pregnant gourami?

[johnskate17]

ok, ive got 3 gouramis in my tank, 2 i believe are male and one is female. Its the female ive got questions about, im not sure of what her behavior is gonna be if she is pregnant. She seems to hide towards the bottom of the tank, under plants or behind something , not her usual hanging out at the top as the rest of the gouramis. Is there a way to tell if she is pregnant? or what she should be doing now if she was? Also, is there anything I should be doing now or soon if she is pregnant?


thanks

 

[boy2cool]

Hey Gouramis are bubble nest builders...they are not like livebearers they will never become pregnant at all. The Males builds a bubble nest during spawning and embraces the female and when the female lay eggs its collected by the male and placed in the bubble nest. Once spawning is complete, the female's involvement is over, and she should be removed to prevent her from being attacked by the male. The eggs hatch in approximately 30 hours. Water movement should be kept minimal so the bubblenest is not disturbed.

 

[johnskate17]

woah thanks, i remembered reading soemthing about the bubble nests, but i thought it had to do more with the female looking for them. Ill have to check and see hwo that fish is doing and what she or he is up to. Is that picture from a tank of your own?

 

[Spikor]

also, sometimes i have heard of gouramis 'going through the motions' of spawning without actually creating a nest. so this could be your case too. they are sort of pretending to have eggs annd then the female is going to hide from the males. does she have enough room and objects to stay away and hide from the invisible 'nest'?