The term for a fish heavy with eggs is 'gravid' if you're interested
('pregnancy' implies live birth).
She may be gravid but she could also be constipated or be bloated from an internal bacterial infection so do keep an eye on her appetite in particular.
If she is gravid, you won't get any eggs unless a male builds a nest and persuades her (squeezes
) to spawn with him. If no male is available, the eggs are simply re-absorbed so as not to waste any nutrients. The time it takes for this to happen varies greatly. Usualy a sustained drop in temperature discourages them from breeding whereas a rise will encourage spawning. What you feed her and the others also plays a role. If the food is rich, she'll probably remain gravid and in breeding condition for longer. Things like live and frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp are ideal. If you do want them to spawn, however, make shure you have your 10 gallon breeding tank fishlessly cycled beforehand and set up with an appropriate heater and sponge filter. You are best off preventing them from breeding in the main tanka s the male will become very aggressive while guarding his nest and could pose a threat towards the other fish (including non-gouramies) in the tank.
Random note - chinese algae eaters (or sucking loaches as they are also known) are not appropriate tankmates for most fish. They become increasingly aggressive as they mature, don't eat algae once adults, will grow to a good 10" and are highly territorial towards any fish competing for 'their' space or that resemble them in any way. Furthermore, they are infamous for their habit of sucking on the slime coat of most fish and will also nip and remove scales and even suck out eyes. Fish like paradisefish that are quite laterally compressed and have flat sides are most at risk. Anything slow moving (mollies sometimes) may also be bullied or killed. You may not have any problems for a while yet but do be aware of the potential danger and be prepaired to re-home the fish. Keep in mind, however, that it's difficult to find a home for larger individuals of this species for obvious reasons so it's better to re-home (or return) sooner rather than later.
