Gourami Filled With Eggs?

[kristins1877]

Let me start by saying I have never experienced breeding gouramis so I have no clue other than reading info here but, I had 2 dwarf gouramis in my community tank. One of them was at the top blowing bubbles (Im assuming it was trying to start a nest) and the next day I found it dead in my plants (no apparent reason) Now, my other gourami has a swollen upper belly (Im thinking its filled with eggs?) If she is infact carrying eggs, and there is no nest, will she just reabsorb the eggs? (or I may just be overfeeding them and shes just plain 'ol fat! lol)

 

[Colin_T]

Male gouramis will build a bubblenest. This is a pile of mucous coated bubbles that he blows at the surface near a floating plant or in the corner of the tank. When his nest is finished he will display to the female and if she is ready, the two fish will breed. She will lay a few eggs ata time and he will immediately fertilise them. Then he will collect them up and spit them into the nest. Once they have finished breeding the female will swim away and the male will guard and look aftr the nest.

Gouramis don't normally re-absorb their eggs and it takes about a week for them to develop. If the fish suddenly puffed up overnight and became really fat, then it is probably a bacterial infection and the fish is probably going to die.

Dwarf gouramis are notoriously hard to keep these days due to bacterial infections and a virus that affects them.

 

[kristins1877]

She (not even sure if it IS a she) isn't really puffed up, just kind of "pudgy" around the front midsection. It seems really healthy, good color, lots of activity... I did buy bacterial meds a few days ago (I like to keep on hand just in case) but I held off on using it.
I have lost 2 gourami's in the past month and it just seemed for no apparent reason? What a shame...Is there a reason why they are so difficult to keep?

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish is still eating and doing a normal poo then it is probably just eggs developing inside her.

Female dwarf gouramis are usually silver in colour whereas the males are red or blue. Some of the blue dwarf gouramis have blue males and blue females but the females aren't as intensely coloured and are smaller than the males.

Dwarf gouramis carry an irido-virus that kills heaps of them. They are also prone to Tuberculosis (TB) due to being kept in contaminated ponds in poorly maintained fish farms in Asia. If you can get locally bred stock they are usually fine but any dwarf gourami coming out of Asia has the potential to be carrying these diseases.

Don’t use medications unless you have to. Most anti-bacterial treatments will kill the beneficial filter bacteria and won’t work on either of the above diseases.