20 Gallon Tank Breeding Dwarf gouramis questions

Hi, I have a male dwarf gourami and two females in a 20 gallon long. The females are both conditioned, and the male built a bubble nest last night and this morning. The females seem to pick at the nest and the male chases them all around the tank, but it seems more territorial, and not like breeding behavior. The male is always a little aggressive towards the females, but when he builds a nest, he ramps up the anger. There are no eggs in or near the nest and he’s not really protecting it. He lets my tetras near the nest but when the other gouramis come up from the bottom he chases them. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to make them actually mate, besides raising the temperature and feed well.(I’ve already done both for a week) I did notice at one point, both females biting at each others mouths almost like kissing gouramis. After one swam away, the male came over and flipped on its side next to the female that won the little sparing match. The female had no reaction to the male, so the male chased her around the tank until she hid again. Besides this, I have seen no breeding behavior, and the male is still tending to and adding to his nest. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

Sure all three fish are correctly sexed? I think a picture of the fish and the tank would be helpful.

 

Sure all three fish are correctly sexed? I think a picture of the fish and the tank would be helpful.

 

Can you try to get some better pictures maybe? These are inconclusive.

Tank looks ok, maybe a bit sparsely planted. I'd triple the amount of plants. Even more. The tank is a bit small for keeping that trio in it permanently. In nature the males mate, and chase away the females as soon as the eggs are laid. Females not ready to spawn are chased, too. I guess the latter is the situation here. The fish seem a bit stressed. That way you won't necessarily get the females in the mood. Provided they are, because I see some red in the fins of one, which is not a good sign.

So, more cover from plants are a given.

Do you have a second tank to keep the females while the male looks after the nest?
What do you feed?
What are your water parameters (pH, KH, GH)?
Can you move the other fish? (Tetras are known fry eaters.)

 

Can you try to get some better pictures maybe? These are inconclusive.

Tank looks ok, maybe a bit sparsely planted. I'd triple the amount of plants. Even more. The tank is a bit small for keeping that trio in it permanently. In nature the males mate, and chase away the females as soon as the eggs are laid. Females not ready to spawn are chased, too. I guess the latter is the situation here. The fish seem a bit stressed. That way you won't necessarily get the females in the mood. Provided they are, because I see some red in the fins of one, which is not a good sign.

So, more cover from plants are a given.

Do you have a second tank to keep the females while the male looks after the nest?
What do you feed?
What are your water parameters (pH, KH, GH)?
Can you move the other fish? (Tetras are known fry eaters.)

I have a large in-take mesh nursery that I was going to put the around the male and nest once mating happened. I also have a 3 gallon that I was going to use as a fry tank once the fry became free swimming.
parameters-
Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0
Nitrates- 8
pH- 7.2
GH and KH are both 4 degrees
Temp- 78 degrees.
The female that has red on her fins didn’t seem to get it from stress. It seems like a natural coloration but I could definitely be wrong.

 

Raising the temperature to 82F and more frequent feedings with live food mIght help to get the females in the mood to spawn.

 

I wish I could post videos because I have a video of them spawning! I saw a female drop about 15 eggs, but I think there may be more. It’s 11:15 here at night so I’m going to go to sleep soon. Is there anyway of telling that they are done spawning before the male starts chasing all the other fish in the tank? Thanks. Haha, as I’m writing this they just mated again, about another 10 eggs. I took a pic of them curled up and another video.

 

Congrats!

Was going to post a similar thread, but hoping I can ask a couple of tag along questions and not "hijack" the thread.

I just put a male and female in a 20 long as well. Within a day or two, the male has started a bubble nest. He's chasing the female a bit, but not too aggressively. How can I tell if there are eggs in the nest? How can I promote mating? Live or frozen food? Temp above 80F? Thanks in advance, and if I should post a separate thread, I'd be happy to.

 

Congrats!

Was going to post a similar thread, but hoping I can ask a couple of tag along questions and not "hijack" the thread.

I just put a male and female in a 20 long as well. Within a day or two, the male has started a bubble nest. He's chasing the female a bit, but not too aggressively. How can I tell if there are eggs in the nest? How can I promote mating? Live or frozen food? Temp above 80F? Thanks in advance, and if I should post a separate thread, I'd be happy to.

I’ve been looking through the nest and I can’t find where he put the eggs, so I suspect he put them under some floating plants. I used freeze dried bloodworms to condition my fish and turned the temp from 76 to 78F. You can use this thread if you’d like

 

Thanks! I was surprised how quickly he built the nest, though doubt any eggs are there yet. With old eyes, going to be tough to tell. . . .I've frozen myosis, bloodworms, and a mix I've been giving them, with a dollop of live baby brine shrimp for good measure. I've got baby Endler's and Coral Platys in other tanks, so the baby brine is mainly for them.

Looking forward to updates on your pair's breeding progress!