I've been trying to breed my pearl gouramis, and I've got them set up in a 15-gallon breeding tank. I've gotten one of those fully-submergible filters, so there is some current in the tank, but it's not enough to disturb the surface at all. The tank's temp is at a steady 77-degrees, and I've got a nice mat of floating anacharis (anchored to the sides of the tank with rubber bands), as well as a plastic lid at the other end in case he decided he didn't like the anacharis.
My problem is that my male doesn't seem to understand the whole bubble-nesting concept. At first he just chased the two females around spitting bubbles at them (they weren't impressed), and then he tried spitting bubbles into the filter intake (And seemed mystified as to where they were going).
Now he spends most of his energy tearing leaves off of the anacharis, and alternating between chasing the girls with them in his mouth, or stuffing them into the filter intake. When he's not doing this, he's doing his level best to detach my heater from the side of the tank.
Am I doing something wrong, or is this just a different natural behavior pattern, or is my male just being weird, or what?
My problem is that my male doesn't seem to understand the whole bubble-nesting concept. At first he just chased the two females around spitting bubbles at them (they weren't impressed), and then he tried spitting bubbles into the filter intake (And seemed mystified as to where they were going).
Now he spends most of his energy tearing leaves off of the anacharis, and alternating between chasing the girls with them in his mouth, or stuffing them into the filter intake. When he's not doing this, he's doing his level best to detach my heater from the side of the tank.
Am I doing something wrong, or is this just a different natural behavior pattern, or is my male just being weird, or what?
