Dwarf Gourami Breeding?!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Nick.
I have a 4ft tank about 6 months old with an aquaone 103F filter, cleaned every second week. The occupants are 3 female dwarf gourami, one male powder blue dwarf gourami and a selection of small fish.
Since getting my fish approx 6 months ago, 2 of my female dwarf gouramis have been getting clucky, rounding out with eggs. However my male doesn't have any interest and only pays them attention when chasing them away from cucumber pieces in the tank!
That all changed yeaterday when i noticed him starting to pick up bits of plant and place them in a corner of the tank, defending the corner against anything that came near it.
The problem i have is that he doesn't seem to know what to do next. I've never seen him blowing any bubbles and he hasn't attempted to continue his 'nest' with bubbles. Every 20 minutes or so one of the females will approach him and rub up against him in a top-to-tail position for about 10 seconds, then he just chases her away.
I moved all the other fish except for the gourami to a separate tank but have no idea how to 'teach' the male to make a bubble nest?! Is this just normal behaviour? I'm fairly new at the whole aquarium business.
Any advice would be great,

Regards,

Paul

ANSWER: Hello Paul!

If there is no bubble nest, then there is no breeding. Agression comes with age, and your fish may just be getting more territorial now. There is no danger of course, your tank is plenty big enough for all your fish, the gourami just wants a little section for himself.

He will know how to build a bubble nest, it is instinct and if he doesn't know how to build it he will also not know how to swim or how to eat.

Also, since you said you are new I just thought I say-
25% twice weekly water changes or 50% once weekly is best.
But with your small bio-load 25% once a week is fine. And remember to use a good water conditioner.

-Nick

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: HELP!! Gidday Nick, firstly, thanks for the previous advice but heres whats happened since... I noticed that the females were approaching the male and rubbing up against him, almost in a ball every minute or two, its as though he's beating her stomach with his rear fin. Upon a closer look i noticed that each time one of the females does this she deposits 2 or 3 dozen tiny eggs. The male frantically chases after them, the female starts eating them. The ones he catches he puts in his 'nest'. He then supplies it with a few pitiful bubbles that he blows out of his gills, not mouth as i thought was the case with bubble nests? These aren't enough to hold the eggs and most fall to the bottom!
I've got some video footage on my camera of them 'in the mating ritual' but the eggs are too small to capture even with zoom on.
The questions I have are: When should I remove the females and male? And how should I go about getting maximum survivability out of these eggs? I'm not holding my breath for many hatchings and might just have to take this as a learning curb for next time round :-/

Answer
Congrats! They are breeding!

There is nothing you can do really to save the eggs. Fish parents are like human parents, they need to learn.

Often the first breeding doesn't go too well, your lucky that the male is actually noticing the eggs, usually at my first breed them will either eat the eggs or bury them for some reason.

Don't give up hope though, they will breed again and next time the may do things right. It can take a few tries though. If after the next breed they still aren't doing things right, then you should be concerned. Be patient, they will breed again.

-Nick