Aggressive Male Dwarf Gouramis

[vinnypeewee]

Hi again!!

Right... I have a Pair (m+F) dwarf gouramis... they have a section of my 4ft tank all to them selfs!! however since seperating them from the rest of the tank... (In an attempt to get them to breed) the male has become very aggressive towards his female companion!!
He hangs around mid depth.. as soon as she comes out of cover he chases her back down to her little hide out. He even chases her when she comes up for food.

He hasnt built a nest... and i cant even see him attempting to build one either

What will encourage him to build a nest?? (he has plenty of plants that are on the surface, the surface of the water isnt disturbed at all by the filter and the temp is around 28c or 80f)

Would removing the female out of his section, and leaving him in there alone encourage him to build a nest?? then re-introduce the female when he's built one??

Anyone got any ideas?? someone said that he's not letting her surface in an attempt to kill her as he's not ready to breed (or at least not built his nest yet)??!!!

bit of a dilema as i wanted them to breed.... not attack each other!!

Cheers Peep's!

 

[vinnypeewee]

BUMP... sorry!! ... anyone??

 

[Orbit887]

Was the male building bubble nests before? and also how big is the partitioned section you've set up for them?

My male tends to build his nest when I need to do tank maintance - literally the day before a water change, and usually after he's 'pruned' a lot of my plants in the tank to get matter to float on the surface around his nest.

Have you tried leaving the male in the sectioned off part of the tank, and only introducing the female once he's settled in and started to build his bubble nest? The male will probably be much less stressed out when he's not got the female there. Also the male will get very aggressive towards the female, even more so than usual whilst he's building the nest once he's started, but this should kurb once the nest is finish and he's happy with it, then you'll hopefully seee them spawning and the male catching & blowing back up the eggs as they're fertalized as they come out of the female.

 

[vinnypeewee]

They've got about a 3rd of my 4ft x 15 x 12 tank, Loads of plants and a few hiding places (rocks) at the bottom.

He's never built a nest since i bought him... or them even (got them together)

you think I should sepatrate them and see if he builds his nest alone??

Also someone said to lower the waterlevel on thier side?? (or raise the gravel level up)


Cheers for getting back to me

 

[Biulu]

They've got about a 3rd of my 4ft x 15 x 12 tank, Loads of plants and a few hiding places (rocks) at the bottom.

He's never built a nest since i bought him... or them even (got them together)

you think I should sepatrate them and see if he builds his nest alone??

Also someone said to lower the waterlevel on thier side?? (or raise the gravel level up)


Cheers for getting back to me

With your recent experience I would wait until he has a bubble nest before introducing the female. If he has never built a nest before, check on the water parameters (including temperature!) to see whether it is suitable for breeding. Sometimes a small change can trigger them to breed.

 

[vinnypeewee]

The water is levels are fine and very Stable. The temp Is At 28C 80 degF ... what are the best parameters for dwaf gouramis to breed in??

Cheers

 

[sylvia]

The temperatures fine. However, if he's not building a nest, he's not ready to. Seperate the two fish so that they cannot see each other and lower the temperature (very gradualy) to arounf 78 deg F. Then condition both fish on live/frozen bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp and/or blackworm until the female looks plump and full of eggs. Then raise the temp. in the male's tank and bag the female in some of her own tank water and float her in the male's tank so that she adjusts to the higher temp. Meanwhile, watch for the male building his nest. If he still doesn't, try releasing the female into his tank for a day. If he's still aggressive, just try it all again. Your fish are probably still relatively immature and fish that have been moved to a new tank or been partitioned off are often too stressed or nervous to breed immediately. Give both the chance to get into breeding condition. Also, make sure the current isn't too strong where the male is and don't disturb him too often.