When Do Females Drop Eggs?

[Nippyfish]

My male Dwarf Gourami finished his bubble nest on Saturday and spent all day Sunday "embracing" with the female of his choosing. Time and time again they were under the nest doin the hibbity-dibbity until I was finally tired of checking on them and went to bed.

I never saw her drop any eggs nor does it appear that there is anything in the nest other then bubbles and plant matter. Though it's hard to tell.

How long after spawning should she release eggs? Is it quite possible she won't release eggs at all? Are there signs to look for in a ready female? I have only owned them for 3 days so all this action was quite unexpected.

Thanks,
C

 

[Billsgate]

If you saw them mating underneath the nest it is quite likely that there are eggs. But they are hard to see. Check the nest again in 24-48 hours, and you should see little fish wiggling. If you don't see them, then the female wasn't ready yet. Since they just came from the store they may need some time to grow eggs. My female (honey gourami) needed some time to get stronger (in the shops they aren't fed enough to become pregnant most of the time), with me it took about a month.

BTW, I scooped out 10 honey gourami fry from my 18.5g and put them in a 3.5g growout tank together with my 4 white cloud fry who are now 3 times larger then the grouami fry, but they leave them alone. I hope I can raise some of them. My male honey gourami has already rebuilt his bubble nest and is making advances on the female. So who knows, in a couple of days more fry?
I wanted to take pictures, but they are too small to see. Two eyes, transparent body, like most fry. About 3 mm big.

Good luck Nippyfish!