Nippyfish
Aquarium Advice Regular
I purchased one male and three female Dwarf Gouramis a week or so ago and have been conditioning them to breed. The first day my male built his bubble nest and by the second day he was mating readily with my smallest but most colorful female. She is the only one that has definable blue and silvery/pink stripes on her body. The other females are purely silver. I was pleased he had chosen her because of her lovely coloration. She wasn't ready however and their mating was in vein.
Over the past week he has built 4 bubble nests and last night I sat and watched for awhile. I noticed the colorful female and my largest silver female both vying for position under the nest. I was surprised because I though the male pursued. Clearly, both females were working hard to get under the nest and both would begin by tapping their mouths against the side of his body. A behavior I had never read anywhere but clearly realized was part of the mating ritual. (Both females do this)
Surprisingly, this time my male mated with the silvery female. My understanding was that they paired with a female and mated with her. This is obviously not the case. He doesn't seem to care which of the two he mates with.
Neither female had any eggs so little has come from either mating experience. I did notice however, that my colorful female had 3 vertical stripes on her left side and two on her right as of yesterday. I thought at first she had been injured but closer inspection showed that it was a few of her normal body stripes that became very brightly colored in a blue/gray hue.
I have 2 questions:
1. Is it common for a male Dwarf Gourami to mate with more then one female?
2. Do DGs develop vertical stripes much like Bettas do when they are ready to mate? Her stripes weren't there last week upon mating but were quite prevalent yesterday.
Thanks,
Christie
Over the past week he has built 4 bubble nests and last night I sat and watched for awhile. I noticed the colorful female and my largest silver female both vying for position under the nest. I was surprised because I though the male pursued. Clearly, both females were working hard to get under the nest and both would begin by tapping their mouths against the side of his body. A behavior I had never read anywhere but clearly realized was part of the mating ritual. (Both females do this)
Surprisingly, this time my male mated with the silvery female. My understanding was that they paired with a female and mated with her. This is obviously not the case. He doesn't seem to care which of the two he mates with.
Neither female had any eggs so little has come from either mating experience. I did notice however, that my colorful female had 3 vertical stripes on her left side and two on her right as of yesterday. I thought at first she had been injured but closer inspection showed that it was a few of her normal body stripes that became very brightly colored in a blue/gray hue.
I have 2 questions:
1. Is it common for a male Dwarf Gourami to mate with more then one female?
2. Do DGs develop vertical stripes much like Bettas do when they are ready to mate? Her stripes weren't there last week upon mating but were quite prevalent yesterday.
Thanks,
Christie
