Female vs. Male gourami?

Tetrabetta12

Hey there fellow aquarists, as some of you might know i have a 10 gallon with 4 Dwarf Gourami in it. I know it is a little over stocked but the fish seem to normally get along together... until recently lol Both my males are chasing the two females and the males are not even bothering each other since their territories are set up. Could they be trying to mate? I have noticed my flame dwarf is trying to build a bubble nest too. My smaller female gourami seems to have taken a beating as she has some ruffled scales. What should i do? i don't have another tank to house the females in. The males seem to wrap around the females every once in awhile. And if they are mating, how long until they will stop this behavior?

jentralala

The wrapping is the males trying to squeeze the eggs out of the female so he can place them in the bubble nest.

You're in a pretty bad situation here imo. The females literally have no where to get away from the males who are going to be constantly harassing them to mate, which it sounds like they have. Can you see eggs in the bubble nest? Or the female release any?

The males will immediately chase the female away after spawning, as she will eat the eggs. He will be incredibly protective of his bubble nest. So that means on either end of a ten gallon tank you have a male guarding a bubble nest, and the females with no where to go to hide, resulting in them being harassed and stressed and possibly being killed.

No telling when the behavior could end. Even if it does they will eventually try to mate again, and you'll have the same thing keep happening.