dwarf gouramis

tom14

2 quick questions (i hope)

1. how big are dwarf female gouramis when they sexually mature? mine is aroun 3.5cm long (1.5") nd her stomach is slightly bigger and rounder that what it was when i first bought her (6 months ago)?

2. my male is around 7-8cm (around 3") and has no interest in building a bubble nest and prefers to attack the female every so often. how could i get him to build one?

thanks

hamdogg08

How big is your tank? Is the water chem good? Is there too much turbulance on the surface of the water? I don't know much about breeding fish, but those are just some things that I'd think about.

tom14

they are in a 8g to themsevles. the water is perfect (ie 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate) they are very happy with a diet of fish flakes, bloodworms and the odd pea. there are floating plants for them and i have an aerator but it moves the water very slightly. (it is on very low)

does this help?

hamdogg08

Here's a link that might help you out a bit. Something that I noticed was that it talked about putting the female and male in at different times, and also that: "When the breeding has finished the male takes an instant dislike to the female gourami, she serves no futher purpose and will become very aggresive towards her if she goes near the nest area."

tom14

when i bought them i didnt realise 1 was female and the other was male. and i didnt know they were very aggresive because on the website i went on it said it was quite peaceful.

im moving them to a 60l and im making a mini comunity. will the added space help?

The Dude

added spce usually does but i would breed in the small tank and leave the male alone. i also hear an upside down little cup or something on the surface with air inside might encourage your male to build

-germ-

-ignore me-
Didn't read previous posts....
Less haste.

tom14

just to let everyone know, my male has began to build a bubble nest. it isnt very thick but there are quite a few bubbles and male wont leave it. no eggs though :(

but anyway YAY!! bubble nest

leifthebunny

Sweet. Way cool. :)

tom14

how can i get them to do anything.....? my female is about 4cm long and her stoach has changed shape.... it has gone rounder at the bottom but there isnt any bulge that i would expect if she were "ripe". its not dropsy. i feedthe freeze dried blood worms 3-4 time a week and flakes 1-2 a day. water changes 2 weekly (one vac, one water change only). also, i decided not to move them for now.

the bubble nest is quite rubbish by the way.. quite a few bubbles but not one big clump of them... and there arent millions like the ones i see on the internet. i feel shortchanged! lol.

please help. thanks!