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I saw signs of this a few weeks ago but nothing ever came of it really. Then a wave of sickness went through the tank that unsettled things for a while but I'm guessing things are back to normal now.

Last night I witnessed my sparkling gourami breeding. it was pretty wild, and it happened a good five times before I realized, hey I better grab my camera!

Basically the male swam up to the female and flared his fins, then they started to rub up against eachother, and then he took her in kind of an embrace, then after a few seconds she released a few eggs at a time. This is where is gets spotty for me. As soon as she released the eggs the male sucked them into his mouth, where I first assumed they were eaten. However, after sucking them in, he swam straight up into a mass of pennywort i have in the corner of the tank, disappeared for a few seconds, then swam out. I think there may be a bubble nest up there and he may be depositing the eggs in it, but it's impossible for me to see into the plant mass so I don't know. Anyone familiar with this behavior?

Anyway, here is a time-lapse series of pics:









In the last shot you can actually see him sucking an egg into his mouth.

Finally, here is the plant mass where the nest may be - he swam all the way up into the darkest corner:

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Back in the saddle!

That's fantastic! Congratulations!

They are such lovely little fish. And yours have so much red in the fins! I bet there is a nest up there. And really, it's a perfect place for one with all that cover. Hopefully in a few days you'll have a whole little family up there.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Awesome NowherMan6

So, now what are you going to do?

Are you planning to leave the eggs in the bubble nest in the community tank or transfer the whole thing to a breeder?

How exciting

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Tsk, tsk, tsk.....posting fish   on a family forum!! ROFLMBO!!

That's a great set of pics you have there nowhere! Good luck with the yung 'uns. Let us know when you see some fry!

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

So, now what are you going to do?

Are you planning to leave the eggs in the bubble nest in the community tank or transfer the whole thing to a breeder?

Well, for starters I just assumed the eggs will be eventually eaten, and if they make it, the fry will be eaten as well. Basically I'm just going to let nature run its course for now and see what happens later. Thing is, I'm afraid to touch that mass of plants now and I can't do a water change because it will upset the nest that may be up there. I couldn't get to the nest if I wanted to, it's so hidden. It's still pretty neat though and it was very unexpected.

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Back in the saddle!

Wonderful pictures. And I hope your new little family becomes a big family Wow, and pretty little things too.

See my profile (link below) for fish and setup.

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Great pictures and best of luck! I hope all goes well!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Congrats and very nice pics. The first fish I ever saw breed were my pair of Paradise fish. Like you I stood there watching for a bit before it dawned on me to get the camera.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Thanks everyone. Last night I pretty much confirmed there is some sort of nest up there. The male is staying up in the plant mass, not even coming out to feed, and he's defending the turf pretty well. There is also some sort of bubble mass - smaller than I expected - but present none the less, so I guess this is it

I planned on doing a water change tonight, but I guess it'll have to wait until the weekend to see how this plays out. I would hate to have to destroy their nest...

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Back in the saddle!

Have you looked up how long it takes for these guy to hatch? You might be able to hold off a few days and still not mess up your tank.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

That's what I'm hoping for, Wings. Most info I've read just mentions "a few days" as how long it takes to hatch, pretty vague. Well, that better mean "by Sunday" or they're just going to have to do the whole thing again

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Back in the saddle!

If they are like us then I am sure they wont mind....

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Mini-update. have confirmed the existence of the bubble-nest. Pulled up a leaf in the corner and saw a bubble nest. It's partly attached to the filter intake

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Back in the saddle!

What is it with fish and filter intakes. It seems that ever time I hear about angles breeding they do it on the intake. Eggs hatch and get sucked up. Maybe everone should put stalks of bambo in there take for fish to use as breeding supports!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well luckily these eggs are right on the tippy top corner under a pennywort leaf or two so they wont be sucked up. Eaten is another story, but not sucked up...

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Back in the saddle!

nice move with the protective plant placement. The big PPP he he!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric