Red Robin Gourami

Care

The Red Robin Gourami is thought to be a tank-bred colour form of the Thick Lipped Gourami and is a peaceful species ideally suited to quiet community aquaria. As with most gouramis, the aquarium should be well-planted and with a gentle water flow. Capable of adapting to a range of conditions, Red Robin Gouramis will be seen at their best in softwater aquaria, where their colouration will be maximised if fed a diet rich in colour-enhancing pigments. They should never be kept alongside fin-nipping species as the trailing thread-like pelvic fins will prove too much of a temptation. A lot of debate surrounds the mysterious origins of this aquarium colour strain, and it has not been confirmed whether it was created by hybridisation. It seems to be an intensively colour-fed Orange thick lipped gourami and batches seem dominated by males. To add to the confusion, this fish may also be seen on sale as Red 'Honey' Gourami.

Feeding

Flake, green flake, frozen foods such as bloodworm, white mosquito larvae, daphnia and vitamin-enriched brineshrimp.

Breeding

Your pair should be brought into condition by feeding with a mixture of frozen foods. They should then be moved to a shallow planted breeding tank (include floating species) filtered by a small air-driven sponge filter which will give a minimal flow rate and pose no risk of breaking up the bubblenest when constructed by the male. Spawning will occur beneath the bubblenest, with the male wrapping his body around the females in an embrace with much shaking. Up to 600 eggs will be released/fertilised, and these will float up into the bubblenest. Any that stray wide will be herded into the safety of the nest by the male. The male does become quite aggressive at this point as he begins guarding his nest, and the female should be carefully netted out and acclimatised back to the main aquarium. The eggs should begin to hatch after 24-36 hours, at which time the male should also be removed. The fry are tiny and usually start to become free swimming after a further 48 hours and will need to be offered appropriately sized first foods such as infusoria. After a couple of weeks, they can be moved onto finely powdered dry foods and baby brineshrimp. It is of extreme importance to maintain a warm layer of air between the surface of the water and the coverslides at all times whilst the fry are developing their labyrinth organ, critical during the first few weeks of their life.