20 Gallon Tank Dwarf Gourami bubble nest

Hi, I have a 20 gallon long stocked with glowlight tetras, corydoras, and a trio of blue dwarf gouramis. (One male two female) The male has made his first bubble nest and he’s only been in the tank for about 2 weeks. The females have been in for a few days and are in no shape to breed. The temp of the tank is 78 degrees, and my question is, since no females can breed with the male, will be still defend the nest and get aggressive with the rest of the fish in the tank? He attacks the females when they come into the corner of the tank that his nest is in, but he has done that since they were added. He hasn’t shown any signs of trying to court the females,(I think)but I don’t really know what that would look like because I’ve only ever bred corydoras, platies, and swordtails. Thanks for any responses.

 

Not sure how defensive they get until eggs are actually present in the bubble nest.

 

Gourami usually get quite aggressive whether or not there are any eggs.
I don't suppose you could post a picture of all three? Dwarf males are often missold as females.

 

Gourami usually get quite aggressive whether or not there are any eggs.
I don't suppose you could post a picture of all three? Dwarf males are often missold as females.

I will send pictures soon because I’m out of my house right now. The females are definitely female, but I’ll send pictures to confirm. They are smaller, completely pale, and have shorter dorsal fins. Get back as soon as I can.
Here are the pictures of all 3 gouramis and the nest. He is still adding to the nest as it breaks apart, but like I said the females are nowhere near being conditioned and are showing no interest in him.

 

I will send pictures soon because I’m out of my house right now. The females are definitely female, but I’ll send pictures to confirm. They are smaller, completely pale, and have shorter dorsal fins. Get back as soon as I can.
Here are the pictures of all 3 gouramis and the nest. He is still adding to the nest as it breaks apart, but like I said the females are nowhere near being conditioned and are showing no interest in him.

Sorry for the late reply I didn't see a notification with the photos.

Well you definitely have a male and two females, that's good news. However these fish can be ferocious towards each other especially with a bubble nest present, and if they actually breed he will get much worse and may even kill his tankmates.

You could try lowering the temperature a bit, it's believed warmer water promotes breeding behaviour mimicking their natural spawning season.

Personally I'm not a fan of keeping these in a group, the domestic fish are too far changed from their wild counterparts to be considered social fish. I'll link my article on them that sums up my thoughts My thoughts on Dwarf Gourami/Trichogaster Lalius

 

Sorry for the late reply I didn't see a notification with the photos.

Well you definitely have a male and two females, that's good news. However these fish can be ferocious towards each other especially with a bubble nest present, and if they actually breed he will get much worse and may even kill his tankmates.

You could try lowering the temperature a bit, it's believed warmer water promotes breeding behaviour mimicking their natural spawning season.

Personally I'm not a fan of keeping these in a group, the domestic fish are too far changed from their wild counterparts to be considered social fish. I'll link my article on them that sums up my thoughts My thoughts on Dwarf Gourami/Trichogaster Lalius

Thank you for the info, and I’m also sorry for the very late response because I didn’t get a notification. I read your article and I’m very happy with the way that my tank turned out because doing more and more reading with your article and others makes it seem like I’m the luckiest gourami keeper in the world. The fish are all healthy and the aggressiveness that the male had towards the females is mainly gone. They sort of know to stay away from the right side of the tank, they still have feeding aggression, but I don’t expect that to ever change, and it hasn’t affected any of the fish. The females are both plump and healthy. The male hasn’t built another bubble nest yet, but now my question is, if he does build a nest, and they breed, can I transport it to another tank somehow, or would that destroy the nest?