I think they probably did pull the plants out of the substrate. Gouramis like Bettas, are Bubblenest builders. The male is the one who builds the bubblenest so that the once the male and female have mated, the female releases her eggs and the male or both of them, scoop the eggs up in there mouths and deposit them in the bubblenest where the male guards them. They say the female should be removed once the eggs have been placed in the bubblenest so the male does not attack her. <------Correct me if I'm wrong on that part please. The bubblenest looks like of course bubbles but to me it looks like foam. I had a betta that did this and his nest looked like foam and I had a gourami that did this also. I litterly thought someone had spit in my tank until I did some research and asked some questions.
