Robert Goldstein (U.S.): breeding ornaticauda

Robert Goldstein, an expert on anabantoids and licorice gouramis in the U.S., has just posted an interesting letter to Peter Finke that is now to be read in the American-section of this forum. From this letter we here select one paragraph contaning an interesting description of his method of breeding P. ornaticauda; quite unusual a method as water quality is regarded, for sure! But obviously successful:

“Because licorice gouramies are often reported in deeper water at over one meter depth, I’ve got the four ornaticauda in a reasonably deep (not one meter!) tank of 29 gallons capacity with dead oak leaves, abundant twigs, and some floating plants. The water is tap (not soft) with coir extract (I soak coir for soil-breeding killifish) to darken the water, I’ve added snails for clean-up, gentle aeration (one air line), and feed only live daphnia and live baby brine shrimp. I’ll add live mosquito larvae and grindal worms when the fish are a bit larger, but not blackworms as I’ve had bettas and other fish choke on them. I’ve added sunken PVC tubes of various diameters and one floating ABS tube to the tank for spawning, although they are as likely to spawn under a dead leaf. Once I see fry in the tank, I’ll remove all four adults and set them in an identical tank, leaving the spawning tank to the fry. The 29 gallon size is more than sufficient to raise a brood and not worry about water quality.”