Is it bad to ruin a bubble nest??

[shuhu]

Hi

this is sooo weird, this morning I saw that on the tank were I keep the 2 Blue Gouramies there was this weird looking film of bubbles on one corner of the tank, I didn't saw anything unusual about the fish so I though it would be the filter with the air pump, so I modified the water current a little bit and bubbles were gone, I was actually worried because I thought something was wrong with the water quality or something.

But I just started reading on gouramies breeding (for some reason ) and just saw that the male does a bubble nest in order to attract the female into dropping the eggs, and now I believe that I just destroyed the little guys nest .

So will the male become aggresive with the other fish because I destroyed his nest ??? I feel so bad for him, I had no idea.



Also, could it be possible that other fish in the tank was the one that made the bubble nest?? I haven't seen none of the fish doing it, and the one that made it did it at night because I saw it this morning.

 

[SPLiSH]

No, the male won't become aggressive, he'll probably just make another nest. To encourage him, put some floating plants in the tank.

It could only have been either your gold or blue gourami that made the nest, as all the other inhabitants of your tank are egglayers.

Congrats on the nest, it generally means he's happy and healthy.

 

[shuhu]

ok, I just noticed something... apparently the male Male Blue Gourami is trying to do another nest, he is trying to do bubbles , an whenever the female goes near him, he chaces her around, like keeping her away, an then goes back to his business.

I also have a Gold Gourami, which is bigger than the Blue Gourami, I have no idea if it's a she or a he but the Male Blue Gourami chaces him/her out of were he is, so the Gold gourami goes behind the filter to hide along with the female blue gourami.

But he is not doing this with any of the other fishes, he does not get territorial, only with the gouramis

Should I take him out of there, or what??? I would like to see how they breed and all but I'm not sure if he will eventually hurt one of the other fishes (including the Gold Gourami)

Now I don't have plants on this tank, only at the other one, and I think that if I try breeding them I will have to use the empty 5 Gal tank that I have which btw has no heater, no lights, no filter, no nothing.... I was going to use it to let my Molly give birth within the next month or two, but now this comes up !!! Would that thank be OK for them to breed???

at least he is happy like you said

 

[SPLiSH]

It definately sounds like breeding behaviour. As far as I'm concerned, there are 2 options: you could try to breed them, since it sounds like they are in great shape. Or if you don't want fry, maybe isolate the male for several days to see if he calms down.

I'm not sure about the 5g... I've never bred gouramies before.

 

[Kazman]

Our male Paradise fish has just successfully made a bubble nest, mated with the female and now we have the tiniest baby Paradise fish in there.

We've had him for about 8 months and he's always had a female with him and he constantly tries to build nests. They normally break up with the water flow or he loses interest but this time a plant was floating and he used that as an anchor. He will chase away the fish if they get too close, inlcuding his partner, until the time comes to mate (which btw in Paradise fish was stunning, he wraps his whole body round her including his tail and then they slowly spin round and float down the tank, then swim to the top and start again!). He is now protecting his babies from everyone and chases them away but at the moment it's not too agressive, just a bit of a warning. He still allows the female to come over and have a look but he soon chases her away too, he's just being a protective daddy.

I don't think the fry will get big though as there are too many other quick fish (danios!) to let them survive.

We also have 3 Red Robin Gouramis, but they've not yet tried to build a nest and have shown no interest in the Paradise pairs nest?. Maybe they're gay?.


It's fascinating to watch so happy viewing!!

 

[shuhu]

thanks for sharing Kazman, it's great knowing other people's experiences with their fish, if it' the same type as mine its even better, I get to know more about them

unfortunatelly (or fortunatelly) my male apparently got bored and stopped doing the nest .... he started another one a couple mins ago and then he got bored again.

btw I would like to keep some of the fry, if they get to that point, so I guess it would be better to move the male to the 5 gal tank and maybe place one of the little "Anacharis" plants I have at my other tank to help him out. I hope there is no problem since there's going to be 2 fish at most in there, right??. I could make daily water changes for like a week (just to give them time)

also, I think that the Gold Gourami is a male because he started making bubbles and now the male Blue Gourami is the one that stays hidden. I hope there is no problem with that, you know having 2 males of almost the same species that want to do a nest almost at the same time with only one female around

I'm gonna have to read more on this whole subject.

UPDATE: I just read in 3 different websites that the gouramies dont require a tank with filter or a heater in order to breed, so thats good to know, I also got to see some pics of the bubble nest, so I know now that my male needs to work harder his nests havent been as bigger as the ones in those pics.

 

[sylvia]

They DO require a heater (water should be at 80 deg F for breeding and temp. is especialy important for the fry). Anyway, even if they have fry, the fry will get eaten, sucked up by the filter or starve in a community tank. They aren't like livebearer fry which will swim away from predators (their parents ) and hide all the time to avoid being someone's lunch and scavenge on little bits of left over flake - they need to be in a tank with the very tiniest of foods, usualy live is necessary, and they have to be pretty much alone. As for destroying the nests, this would actualy keep aggression down. I would advise you to increase the current in your tank so that your males cannot make nests. Gold and blue gouramies ARE the same species (not 'almost' - trichogaster trichopterus color morphs - both are 'three-spot' gouramies) and are capeable of killing each other over a territorial/breeding dispute. Normaly, you should stick to only one male per tank for smaller tanks and at least 2 females per male. Keeping them from starting the breeding process might actualy be saving one of their lives. If you decide you seriously want to breed them, you will need to set up a seperate breeding tank of at least 10 gallons for three-spots and be prepaired to raise the tiny fry on infusoria, liquid foods, microworms and later powedered flake. A search of this forum should bring up several threads concerning the breeding of gouramies.

 

[shuhu]

thanks sylvia

the weather here has been a little hot so thats why I don't think I will need a heather (at least not during the following months), thats pretty much the temp of both of my tanks and considering the room this one is, the heat stays longer even at nights, I also know it's not the perfect way but I can't afford a heater right now.

And yes, for me at least, I will have to breed them at a different tank because this is the tank with the filter that can "suck" the fry in plus I'm afrid that the Red Fantails will be the ones to eat them first since they are always very active looking for food Anywere

 

[shuhu]

mmm... about having 2 males on the same tank.. there used to be another Gold Gourami like 3 months ago but she/he died before my mom's friend gave them to us If I add another Gold Gourami (a female) will that end the territorial thing??? or will that won't affect anything, or even make it worse. We never saw any problems with them until probably now

Also if I'm able to breed them at some point, I was thinking on keeping like maybe 3 to put on my other tank, so, will it be like OK if they are 2 females and one male, or even more females.

UPDATE: I'm not sure anymore I actually thought I saw the Gold Gourami doing bubbles before, that is why I thought it could be a male, but I have been looking at it closely and their behabior (the 3 gouramies) and I just noticed that the Gold G. might be a female, its got a belly almost like the female Blue G. (I haven't noticed that either) and it's dorsal fin it's slightly curved and looks almost the same as the female Blue, only that she is bigger than both Blue Gouramies. The Blue male also like "sniffs" on both females bottom.

Could it be possible that the male Blue G. got the Gold one pregnant ??? even though I changed the water current he stills tryes to make the nest, and he is keeping away both females (in case the Gold is a female) also, if the Gold is a female, will that be a problem for agression or should I not be worried. Maybe what I thought was him keeping "him" away for territorial purposes was just a normal behabior like what he does with the Blue female

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I've read many websites and articles but haven't found any info on this.

 

[sylvia]

Can you post side views of each of the fish so someone could sex them? (I might be able to).

Firstly, if you were to add another (female) gourami, she would be bullied and chased by the others as they will regard her as an intruder. You could add a couple to spread out aggression and at the same time re-arange the tank to reduce this effect. That would reduce territorial behaviour - temporarily. However, eventualy, the males will still be territorial towards each other and may still turn on each other. This is why I have stopped keeping more than one male three-spot per tank. I have had very bad experiences with doing things otherwise. But note, however, that different color morphs tend to show less aggression towards each other - maybe they view each other as being different species or something - so your gold and blue might still come up with a compromise. That is assuming they are both male after all of course.

Yes BTW, keeping a male and 2 females would be fine. But, just to make sure I understand correctly, you do mean putting the grown fry in a different community right? You wouldn't be able to put them back in this tank as the adults you have will, again, view them as intruders and could actualy kill them (or at least the male).

Now about the 'pregnancy thing'. Gouramies can't get pregnant - they lay eggs. The eggs are fertilised externaly by the male when the fish 'embrace' beneath the bubblenest. So, though a deeper body does indicate a female, it does not mean the male 'got her pregnant'. Oh and, just incase you weren't aware of this - blue and gold gouramies ARE the same species so they can deffinately breed with each other.

Now I can't realy comment on anything else that you posted without knowing what sex these fish actualy are. As I said before, if you can post some pics, that should settle it.

 

[wrs]

I will say that in the size tank the gouramis will be agressive after a while.

how big are the fish? I didnt see if it was listed. That may help to know if they will breed.

 

[shuhu]

I wish I could post images but my digital camera broke a couple months ago

But, I have looked at them several times and now I'm positive that the Gold G. is a girl, she has that little belly like females have (I thought it ment pregnancy ) and there it's a minimal difference in the curve of the dorsal fin. Also, the male has been "dancing" or swimming and sniffing at both females. I think that the male is not fully growned yet since the friend who gave us the tank along with the fish said that the other Gold G. that died was even bigger than this female Gold G. almost as twice as much as the current male, so I guess that is why she is bigger than the Blue male.

And yes I was thinking on keeping at least 3 frys on a different tank, were there are no Gouramies at the momment (I'm guessing I can't add Dwarf Gouramies on this other tank then ), leaving the current three were they are, and I won't be adding anymore Gold Gourami females here either.

At least the male keeps on making bubble nests that can't hold on together because of the water current. I will put him at another tank during the weekend so that I can keep an eye on him and try to breed him with the Blue female, this way he won't try to breed with teh Gold one. Not sure if thats a problem, because like you said they are the same species but with different colors.

Anyway, thanks for all of your comments, I've learn so much more about them during this week, and I hope it's ok if I post about how the breeding thing went.

btw, here are the aprox. sizes:

Female Blue G. - 6cm (2.4")
Male Blue G. - 7cm (2.8")
Female Gold G. - 9cm (3.5")

 

[wrs]

arent those a bit to small to breed? unless I am converting wrong.

 

[shuhu]

arent those a bit to small to breed? unless I am converting wrong.

how big should they be then???

 

[wrs]

arent those a bit to small to breed? unless I am converting wrong.

how big should they be then???

I have a book that says breeding size is 3 inches, not sure about cm's.

though now I am thinking that they should be the right size.