What food do kissing gouramis eat? A complete analysis of scientific feeding methods
The kissing gourami is also called the kissing fish, kiss fish, peach blossom fish, kiss-mouth fish, fragrant-kiss fish, kissing fighting fish, and so on. Its body color is pale light red, and it is famous for enjoying "kissing" each other. Not only fish of the opposite sex but even fish of the same sex perform the "kissing" action, but "kissing" is not a sign of friendship, but a kind of fighting. Now let us take a look at what food kissing gouramis eat!
What food do kissing gouramis eat?
The kissing gourami has omnivorous feeding habits. Although it is a large fish species, it is generally not interested in large water fleas, and often must hold its mouth wide open for a long time to "drink" some small water fleas in order to eat its fill. This is also a special feeding method of tropical fish. When kept, it also likes to use its thick lips to suck on the green algae on the tank walls and aquatic plants, so when keeping fish, people often put one kissing gourami in each tank as a "scavenger".
What bait should be fed to kissing gouramis?
The kissing gourami is gentle in temperament, moves in groups at various water layers, can be kept mixed with other fish, and has omnivorous feeding habits. It is not picky at all: breadworms, chopped earthworms, and artificial feed are all fine. It eats whatever the owner feeds it. Not only does it grow fast, but its resistance is also good, it rarely gets sick, and it multiplies and prospers with many offspring. Under artificial rearing conditions, the kissing gourami has no fixed breeding season, and breeding is relatively simple. It is best to keep them in pairs, and feeding heavily is beneficial for breeding.
Breeding methods for kissing gouramis
1. Male and female kissing gouramis are not easy to distinguish. Juveniles are almost impossible to identify as male or female. In adults, the male's anal fin is generally wide and long, and the body appears somewhat slender. The female's anal fin is narrow, the body is broad and thick, and the abdomen is slightly bulging. After the female reaches sexual maturity, the abdomen swells because it is full of eggs, which is very obvious when viewed from the top of the fish tank down.
2. The kissing gourami is oviparous and fertilizes externally. Generally, broodstock with a body length of more than 20 cm should be used. Use a relatively large aquarium of more than 80×40×40 cm for breeding, with 5-7 day old water, a water temperature between 25-27°C, a pH of 6.8-7.4, and a hardness of 9-11, and place a layer of floating aquatic plants on the water surface in the tank. The male keeps swimming around the female, and when the proper position is reached, it wraps around the female's body in a "U" shape and squeezes and embraces her. After the female lays eggs, the male immediately releases sperm. The female can lay 500-10,000 eggs each time, averaging 3,000.
3. The eggs of the kissing gourami are floating eggs, drifting on the upper layer of the water like oil. The floating aquatic plants can keep them from being accidentally swallowed by the parent fish. After spawning is complete, the parent fish can be taken out, and the eggs can be artificially hatched. The larvae can hatch in 20-24 hours. After 2-3 days, when the larvae can swim, they must be fed large amounts of gray water, otherwise they will starve to death. After another 2-3 days, feed small red worms for 3-4 days, then they can be fed large worms. At 15-20 days, the rapidly growing larvae should be divided into two or three tanks for rearing to ensure a higher survival rate. Sometimes one brood of larvae can survive more than 9,000 fry. They reach sexual maturity in about one year, and their lifespan can reach 6-7 years.