaches like clown loach and few barbs.

Size : 3 inches

Care : Moderate

Diet :Omnivorous ( accept frozen ,live ,dried food)

Temperature : 20-30 Celsius

Tank Size : 10 gallons

Lifespan : about 3 years

Nature : peaceful

convict cichlid

Convict cichlid is is one of the famous and favourite aquarium fishes of the cichlid family. Cichlid family of fishes is famous for its beautiful, elegant, smart fishes like angelfish, discus fish , oscar and many many more. These traits are easily found in convict cichlid. These are beautiful fish having black stripes on white body. They are hardy in nature and can deal with wide range of condition. If you want beginner and want any cichlid in your home then convict cichlid is best option. They demands no special care. The breeding of these species is very easy, no extra preparation is required. Convict cichlid have healthy lifespan of 10 years under normal care.

These fishes live happily in small tank of size 25 gallons, for a pair. They do not grow very large and attain the maximum size of 6 inches if care is taken properly. The temperature of the fish tank should be around 21 C - 26 C. You can add stones, rocks, marbles as decoration in fish tank. Which will look like their wild habitat. These fish are territorial and can become aggressive to protect their territories. So do not put soft and small tank mates so, take care while choosing tank mates. You can go for green terror, oscar or larger barbs as tank mates. But take care of their size. Convict cichlid may even knock down larger fishes then its size. They are omnivorous and can accept almost any food you provide. They are also know as zebra cichlids .

Care : Easy

Lifespan : 10 years

Breeding : Easy

Nature : aggressive

Fish tank Size : 25 gallons

Food : omnivorous

Temperature : 21 C- 26 C

Breeding
Breeding convict cichlid can be easily done in your home fish tank. Convict cichlid breeding does not require any special equipments or preparation. They gets mature enough for breeding at early age of 5 months. The main important thing in breeding convicts is that you should have pair of male and female. For getting a pair you can get by getting 6-7 small cichlids and raise them in you tank. Soon they will form a pair and occupies a territory chasing other fishes off. Now your pairs are ready to spawn.Maintain the temperature of fish tank at 21 C -26 C with regular water changes.

You should remove other pairs to other tanks. In the chosen territory they will dig a pit or may clean any flat or slanted surface to lay eggs. The female will lay eggs on the surface of any marble piece, rock surface, flowerpot or any other place if present. If any other fish is present convicts will protect their eggs. If you are not able to see the eggs then you should observe the behaviour of parents they will spend their time near the location and waving her fins. You do not need to remove parents as they effectively take care of babies.

After 3-4 days the eggs will hatch. You do not need to feed for 2-3 days as they have egg sac to feed on. After few days you can give them baby brine shrimps, microworms or any other crushed flake food till they gets mature enough.

Harlequin rasbora

Harlequin rasbora is tiny and cute aquarium fish of the rasbora family. Harlequin rasbora are laterally compressed with triangular black color patch on their body. The black color patch starts from the middle of their body and tapers toward tail. They can grow up to size of 1.5 inches to 2 inches with healthy lifespan of 5 years. There is further 2 varieties of harlequin available in market which are golden, black and wild type. This fish is readily found in rivers of Malaysia and Sumatra. Harlequin rasbora have peaceful nature and should be kept be other friendly fishes. These are shoaling species and should be kept in shoal of 6 or more otherwise you will not observe their natural behaviour. They are very hardy in nature and can easily thrive in wide range of water chemistry.

Tank Setup

Harlequin rasbora does not demands large aquarium space, small fish tank of capacity 10 gallons will serve the need. Add lots of plants and vegetation at the corners of fish tank which is similar to their natural habitat. Also put drift wood and fake plants so that they can take rest under them or hide. Front space of fish tank should be left open for free swimming. Also add dark substrate to the tank with low intensity lights. Broad fine leaves plants should added in case of spawning. The temperature of fish tank must be in between 23 - 26 degrees Celsius.

Feeding and Tank mates

Harlequin rasbora can be fed on wide range of foods. Which includes flake food, frozen or live food, vegetables, mosquito larvae, tubifex and tablet pellets. Harlequin rasbora's tank mates must be peaceful just like them. Guppies, neon tetra, platy, betta, rummy nose tetra, zebra danios and loaches will be ideal tank mates.

freshwater angelfish

Freshwater angelfish are one of my favourite aquarium fish. These are extremely beautiful creature because of there shape and personality. Freshwater angelfish are laterally compressed with 2 long fins coming out from top and bottom. It is quite elegant wathcing them swimming. Sometimes they even have vertical stripes their body.

They are quite and calm by nature but sometimes get excited during feeding or spawning time. Also extra care is needed in terms of water quality. You may find them easily at your surrounding aquarium shop at cheap rate and care is easy. But don't get fooled by their size while present in aquarium shop. Dealer keep them in small size but they can grow upto size of 6 inches with long lifespan of over 10 years. If you provide good care in terms of water and food.

They are quite intelligent, because they know their feeding time. These are omnivorous and can eat tropical flakes, daphnia or brine shrimps, plant matter or sometimes their tank mates if they are small like guppies. Also maintain the good water circulation in the fish tank by using suitable fish tank air pumps. Also don't put them with fin nipping fishes such as tetras and barbs. You can put 1 adult fish per 5 gallons or more. They are available in wide variety. Growing freshwater angel fish may need 3-4 time of food per day. Changing 25% of water per week will be good.

Size : 6 inches

Lifespan :10 years

Diet : Omnivorous

Temperature : 74 to 84 degree fareinheit

Water : pH should be 6.5 to 7.5

Breeding : egg layers

Care : Moderate

Breeding
For successful breeding you require a healthy pair of angelfish. But before breeding it is very difficult to decide which one is male and which one is female. Until you look them at the time of spawning while watching female laying eggs and male fertilizing them and noticing their size of papilla. Male's papilla is small while females papilla is wide and blunt.

For breeding you need a pair of angel fish.
The best way to do it is get 8-10 young angelfish and put them in 50 gallon fish tank. The height of fish tank should be about 18 inches. When angelfish size is of about 1.5-2 inches in diameter or at a age of 1 year, all of them will pair off themselves, and they will select a territory and chase other fish way. This is a sign that pair is formed now move this pair to separate aquarium. From a group of 10 you will get 3-4 pairs.

You will need about 20 gallon fish tank and 18 inches high as breeding aquarium. Maintain regular water changes. The water temperature of angel fish should be kept between 80 - 85 degree F( 27 to 29 degree Celsius). Give them good quality of food rich of protein like daphinia, beef heart brine shrimps, mosquito larvae etc this will encourage them for breeding.


Five minute of feeding is enough. If food is left even after 5 minute then remove it. If female become aggressive and having bulging belly then she may be carrying eggs. To angel fish grooming each other is also a sign that both are going to spawn. Before spawning both will show their papilla. Papilla is a Small pink organ present near their anal fin. Angel fish also lock their lips and twist around. When angel fish are ready they choose a site to lay eggs which may be any flat surface or broad leaves of plants and start its cleaning. You can put spawning slate so she lay eggs.

Now the female will deposit eggs on the slate or at any other place fish tank decorations such as plant's leaves,marbles in breeding aquarium. The male angelfish will fertilize them by touching eggs with its papilla. If their is no male present then other female may do the same but this will not result is fertilization.

After fertilization

If their are other fishes also in the same aquarium then they may eat the eggs during the night. However the pair of angelfish tries to protect. So you must replace other fishes from the aquarium where angelfish pair is present or you should have put pair in separate fish tank before spawning. Sometimes it is also observed that parents may eat their eggs and sometimes they protect. So you must take a note on that. You can put a spawning slate ,or piece of marble ,or smooth tile or any other fish tank decoration. This will help to move the eggs to separate aquarium. You can put a pot in aquarium then move slate or eggs to that pot without taking out them of water. Because these may not survive on air exposure. Now move that pot containing water and eggs from tank to another aquarium.


After48 hrs eggs will start showing fry tails. On third day you can see their yolk sacks. These will be still attached to the slate or leaf. If the parents are in still in the same tank they may start moving small fry. After a week you will find them swimming freely now fries will need food. You can give them crushed flake, baby brine shrimps or fry food.

clown loach

Clown loach fish is quite popular aquarium fish because of their colored body and then they seems to be quite different in terms of shape.They have lively personality. Clown loach fish are active schooling fishes.They live happily in group of 5 or more else they may get stress. Clown loach are laterally compressed and have 3 black stripe on their orange body . Stripe may fade with the passing of time.These are sold when they are quite young at the size of 1.5 inches and are widely available in aquarium shops.But remember they can grow about 6-10 inches even in captivity.So if you are having a small or medium aquarium then you should drop the idea of getting them because they are active swimmers and requires lot of swimming space. They make clicking noises when they are happy or stressed.If care is taken properly they can have healthy lifespan of about 10 years.These fishes require high standard of water condition as they are extremely sensitive to pollutants and other nitrates.So do take care of water standards .These are peaceful fishes .Small fishes like platy, guppy can live happily with them and can breed easily in presence of clown loach fish .The tank should not have very intense lightning and have soft substrate.The aquarium should have lots of hiding places made of woods ,rocks and plants.Provide live plants in tank if possible.Plants should be strongly hold at the bottom as they can dig and uproot them.Water change is needed so do it every week .Change 25% of water weekly.

Note: These fishes have bifurcated subocular spines, which are used for defense or attack for others.They may use it if caught in net and may harm owner or itself.So use very large bad or solid container while being moved.

Sometimes clown loach swim on their side or upside down, or appear ill.They may even lie on their side on the bottom of the tank and appear dead.This is normal behaviour show by clown loach .So aquarist should not remove them until he is confirmed.

Size : 6-10 inches
Lifespan : 10 + years
Aquarium size : minimum 50 gallons
Nature : peaceful
pH: 6.5 - 7.0
Temperature : 78 Farenheit to 83 Farenheit ( 25 - 30 degrees )
Feeding : Omnivorous, can be fed on both live as well as frozen foods.
Breeding : Rarely breeds
Care : Moderate

Identify male female clown loach

 It is quite tough job to distinguish between male and female clown loach fish. However you can predict whether it is male or female by looking at their tail. The mail's tail is generally larger and hooks inwards rather then pointing straight out from the body. While the females are more smaller and slender. The tail appear like a claw in case of males while female's tail is not like this. I guess this information is useful for you for differentiating between male and female clown loach fish.

Breeding
Clown loach fish breeding is quite complicated task.They are egg layers. Breeding clown loach in aquarium is very rare and difficult. You need lot of luck and hard work to carry out their breeding .They must be sexually mature to carry out breeding generally they become mature at the size of 7 inches or more.

Tank Setup
You should have large aquarium minimum of 50 gallons with good water quality. Set the temperature to 85 Fahrenheit or 29 Celsius. Ammonia and nitrite should be around 0. Nitrate level should be less then 20 and pH should be 6.5. You should have lots of live plants in aquarium.

Behaviour

Clown loach starts eating live fishes as their food few weeks before spawning.The size of girth of females increases before spawning and it increases very rapidly. Then the female may spread the eggs in aquarium. They may eat their eggs so remove parents to another tank. Give liquid fry food to babies for first few weeks. After 2-3 weeks give them crushed flake food. Take care of fry. Give them food 5-6 times a day. Don't overfeed clown loaches it may be harmful for them. Keep changing some amount of water in 3-4 days.

green terror cichlid

Green terror cichlid fish is beautiful fish belongs to family of Cichlidae. This family also contains other beautiful and popular aquarium fishes such as discus, angelfish, Oscar etc. As from the name we can guess its nature which is extremely aggressive to other fishes. These fishes generally have greenish ,brownish color pattern on their body with a hump on head. They have healthy life span of about 10 years. The young green terror present at aquarium dealer's may not be very attractive but become attractive as they matures.

Green terror cichlid's care can be taken easily, these are hardy ,and breeding is easy. If care is taken properly green terror cichlid can easily grow up to 10 inches or more while female are smaller as compared to males.

Due to their size and territorial nature the tank containing them should be fairly large with lots pf hiding spots. Live plants , drift wood ,rocks caves are also loved by green terror. They can even bully larger fishes also their aggressive nature increases at breeding time so remove any other fish. Green terror cichlid are omnivorous in nature and can easily feed on flakes , pellets, or live food. They prefer tropical climate so maintain fish tank temperature at 21 to 25 degrees Celsius. Also carry out partial water changes of about 30 % per week. Take care while choosing tank mates , the tank mates should be of same nature of same or larger size such as red devils or large barbs. They have no particular region of swimming, and utilises each corner of aquarium very well.


Lifespan : 10 years

Temperature : 21 to 25 degrees Celsius

Tank region : full , top to bottom

Breeding : egg layers ( easy )

Food : omnivorous

Care : easy

Nature : aggressive

Identify male from female
Green terrors are famous for their aggression on other fishes. Due to this reason they have earned a name "terror". Male green terror are slightly more aggressive then females. This article will give you some idea to know the differences between both. The male green terror cichlid have large head with a big nuchal hump on head. Generally male terror cichlid are bigger in size as compared to female. The males also have more vibrant colors as compared to female. Also look at their breeding tube, this is more visible at the time of spawning. The male's tube is thin and look like stick while the female's tube is thick and blunt. Also it is observed that male terror cichlid have pointed and long fins. These distinguishing feature can be found and observed in most of the fishes in cichlid family.

Breeding

Breeding green terror cichlid can be done in home aquarium. However this work is moderately tough. For breeding green terror cichlid you will require large aquarium setup. The minimum tank setup should be of about 55 gallons or more. Method of breeding green terror is similar as of any other fish of cichlid family.These fishes are of egg layers type and they give about 400 eggs on a site. This site can be artificial slate, marble piece or fine broad leaves of aquarium plants. Before laying eggs green terror will clean the site and then deposit a layer of eggs.

For breeding you will require a healthy pair. You can ask aquarium dealer for proven pair or you can get about 7-8 young green terror cichlid. As they grow up they will pair up themselves. Generally male are larger with a hump on head.Give them protein rich food basically live food. Do partial water changes of about 30 % per week and raise the temperature of aquarium to 26 degrees Celsius. At the time of spawning the parents become very aggressive and the members which were tolerable before comes on their hit list. So remove any other fish else they will be killed soon .

 After 3-4 days eggs will hatch and hundreds of fry will come out. You don't need to separate parents. As cichlid love their children and they will take care of them. You can give them newly hatched brine shrimps or crushed flake food. Maintain good water quality by subsequent small water changes at regular interval of time.

blood parrot cichlid

Blood parrot cichlid fish are also known as bloody parrot cichlid, red parrot cichlid or red blood parrot cichlid. These are freshwater aquarium fishes with a shape like balloon. The red parrot cichlid are hybrid fishes. Due to this some of them have developed defects like small vertical mouth. Due to which they can't compete for food with other fishes and may suffer from malnutrition. So take care of it and provide them crushed food. These are basically available in red color however various other color parrot cichlids can be found in market by the use of bleach. Due to action of bleach their lifespan is decreased and it is not recommended.

These fishes can grow up to size of 10 inches so provide them large aquarium with soft substrate ( they like digging ). Provide them lots of hiding spaces in forms of plants, stones, drift wood etc. Also provide them sufficient light and the temperature. The temperature of the tank should be 22 to 27 degree Celsius. They can live up to 10 years if care is taken properly. Blood parrot cichlid can easily eat flake, pellets, other live food too. They can form beautiful community tank with tetras, danios, angelfish, severum, catfish etc. Also maintain good water quality by frequent water changes. Breeding is relatively tough as some of male blood parrot cichlid are infertile.

Tank size : 50 gallon

Care : Moderate

Temperature : 22 to 27 degrees Celsius

Nature : semi aggressive

Lifespan : 10 years

Size : 8 - 10 inches

Breeding : egg layers ( moderate)

Difference between male and female blood parrot cichlid

Blood parrot cichlid are rounder in shape and resemble parrot to greater extent. They are fat and have bright colors which make them admirable. Many fish tank owner are eager to distinguish male from female. It is difficult to find differences between male and female blood parrot cichlids. The male blood parrot cichlid have pointed dorsal and anal fin but some of females also have this pointed fins other wise they have fan shape like fin. At the time of spawning the male may develop pink coloration at the throat and near gills area. These are some difference that can be observed in blood parrot but these may not be 100 % accurate.

Breeding

Blood parrot cichlid breeding it not very tough task. The main problem in breeding parrot cichlid is that due to hybridisation some of male parrot cichlid are infertile. However this problem rarely occurs nowadays. To avoid this problem go for real breed of parrot cichlid. You can also breed female blood parrot with convict cichlid or American cichlid and can get bubble gum parrot or jelly beans. Give them protein rich food basically live food and maintain water condition at its best.

These are egg layers type and gives hundreds of eggs at once. The parent will clean a site that may be rocks or cave or drift wood. Then the female parrot cichlid will lay eggs on it. The male will fertilize the eggs. The eggs which are not fertilized will turn white and may be eat by parents. Generally the parents will guard the eggs from other fish. Other fish may eat eggs of blood parrot cichlid so remove other tank mates. When the eggs will hatch the parents may protect them or may eat them too. You should keep an eye on them and take necessary action. You can give them (fry) newly hatched brine shrimps. Also protect the fry from getting sucked up by aquarium pump.

rainbow shark

Rainbow shark have long elongated body with mouth present towards downside.They are also known as ruby shark or red finned shark.They have dark brownish or greenish body with red fins. Some variation in color may be observed. Rainbow shark are bottom dwellers and feed at the bottom. These are hardy in nature and extra care is need in choosing tank mates.

They eat all the food left behind by other fishes. Rainbow shark are territorial and are aggressvie to similar species (sharks) , same species and to smaller fishes. Rainbow shark are very active and require lots of space for swimming.
The aquarium should be very large about 50 gallon with lots of hiding spots. They can live up to 5 years if care is taken properly. The temperature should be about 22 - 26 degree Celsius. The main food of rainbow shark is basically algae, insects mosquito larvae. These can also feed on tubifex worm, pellets, flakes, blood worms, spinach etc. Rainbow shark forms good community tank with fishes or similar or larger sizes. You can put them with plecos, danios , loaches, gourami.

Tank : 50 gallons

Food : omnivorous

Breeding : egg layers ( difficult)

Size : 5 - 6 inches

Care : Moderate

Nature : Aggressive

Tank region : bottom

Temperature : 22- 28 degrees Celsius

Difference between male and female rainbow shark

Rainbow shark are one of the shark species which you can put in your aquarium. These fishes are beautiful and can form a good community tank with tank mates of similar size. To distinguish between male and female rainbow shark. Look at their shape the female rainbow shark is much thicker then the male while male is slim. Also the male have black thin line on edge of anal fin. However this difference can't be seen in albino rainbow shark. The other distinguishing feature is their color. The male rainbow shark have more bright color as compared to female.

goldfish

Gold The goldfish is one of the most familiar aquarium fish. These are beautiful fresh water fishes. They can be easily seen in movies and easily available at pet store. Goldfish have memory span of about 3 months and can distinguish between various colors and shapes. Goldfish are omnivorous, they can accept wide range of foods. Give them only two minute of food. They have healthy lifespan and gorgeous looks.

They are tough, resilient and demands less care which make them excellent choice for beginners. Goldfish have good appetite which may pollute water much more rapidly so maintain good quality water by partial water changes. The sudden change of temperature in the aquarium should be avoided. It may kill your fish within no time.
They are available in many varieties like comet, black moor goldfish, fantail bubble eye and many many more.

Temperature : 20°C (68 °F) and 22 °C (72 °F)

Life span :About 10 yrs

Breeding : Egg layers

Care : Easy

Tank region : all over the tank

Nature : Peaceful

Breeding Difficulty : Moderate

Tank Size : 20 gallons

Difference between male and female goldfish
Generally the female gold fishes are slightly bigger then males. They have bigger stomach and believed to have small fins as compared to males. The most important difference is that males develop white spot on their gills and pecotals during the time of spawning which are know as breeding tubcles .

Male gold fish have firm abdomen while in females area between pelvic fin and anal fin is more pliable. The other difference is male goldfish have long and pointed pectoral as well as stiff fin ray while females have more rounded pectorals and shorter, finer front fin ray.
Male goldfish have smaller and more oval anal opening while females have larger and rounder anal opening. Males have less thicker anal fins and it is generally observed that males chases females. By time and experience you may also become expert in distinguishing them.

Breeding goldfish at home

Breeding goldfish is not a easy task especially for begginers. If this is your first time you can opt for molly fish which is extremely easy for breeding even in small tanks. However if you determined for goldfish breeding then you need lots of work to do. You will need approx 20 gallon tank with live plants in it and 2 females goldfish with 3 males. Ensure the fishes are in healthy state. I hope you have already differentiated between their sexes. However it is easy to differentiate them at the time of spawning. Feed them live food like insect larvae, worms and brine shrimps.

How to spot spawning time:

Females goldfish become heavier and thicker due to eggs.

Males develop white spot on gills when they got ready.

Spawning usually occurs in the morning.

Color of fishes become more brighter.

Males chase females at random.

Then particular males chases one particular female more then before.

The male goldfish gets aggresive and push against females till she ejects egg.

When the eggs are out male deposits milt on them.

Then the eggs fall in water and on plants till they hatch.

The spawning may begin after some days of rest.


Note:The goldfish are egg eaters so remove them after spawning.

Set temperature to 21ºC .

Put few drops of methylene blue to prevent eggs from fungus. Babies are not needed to be fed up to 24 hrs because they have egg yolk sac. After hacthing they will sink to bottom of the tank. Try not to disturb them at this stage. The process of sinking is normal. When sac is absorbed feed them baby goldfish food or hard boiled egg yolk. After it shiphone the uneaten food but not babies.

queen loach bota dario profile

Queen loach ( bota dario ) is one of best choice to make community fish tank. These are also known as bengal loach. These are bottom dwellers and live on the bottom for most of the time. They graze of the fish tank surface to search food. These are shy in nature and keeps on hiding most of the time. So provide them lots of plants, drift wood and other hiding spots.

Queen loach ( bota dario ) becomes more active when the lights are out so you can put very low intensity lights and watch them swim. Queen loach are scaleless fish which make them very sensitive to water condition and other parameters so take care of it.So try to maintain water conditions at its best.

They are peaceful in nature and other fish can live well with them. They can live up to 5 yrs with maximum size of 3 inches. Breeding is very difficult and rarely occurs in aquarium. Queen loach ( bota dario ) fish can easily get infected by disease such as itch and other skin infection. In this case get proper information about the use of cure since it may kill queen loach. Queen loach ( bota dario ) are tropical fishes and can help in forming good tropical fish tank.

Temperature : 23 to 28 degrees Celsius

Tank size : 20 gallon or more

Food : omnivorous

Lifespan : 5 years

Breeding : very difficult

Size : 3 inches

Care : Moderate

gold severum

Gold severum is one of the popular species of cichlid type. The other popular severum is green severum which is however less popular then the gold one. The gold severum is laterally compressed and shape is like of disc. This fish resembles to the discus fish. But it is cheap ,smaller and care is easy as compared to discus. The gold severum has bright yellow color with pattern on its head and body. The gold severum has affectionate personality as they can be fed directly from owners hand.

They demand less care and be used to carry out breeding. They can be fed both live and frozen food. Give them protein rich food which have to develop their colors effectively. Change small % of water weekly to maintain them at good health. Gold severum likes to dig the substrate so provide them soft substrate or sand. Also they can dig plants root to some extend so hold them tight with surface of fish tank. They can grow up to size of 6-8 inches in captivity.
They are semi aggressive in nature and can be easily kept with species of similar size and temperament. Avoid them with molly's, fighter or any other docile fish. You can put them with angels, catfish, gouramis, loaches of same size and parrot cichlid. However they become more aggressive during the time of breeding and like to chase of other fishes. These are tropical fishes and demands some temperature in aquarium.

Fish Tank : minimum 20 gallon

Lifespan : about 10 years

Temperature : 23 - 27 degrees Celsius

Breeding : Moderate

Food : Both live and frozen food

Temperament : semi - aggressive

Care : easy

Difference between male female severum
The general difference observed is that the male gold severum have pointed dorsal fin. The anal fin of male severum is also more pointed as compared to female severum fin. The other difference is , male have more developed designs on their head while female have very less or no design.

The female also have dark spot near dorsal fin. Some times male may develop a small hump on its head known as nuchal hump. You can observe nuchal hump easily on flower horn fish.

Breeding gold severum
For gold severum breeding you require a healthy pair of male and female. Gold severum gets ready to breeding at 4 inches of size. You can distinguish male and female on the basis of pattern and size. For breeding they are required to form pairs. They form pairs on themselves. Yon bring 6-7 young gold severum and grow them together. They will form pair while growing.

Tank Setup :

For breeding gold severum the breeding tank should be bare bottom. You can add slate or plants with fine leafs as breeding spot. Maintain the water condition at its peak as described in fish care section. You can use separate aquarium as breeding tank because gold severum may become aggressive to other mates at the spawning. They will chase off others and protect the eggs. Do regular water changes and provide live food mostly to encourage them for breeding.

Spawning :

When they are ready to spawn you can observe them locking their lips with each other and tail slapping. The female will deposit eggs on any flat surface present in the tank it may be rock or slate or leaves. Then male will fertilize them. Soon they will be ready to hatched in about 3 days. The eggs left unfertilized will turn white. When the eggs will hatch the parents will take care of them. Some time they may eat the fries but don't worry soon new batch will come. Gold severum breeds on weekly basis at interval of few days. For more successful chances of breeding you can remove eggs to another safe place. Just take the rock or wood drift where eggs are present ( after fertilization ) to another aquarium with same condition.

Keep the eggs in water all the time. You can do this by putting a small beaker in breeding tank then when beaker gets filled with water move the eggs into beaker then pick up the beaker and put it again in separate fish tank. Also add an air stone to the tank where eggs are present.

Fry care :
Mostly parents will take care of fry for 1-2 months. They will find a safe place and move them their and guard them. You can provide them newly hatched brine shrimps and microworms or any other baby food.

dwarf gourami

As from the name we can say that these fishes does not grow large. Dwarf gourami fish are colourful fishes having colored pattern all over their body which really make them attractive. Also care is less demanded. Their maximum size is of about 2 inches. However other members of same family can grow up to 2 feet such as giant gourami and it can live even more then 20 years in aquarium. As you might be knowing that lifespan of fish is generally proportional to their size. Other medium size gourami is " kissing gourami "which may grow up to 10 inches. The other smaller one is talking gourami also know as " croaking gourami "as they made croaking sound at night while breathing.

Dwarf gourami are omnivorous in nature and eat live as well as other food. Also provide floating plants and vegetation in aquarium. Since these are shy in nature so provide lots of hiding places. Dwarf gaurami will do well in 5 gallon aquarium or more. Dwarf gourami is sensitive to noise so put them in quiet place.
Similar to Betta or fighting fish these belongs to labyrinth family. Fishes belonging to this family have special capability to survive in water having less oxygen. These can breathe directly from the air above the water. So remember they should able to access the surface with proper airfloe otherwise they may die.
Dwarf gourami are docile and shy in nature. So take care that these are not harassed by other larger fishes and may died. Even they may be tortured by larger gouramies. They even don't retaliate. So put them with peaceful species of almost same size or smaller. Also don't put them with fighter fish because they show some aggression with similar species because they may claim their territory.

Breeding : nest builder/egg layer

Diet : Omnivorous

Nature : Semi aggressive

Tank region : Middle

Temperature : 77 f or 25 C

Tank size : 5 gallons or more

Care : Easy


Identify between male and female dwarf gourami
Dwarf gourami fish are very popular aquarium fishes because of their beautiful and colorful pattern on their body and their docile and shy nature. They are quite easy to breed also which add also a plus point to their popularity. For breeding you need a pair of male and female so it is very important to know difference between their sexes. It is quite easy to find difference between male and female on the basis of their color and their fin shape. Generally males are more colorful then females. While the female have dull greyish color with faint green horizontal strip. The other difference is that the dorsal fin of male's are pointed while the female's is rounded or curved and shorter in length. Above one is male while below one is female. Look at the difference of color and fin shape in both dwarf gourami fish .

Breeding Dwarf Gourami

Dwarf gourami fish breeding is moderately hard. If you you are new then it may lead to some difficulties. For breeding any fish easily and you are quite new then i will advice that you should try mollies or guppy fish. Sine mollies and guppies are live bearer that is they give birth directly to young ones. They are fairly easy. As dwarf gourami give eggs so it is comparatively harder. The breeding of gourami fish is quite similar to the breeding of fighter fish but more easy.

Tank setup:
Take minimum of 10 gallon fish tank or more (35 litres or more). Set the water level up to 6-8 inches. Now put the both male and female in the aquarium. Remember the pair should be healthy. Avoid adding any other fish because male form bubble nest if other fish is present then it may disturb the nest. Also remember that the current due to filter should be less so it may not harm bubble nest. You can use air stone. Also put plants or vegetation in the tank because Male's use plants or vegetation part for making nest. You can also use fine leave plant such as java moss which is easily available in aquarium shop. Now set the temperature to 28 degrees Celsius.

Spawning
In natural habitat these fishes feed basically on live food such as insects, worms etc which are rich in protein. So you must provide protein rich diet such as blood worms, mosquito larvae etc.

Also do 20% of partial water change in 3-4 days to induce spawning don't harm bubble nest. When bubble nest will be ready the male will start courting rituals with female gourami. He will swim around females while showing his fins. He will try to draw female towards his bubble nest. If female is ready to spawn then she will swim under the bubble nest. If not then try out another pair after waiting for few days. When female is ready for breeding then she will touch the males body with her mouth. The male will embrace her and help her in releasing eggs. Then the male will fertilize the eggs. Now the male will put those eggs in his nest. Female may give about 50 eggs in one time. Up to 700 eggs can be collected by male. At this time you should remove the female. The male will take care of eggs till fry are born. The eggs will hatched in 12-24 hrs. They will not come out of nest for few days. When they come out of the nest then you can remove the male from breeding aquarium. Feed them infusoria for starting few days then later on brine shrimps.