Dwarf Gouramis Mating?

[fish_tank0311]

Hi there. I bought 3 dwarf gouramis yesterday at my LFS, and put them into a community tank about 22-24 gallon sized tank with medium sized angels and another blue gourami, and a scissor tail. Already 2 of the dwarf gouramis are doing their mating dance, and 1 of them is ripping plants to shreds, and making what looks like to be a nest, up the top, where i suppose he will make his bubble nest. I would like to breed these guys, but i dont have another spare breeding tank set up already. I have a 4 foot, and another 20 odd gallon tank. I have a spare heater, and a spare glass tank in the house, but it needs a clean and hasnt been started. What do i do with the gouramis? Im worried that the 3rd dwarf gourami is a bit scared, and is getting chased away, cos hes constantly swimming against the glass out towards me, and he doesnt move much from his spot, i think the others are being a bit teritorial. I have never bred fish before, so I dont have any experience.... I do have a 4 foot running with 5 little fish in it, which could be a temp. place to put some fish. Can anyone tell me what to do? Should i start the other tank? (My spare tank is about 10-13 gallons or something i would guess.)

And im worried about after they have bred, if they do, when i put them back into the community, if they will continue to be aggressive and keep breeding. I would like to breed them once or twice, but not constantly. I will have to move the 3rd gourami or from what i have read he will die soon under the stress.

PS: Yes, i will video it and put it on youtube. If they do it

Updated: From what i can tell, the 2 doing the mating dance are both females. They both have rounded dorsal fins, and then the 3rd gourami which is being bullied, actually has a pointed dorsal fin? But females building nests??? What the???

Here is a link to the 3 gouramis,
(Youtube video of everything in action) which i need "male or female advice". Please read the following description of my video: This is my 3 dwarf gouramis. At the start, there is one dwarf gourami, swimming down the bottom, hes is fish #1, i need to know if hes male or female (But better to look at image below of this). Fish #2 is the red 1, male or female? Fish #3 is the other blue one, thats fighting/dancing with the red one, also need to know male or female?

Here is Fish #1


Fish #1 Image

 

[Essjay]

All your dwarf gouramis are male. The females are silver. What you are seeing is not a mating dance, but two males fighting. You don't need to worry about what to do with eggs/fry, but you do need to worry about what to do with three male dwarf gouramis in the tank.

Males come in a variety of colours - you have the powder blue and the red. There is also one with diagonal red and blue stripes. The females are all silver, with sometimes the merest hint of a stripe. Were they sold to you as males and females? Someone at pets at home once tried to convince me the blue ones were the females - but I'd read up on them, so I knew they weren't. I didn't ask what he thought the silver ones were, he probably thought they were a different species.

 

[fish_tank0311]

I wasnt told what they were. I put it on youtube and some1 said the blues are female and the orange is a male?

 

[Essjay]

Are your two definitely pale blue not silver? Is it just my laptop that makes them look pale blue? If they are blue, they are males. Have a look at the profile of the dwarf gourami
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/35308-dwarf-gourami/
You'll see pictures of fish that look like your red one and your blue ones. They are all male. The second pic in the profile is a female. As you'll see, she is plain silver. You can always google for more pics. Even wikipedia says the females are a silvery colour.


A lot of shops only sell the males as the females are boring to look at and people will only buy the pretty males.

 

[fish_tank0311]

Are your two definitely pale blue not silver? Is it just my laptop that makes them look pale blue? If they are blue, they are males. Have a look at the profile of the dwarf gourami
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/35308-dwarf-gourami/
You'll see pictures of fish that look like your red one and your blue ones. They are all male. The second pic in the profile is a female. As you'll see, she is plain silver. You can always google for more pics. Even wikipedia says the females are a silvery colour.


A lot of shops only sell the males as the females are boring to look at and people will only buy the pretty males.

Ok thanks a lot. Um they are blue, like not pale but quite a nice strong metallic blue. Its weird though cos one has a pointed tail, and 2 have more of a rounded tail. If you look at the picture given by "nelly" that looks exactly like my blue one. And some of the others with rounder tails look like my other 2. kinda got my hopes up cos always wanted to breed fishies. Tee hee Im living in New Zealand, dont know if anyone will have any idea how or where i can get females from?