I have a 55 gal tank that houses (among many tetra and a few Ottos) 6
Gouramis (2 Flame, 2 Blue (dwarf), and 2 gold. One of the Flames has built
himself a bubble nest in on corner of the tank in a thick stand of Water
Wisteria. Needless to say, he is displaying fantastic red and blue colors
and is very rambunctious. I think that all 6 are males (not sure about the
blue dwarfs. They are solid blue. Female maybe?). Will a male go through the
process of building a nest if there are no females present in the tank?
Also, I have no facilities for raising fry if eggs happen to get laid.
Should I just scoop the nest out now or if I let nature take its course will
some fry possibly survive? I understand that the female will eat the eggs
and the male will eat the fry.

These guys are moving quick. The Flames have only been in the tank two
weeks!

"Mike" == Mike K writes:

snip

Mike Will a male go through the process of building a nest if there
Mike are no females present in the tank?

Yes - one can always hope that a nice female will just happen to swim
by. Changes in water temperature and food may have something to do
with it as well.

Mike Also, I have no facilities for raising fry if eggs happen to
Mike get laid. Should I just scoop the nest out now or if I let
Mike nature take its course will some fry possibly survive? I
Mike understand that the female will eat the eggs and the male will
Mike eat the fry.

I would just let it all play out, but it is unlikely that you will end
up with any surviving fry.

--
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Mike K wrote:
blue dwarfs. They are solid blue. Female maybe?). Will a male go through the
process of building a nest if there are no females present in the tank?

Yes.

Also, I have no facilities for raising fry if eggs happen to get laid.
Should I just scoop the nest out now or if I let nature take its course will
some fry possibly survive? I understand that the female will eat the eggs
and the male will eat the fry.


Unless you like conflict, I would remove the nest. Gouramis get very
territorial and aggresive when protecting a bubble nest.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv