Please help re Dwarf Gourami behaviour!

[jazzymax]

Hi!

I just got a pair of dwarf gouramis for my 70 l tank and I do not know what to think. The dude is very busy with building his nests - I destroyed them twice by mistake, so now I am letting him build his fortress and I am being very careful when changing water. But he does not seem to like the girl. Or does he?

He chases he away all the time. I feel so bad for her. BUT, then she goes up to his nest and he lets her. Once he even positioned himself to the side like some kind of mating dance, but then as soon as she moved away he chased her to the bottom. He immediately swims back to his nest. So this is going on for days, and even though he does not nip her, I don't want her bullied.

So what should I do? I don't want to bring any of them back as they are both very cute and deserve a good life with me Does he want to mate with her or does he want to kill her? All joking aside, I considered getting another female, but I have 6 corys too and 10 neon tetras so I think it could be overcrowded. Please help!

J

 

[rlederer]

They are trying to mate. He probably won't hurt her. If you keep destroying the nests, the cycle will keep repeating but if you let them put eggs in the nest, the male might guard them but it's unlikely the fry will survive with all the other fish in the tank.

 

[jazzymax]

They are trying to mate. He probably won't hurt her. If you keep destroying the nests, the cycle will keep repeating but if you let them put eggs in the nest, the male might guard them but it's unlikely the fry will survive with all the other fish in the tank.

Thanks for your comment! I destroyed the first two while I was cleaning the aquarium, now I am being extra careful. Let's see how it goes!

 

[Laser]

That's pretty cool that you were able to get a pair. I've never seen a female dwarf gourami in stores.

 

[jake37]

Females have almost no colouring are you sure the second fish is a female ? Can you post pictures of the pair ?