Questions about possible gourami bubble nest

[Sharpy]

Hi there! New to the forum, thought I'd break in with a question.

I recently bought three dwarf gourami and two moonlight gourami from my local big als. I'm not positive on the sex of the dwarf grouami, I thought they were all male, and I don't have the slightest clue with the moonlight gourami, though they are still young.

Tonight I came home and found a mass of bubbles in the back of the tank behind the cover of some leaves from my anubias, where the water doesnt move much, mixed with some leaves seemingly cut from my other lighter plants. I've read a little about gourami breeding as I hoped to try it some day, and it seems to fit the description of a bubble nest. Also, one of the dwarf gourami appears to be guarding it, just sitting beneath it, and has chased away a couple of the moonlights.

My questions are as follows:

-does it sound like it's a bubble nest to you who have seen them before? I couldnt find any pictures or anything

-would they build one so soon after being introduced? it has been about three days since I brought them home

-do gourami ever make bubble nests if there are only males in the tank, or, fingers crossed, do I have a female and I just suck at telling the difference?

Found my camera, here are some pics of the nest itself.

[Sharpy]

Here are some of the dwarf gourami not including the one who is guarding the nest.



I think this is a male, harder to get a clear picture, but he seems to be a darker red




I think the other one MAY be a female? Here are two pics, she seems to be a bit lighter and silvery

[mattrox]

That is a bubble nest. I think it would be highly unusual for a buble nest to be built if there were only males in the tank. Buy I am not an expert on gouramis.

[Sharpy]

There's no chance that eggs are already in there is there? Will I be able to clearly see them?

[Sharpy]

This morning I believe the gourami that built the nest was courting the one I think MAY be a female. Following her but not chasing, then he turned sideways under her and curled/bumped into her a bit. Wasn't next to the nest though, was in the middle of the tank.

Does that confirm that its a female or is my gourami....confused.

[rich311k]

I hate to burst your bubble , but those are all male fish. The females are very plain looking. They are very hard to fine since most [acronym:4fbfc55faf="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:4fbfc55faf] don't sell them.

That certainly looks like a bubble nest. I know bettas make them all the time wether there is a [acronym:4fbfc55faf="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:4fbfc55faf] around or not, so I would assume gouramis do the same.

[Sharpy]

The one I thought was a female is now building a bubble nest as well . What the heck is up with my gourami's?!

Its really starting to become an agressive tank now, one moonlight seems to be chasing the other (the other has what looks like an abrasion on its lower lip now), and now I have these two dwarf gourami guarding their pointless little bubble nests lol. At least they're busy.... Would breaking the nests do anything to keep them from being so agressive? Or would they just rebuild?

I guess I would have to special order females, anyone know of a good place to do so, website or otherwise? Also, I take it that two or three females would be a good number so they don't get overly harassed?

Thanks for the info so far!

[Blucat]

i think maybe liveaquaria.com

male gouramis will make a bubble nest when they are happy, just like bettas and i think also for territorial reasons

[Sharpy]

Got 'em three babes now, we shall see what develops