Dwarf Gourami

[NoRp]

ok about an hour after releasing into the tank the male had built quite a large nest
now comes the problem
the male is busy building his nest and hasn't touched any food
and when the female comes out of hiding to try and get some food the male immediatly jumps on her so after 2 days she hasn't given up her eggs yet shes been close a few times like on her side but nothing and then she runs away.

any ideas?
i thought about separating them but id rather give them a chance to spawn

 

[sylvia]

I'd go with separating them. It's more important that they are healthy than that they spawn - they can always spawn later.

You should really also get another female about the same size as your existing one - or two more if you have the room. How big is your tank? As you've already seen, the male chases the female around and makes her life difficult. With more than one, his attentions will be divided so everyone will get a chance to eat and not be overly stressed. As you may already be aware, dwarfs are particularly prone to stress-related diseases.

The male would be fine without food for several days while he defends his nest so that's nothing to worry about. Females are the same. The only real issue is stress - starvation is exceedingly rare.

 

[NoRp]

ok so he sqeezed all the eggs out of here and now a few days later i have a million tiny tiny tiny fish swiming around close to the nest!. anyway the male has gone into protection over drive, i have 2 tanks joined and all the fish that wim into the tank with the nest get beat up badly i have about 15 fish every other hour hiding amounst my plants and as soon as they stray out hes on them. can he cause any lasting damage i keep netting them and putting into other tank but. they swim back and he gets them traped again.
the female still hasn't eaten because of the male ( i think) shes hidingin the plants with a bunch of gup fry that i can never catch i was thinking of putting them all in the other tank and blocking it off. so none can get through to the dwarf fry?
will the male behave better in the other tank as its not very well planted and i dont want him ravagiung all the other fish todeath. th to tanks are 2 footers joined by a water bridge.

 

[sylvia]

Lasting damage? It's not too bad with dwarfs but they can kill tankmates sometimes.

If you move him to somewhere where there is no nest, he'll calm down soon enough.

The fry will probably not survive in a community setting anyway and the male's not supposed to stay with them once they're free-swimming either.