Ram + Gourami breeding Help

HI,
I have a male and female pearl gourami, and a male and small female german blue ram. I am interested in breeding them, but they are not pairs. only got the gourami last weekend and the female ram today. is there a way to encourage them to form pairs? the male gourami chases the female, and her tail is frayed. good or bad sign? the female ram is new, so i need to watch her behavior more before i can say anything about their relationship.
thanks

 

Fish won't always pair off just because they are m/f. I can't help you with breeding

 

I know . what chance do they have of forming a pair? and can i boost the odds somehow?

 

Were do you live? If where you live is warm out try getting a big rubbermaid tub (the kind that are like 30 of 40 gallons for storing clothes and stuff) and put the gouramis in there along with a handfull of floating plants (I used watersprite) and take it outside. Top off the water level if it gets low.

I did this last summer with a pair of dwarf gouramis that weren't a pair. By the end of the summer I had more fry than I could count.

Make sure it doesn't frost or get to cold at night before you start.

 

Thats a good idea, thanks. i live in Maryland near Baltimore. Do you preform water changes? and what about mosquitoes?

how long would a male and female fish in a tank take to decide whether or not they want to be a pair?