The pearl gourami or Trichogaster leeri is a member of the family Belontiidae. Pearl Gouramis inhabit the lowland swap waters of Sumatra, Borneo, Malaysia and Thailand.
All gouramis belong to the suborder Anabantid. The members of this suborder evolved in poorly oxygenated environments. They subsequently developed an auxiliary breathing apparatus in addition to their gills. This lung-like organ, the labyrinth organ, allows them to breathe atmospheric oxygen. At some point in the evolutionary process they became dependent on both as a means of survival. They will die without a combination of dissolved and airborne oxygen. This is why they are frequently seen at the water’s surface.
Unlike the paradise fish, the pearl gourami is a timid creature. They are good additions to a community tank if they are provided with plants, rocks and aquarium d?cor in which to hide. There optimum water condition is a neutral pH with a water temperature around 78 ?F.
Pearl gouramis reach a length of approximately 5 inches and have a life expectancy of 5 years.
They are omnivorous. But they tend to function better on a balanced variety of tropical fish flakes and protein whether freeze-dried, frozen or live.
This species is sexually dimorphic, meaning each sex possesses traits specific to their gender such as size and coloration. Males are typically larger and more colorful than females. The males also exhibit an orange tinge to their fins with the exception of the tail fin. Males have a bright orange region around their throat area. This distinctive coloring is not present in juveniles. It develops as the fish reaches sexual maturity. The color intensifies prior to spawning and is used to attract the female of the species.
Breeding Gouramis
Gouramis have a natural inclination to pair up. Gouramis spawn in still water in their natural habitat. Turn the filter capacity in your breeding tank down prior to spawning. The color of the male’s throat region will indicate that he is ready to spawn. A sponge filter works well to simulate mating conditions. And you have the added bonus of not having to worry about the fry getting sucked up into the filter.
Provide plants for the breeding tank. The male will use his labyrinth to build a bubble nest on the water’s surface. He will use some of the provided plant matter to help the nest stay together.
Gouramis instinctively spawn underneath the bubble nest. Once fertilization occurs, the male gourami will gather up the eggs with his mouth and spit them into the bubble nest to mature.
Remove the female gourami from the breeding tank after they have spawned. It is the male’s job to tend to the nest. He will guard and care for the eggs until they hatch. You will find the male a very attentive custodian of his future offspring.
The fry will hatch in approximately 24 hours. They will be free swimming in 2-3 days. It is now time to remove the male to insure that he does not eat the fry. Once free swimming, the fry can be fed infusoria, or rotifers. When they get about a week old feed them powdered fry food, or newly hatched brine shrimp. An economical alternative is powdered eggs. Make sure not to over feed the fry or you will foul up the water in your tank.
Posted in Pets tagged Community Tank, Filter Capacity, Orange Tinge by Stephen with No comments
You have probably heard the phrase that most people would rather die than present the eulogy at the funeral. Yes, public speaking brings on performance anxiety (a form of social anxiety disorder) in most of us. Performing artists, job interviewees, sports people and exam participants are also performers and are susceptible to performance anxiety.
While many of us feel anxious when we have to perform, anxiety itself is not bad. When you are stimulated, scared or anxious a flood of adrenaline and cortisol is released into your body. This prepares
you to give the highest performance, one with excitement and focus. So anxiety does serve a purpose. Most experienced performers feel concerned if they do not feel any anxiety as this can lead to a flat and dull performance.
Performance anxiety is feelings of ‘butterflies in the stomach’ or in severe cases ’stage fright’. It is the response to ‘fight or flight’.
In some people this reaction is so debilitating that they become paralyzed by fear, unable to speak or think clearly. For someone with social anxiety disorder they may even go to the extent of refusing a promotion at work if there is any likelihood of having to do a presentation at any time.
But there are ways to help prepare to perform and to lower your state of anxiety.
Change your thinking to change the way you feel. If you start thinking about your sweating palms, racing heart and wondering if you will remember your speech your attention is divided and not on the job at hand — that of giving the speech. If you are thinking about the outcome you are distracting yourself from the task. Focus on the task at hand, the presentation you are going to give. Perceive your presentation as a challenge rather than a threat.
You wouldn’t expect someone to tell you that you were useless before you went out to perform but that’s what we tend to do to ourselves — telling ourselves that we are no good at speaking, or that we’ll be glad when it’s all over. This negative self talk needs to change into something positive — “I am well prepared and will show them what I can do.”
A good way to counteract negative thinking is to practice new thinking and create new habits. For each stage of the performance process write a set of positive self talk.
1. Preparation: The time from when you know you are to give your talk until you arrive at the venue.
a. “I am looking forward to this challenge”
b. “If I feel nervous this is natural and means that the performance is important to me”
2. Before: The time before you go on stage.
a. “I have done this in practice and can do it here”
b. Remind yourself of breathing and meditation techniques to calm yourself, and breathe easily.
3. During the performance
a. “Focus on the present”
b. Remember that if you forget something your audience has no idea that it has been left out, after all you wrote the notes.
c. A tip is that pauses are effective in a speech making, use a pause to gather your thoughts.
d. Another tip is to look just above your audience’s heads. It will appear that you are looking at them.
4. After the performance
a. “What can I learn from this performance?”
b. “Next time I’ll do even better.”
The key to your presentation of course is to be prepared. And to practice, practice, practice. Self talk will not help you if you have not prepared and do not know your subject
Many well known performers have admitted to being troubled by performance anxiety. Kim Basinger Stephen Fry, Barbara Streisand, Carly Simon and even the late Pavarotti have all suffered the affliction. These performers have made a conscious effort to control their anxiety and you can too.
Posted in Business tagged Feelings, Flood, Stomach by Stephen with No comments
