Honey Gourami Breeding!?

[bjanbkboi]

I've noticed some bubbles in the top corner of my aquarium, around some water sprite and a piece of driftwood that reaches the surface. I thought it was too small to be a bubble nest so I just disregarded it. Then about 2 days ago I noticed how big it was. Then I watched as my male honey gourami made more bubbles to add to the nest. I also saw the male and female wrestling when I came home late one night. I did not see any eggs being released or anything, maybe they were startled because I had turned on the light in my room. Last night I saw him add yet some more bubbles to the nest, and he was acting very territorial which is not usually like him. He would chase any fish away, even the small otos. Now I've lowered the water level a little bit, and I've take all the fish except the two gouramis out. I've also turned of the filter. From now I'm not too sure what to do. I haven't seen the gouramis embrace again yet, and the female seems to stay in hiding. Can anybody give me any input on anything that is naturally going on, or that I did or didn't do?

 

[sylvia]

Males always become territorial when they have a nest whether there are any eggs in it or not. Either way, it should be gone within a few days and any fry are very unlikely to make it in a community tank. Search this section of the forum for info. on breeding gouramies. Most species are similar and there are plenty of appropriate threads.
E.g.: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=176437
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...ourami+breeding

 

[bjanbkboi]

Thing is I moved all the other fish to a separate tank so the two gouramis are alone together, so it's not really a community tank right now as it is a gourami tank. After that one night I walked in on them attempting to spawn it hasn't occured again. The female won't even go up there. Does this mean nothing will occur at all or that they may just need more time?

 

[sylvia]

That depends on whether or not the female is full of eggs and whether they are both sexually mature. I would suggest returning the other fish to the tank if nothing's happening. The female is probably starting to get stressed if the male is chasing her around at all.