Female Honey Gourami Ate All The Eggs!

[FishFriends]

Hello,
 
A few days ago we noticed our honey gourami trying to build his nest of bubbles. But he appeared to be having a bit of trouble, probably 'cause our filter and air stones were agitating the water surface too much. Yesterday morning we managed to reduce the surface agitation, and this morning we found a nice bubble nest, with lots (between 10 or 20?) white little dots amongst the bubbles, which we guess were eggs? We gave some food to the fish, and then disaster happened: The female ate some food and then went strait for the nest and ate ALL the eggs! In 10 seconds flat! Incredible speed by the way... Very sad...
 
I don't know if we are imagining things, but we both think our male gourami is ... kind of depressed really. Down, in a little corner...
 
Any advices or comments please?
 
Should we have separated the fishes? I guess so, right? It didn't cross our minds that the female would do that. Besides, he was alwys so "territorial", we thought he would easily defend his nest. But no-o...

 

[sawickib]

How big is the tank, and what are your water parameters? ie ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
 
Not really sure what you can do besides next time remove the parents or the eggs to raise the fry once they become free swimming.

 

[FishFriends]

How big is the tank, and what are your water parameters? ie ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
 
Not really sure what you can do besides next time remove the parents or the eggs to raise the fry once they become free swimming.

 
Hi sawickib, thanks for replying.
 
Our aquarium is 10 gallons / 45 litres. Besides the Honey Gourami couple it has also 4 neons and 1 Endler Guppy. The water is fine, we test for these 3 (and more) every week.
 
Remove the father too?
 
We don't have much space for another proper tank. We only have a very small aquarium (1 gal) in case we have to isolate a sick fish. It would be crowded if we had to put our 7 fishes in it. Is it possible to transfer the eggs instead?? The bubble nest looks VERY fragile indeed. We thought about trying to put some kind of divider into the aquarium. I though the father had to stay with the eggs, no? I think I read somewhere that if eggs fall (from the nest to the aquarium floor) the father picks them up and put them back on the nest?

 

[DreamertK]

You should invest in a 20g and put a bunch of neons (6+) in it with the gourami couple, and then use the 10g as the hospital/breeding tank. Put the gourami in the 10g when they show mating signs, and then remove the female once she's laid her eggs, and then remove the male just before the fry become free swimming.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

The father protects and maintains the bubble nest so don't remove him.
 
I never get any babies from mine either, but in my case my snails eat the eggs.  I have a mesh divider I pop in from time to time but only if my male gets aggressive about the eggs, most of the time he is fine and the other fish all stay on the other side.

The eggs need to stay in the bubble nest, you might see the father catch falling eggs in his mouth, he will spit them back into the bubble nest.  He also needs to be able to keep the babies at the surface so they can develope properly so he is vital to their growth.

 

[FishFriends]

The father protects and maintains the bubble nest so don't remove him.
 
I never get any babies from mine either, but in my case my snails eat the eggs.  I have a mesh divider I pop in from time to time but only if my male gets aggressive about the eggs, most of the time he is fine and the other fish all stay on the other side.

The eggs need to stay in the bubble nest, you might see the father catch falling eggs in his mouth, he will spit them back into the bubble nest.  He also needs to be able to keep the babies at the surface so they can develope properly so he is vital to their growth.

 
Thanks PrairieSunflower,
 
Yes, that's what we were guessing / thinking about doing next time - if it happens again, 'cause the male still looks quite depressed really.
Very surprising BTW, as we didn't expect this type of behaviour from a little fish! But I'm sure he will forget about it, eventually...

You should invest in a 20g and put a bunch of neons (6+) in it with the gourami couple, and then use the 10g as the hospital/breeding tank. Put the gourami in the 10g when they show mating signs, and then remove the female once she's laid her eggs, and then remove the male just before the fry become free swimming.

 
Thanks DreamertK,
 
Yes, I suppose we will need a bigger tank at some point, if our fishes reproduce. And leave our current tank as a nursery as you suggest.

 

[DreamertK]

The male will eat the fry once they hatch. Though you should keep the fry in 6" deep of water maximum so their labyrinth organ develops.
 
I was mostly saying 20g for your neon tetras, which should be in a group of at least 6 fish. More the better with tetras. And then you dont have to deal with any other fish eating your fry.

 

[FishFriends]

The male will eat the fry once they hatch. Though you should keep the fry in 6" deep of water maximum so their labyrinth organ develops.
 
I was mostly saying 20g for your neon tetras, which should be in a group of at least 6 fish. More the better with tetras. And then you dont have to deal with any other fish eating your fry.

 
Thanks again DreamertK, essential info there.

 

[DreamertK]

  Well I do love gouramis.

 

[alexpb22]

I've only got females so miss out on all this!