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What the heck are my gourami doing?


mgudyka
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Hi all,

Yesterday I posted about my two gouramis not really enjoying one another's company. I will be removing the aggressor as soon as my second tank has fully cycled. In the meantime, I am keeping an eye on them. While I was watching, I noticed the fish that was getting chased cornered the chaser and they were in this position for a solid 10 seconds. No movement, just pressed up against each other. They did that two or three times. I don't know that much about fish behavior so every weird thing like this is an opportunity to learn. But my goodness what are they doing here?

20210324_193600.jpg

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4 minutes ago, CorydorasEthan said:

The are mating. The male has made a bubblenest (at the top of the aquarium). The female is laying the eggs while the male fertilizes them, and then they both put the eggs into the bubblenest.

Which is which?! I thought they were both boys

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4 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

‘Tis love! That’s the classic Anabantid spawning embrace. Maybe too much surface agitation for a proper bubble nest to get built...

Well I'll be darned. I just noticed the bubble nest. I have reduced the flow from the airstone. I read somewhere that reducing the depth of the water sometimes spurs spawning. Well what happened this Sunday? My cats bit a hole in my filter hose and it drained a couple inches of water. Interesting!

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1 minute ago, mgudyka said:

Well I'll be darned. I just noticed the bubble nest. I have reduced the flow from the airstone. I read somewhere that reducing the depth of the water sometimes spurs spawning. Well what happened this Sunday? My cats bit a hole in my filter hose and it drained a couple inches of water. Interesting!

Check your search history again. The cats probably were looking at the same websites as you, and intentionally broke the filter to encourage spawning. Looks like we have a couple new breeders in the hobby!

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22 minutes ago, CorydorasEthan said:

Honestly, I don't really know, but I looked it up and the males could have longer and pointer dorsal fins. Also, the female could be larger/rounder than the male (she is carrying eggs).

Well one was definitely noticably rounder than the other. I was actually worried she (apparently!) was suffering from dropsy or something. 

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Just now, mgudyka said:

Amazing. He has been protecting the nest for a while. These two just keep going at it

If you don’t scare them, you might see little eggs drop. He will catch in his mouth, and spit up into the bubble nest. I’m sitting here, watching my male Gourami try to coax the female under his nest. She wants none of it... 

B219B0DD-A234-45B9-949A-C3A2329D8540.jpeg

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26 minutes ago, CorydorasEthan said:

Check your search history again. The cats probably were looking at the same websites as you, and intentionally broke the filter to encourage spawning. Looks like we have a couple new breeders in the hobby!

We are very excited to be breeders now20210320_200306.jpg.7c4aab2f7feb117429e7c8e5350fb536.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

If you don’t scare them, you might see little eggs drop. He will catch in his mouth, and spit up into the bubble nest. I’m sitting here, watching my male Gourami try to coax the female under his nest. She wants none of it... 

B219B0DD-A234-45B9-949A-C3A2329D8540.jpeg

Wow that's a good looking male! How soon will I know if we have had success?

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1 minute ago, Fish Folk said:

I’m not the best person to answer... ours have spawned ca a couple times, but I think I’ll pull the eggs + nest next time. You can just let them go. Maybe vac a couple fry will survive. At least they’re a pair! 

Yes! Which means I don't have to relocate one and I can keep my next tank a pea puffer tank!!!!

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2 minutes ago, FishMonger said:

We had 2 that used to do the love dance, but sadly we never saw any nests. :l  Thanks for sharing the photos @mgudyka! And the info @Fish Folk!

If it wasn't for Fish Folk I would have never noticed the bubble nest 

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"Thank you!! It's all very exciting for having had these gourami for less than a week haha"

Wow! Just a week? 🤔 That sounds like a record!  No wonder you didn't realize? I thought something was wrong w our boy when he started to develop more color as he aged.  

Good luck w them. 🙂 

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Just now, FishMonger said:

 

"Thank you!! It's all very exciting for having had these gourami for less than a week haha"

Wow! Just a week? 🤔 That sounds like a record!  No wonder you didn't realize? I thought something was wrong w our boy when he started to develop more color as he aged.  

Good luck w them. 🙂 

Thank you! I hope you too have many fry in your future!

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