Bored gourami

[cowgirluntamed]

My blue 3spot gourami is bored in his 20 gallon tank. He still glass surfs snd he's picking on the mystery snail I have in there temporarily. He isn't wanting to leave it alone.

Is there anything I can do to "enrich" this fish's life? Would a mirror for a betta do anything? Or just keep plugging along until I can get him in a bigger tank?

On that note I still need to reseal it, paint the background, and but the filters and glass top. I also have to let the plants establish for a month or so...which I have to be able to buy first. Lol. Then get the other fish in and quarantine for a while and put them in the tank and then add the gourami.....so...may take probably a minimum of 3 months? Not sure.

What can I do until then? My friend also suggested sticking a ping pong ball in there but with some of the floating plants I don't think it would work well. Any ideas?

 

[kornel351]

add a fish friend

 

[NickAu]

add a fish friend

I wouldn't recommend that, the Gourami will attack the fish. Is the tank heavily planted? Any floating plants? How stromg is the current in the tank.

 

[kornel351]

I wouldn't recommend that, the Gourami will attack the fish. Is the tank heavily planted? Any floating plants? How stromg is the current in the tank.

It depends i had one Opaline Gourami and he sure wasnt the boss of the tank once the tank is big enough or the other fish is bigger or fast than the gourami should be much of a problem

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I wouldn't recommend that, the Gourami will attack the fish. Is the tank heavily planted? Any floating plants? How stromg is the current in the tank.

I'd say moderately planted. Tried for heavy lol. I will take pictures in the morning after work if I remember. I have floating wisteria but it's kind of dwindled on me. Might be due to a couple of times me not doing a water change and fertilizing for two weeks instead of one. Trying to keep that up better now though so I hope it bounces back. Current is just from a sponge filter, one of those double ones that stick on the glass. Not much current.

 

[NickAu]

Strictly speaking fish do not get bored but they do react to environmental conditions, for example shoaling fish not kept in the right numbers, low light low current fish kept in fast moving bright tanks,fish that prefer lots of vegetation being kept in tanks with not enough plants, sometimes something as simple as adding a few tall plants or floating ones can make a huge difference.

How bright is his tank? can he see his reflection? bright lights outside of the tank will cause reflection. More plants, more hiding places, and areas he can't see around so he will want to investigate will help a lot.

Im not surprised at him going after the snail they do taste great

Adding critters is not always the best option any fish that can show a 3spot gourami its not boss will most likely bully the gourami and that causes more problems.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Strictly speaking fish do not get bored but they do react to environmental conditions, for example shoaling fish not kept in the right numbers, low light low current fish kept in fast moving bright tanks,fish that prefer lots of vegetation being kept in tanks with not enough plants, sometimes something as simple as adding a few tall plants or floating ones can make a huge difference.

Hmm...I have the floating plants, then an almost bare middle, and the rest of the plants are lower. I was hoping the nice bunch of crypt lutea would grow taller, but it might take a while. I cut the lily pads off my dwarf lily but it hasn't really grown more leaves down below. I think for all the crypts and the lily I need to add more root tabs. I'm just not sure what tall plant to get. I think crypt spiralis would get too tall. I have a couple of kleiner bar swords in the back right corner but they may need more light than I have it set at. When I waited those 2 weeks the tannins built up and they started to die back. I got a few small leaves back though. I also added another root tab by them.

How bright is his tank? can he see his reflection? bright lights outside of the tank will cause reflection. More plants, more hiding places, and areas he can't see around so he will want to investigate will help a lot.

I use a fluval aquasky led light. I don't think any of the colors are at full brightness. It seems fairly nice to me and not overly bright. Not sure about the reflection. It's possible. I use lamps instead of the overhead light but it's not that close to the tank, across the room.[/QUOTE]

Im not surprised at him going after the snail they do taste great

Well....maybe to him. Lol. I've never had any snails.

Adding critters is not always the best option any fish that can show a 3spot gourami its not boss will most likely bully the gourami and that causes more problems.

I agree with this totally. Whenever the 55 gallon is done, he will be with harlequin rasboras, black phantom tetras, pristella tetras, and hopefully sterbai cories if I can afford them! They seem to cost almost as much as the rest of the fish put together! Lol.

Oh, and here is a picture! Not sure how good it is but I tried!

 

[NickAu]

Thats actually quite a nice tank, maybe a little open for a gourami, What you could try is a bunch of Blue Stricta along the back. Its only about 5 or 6 dollars a bunch.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thats actually quite a nice tank, maybe a little open for a gourami, What you could try is a bunch of Blue Stricta along the back. Its only about 5 or 6 dollars a bunch.

Thanks Nick! I may try some water lettuce too, see how that works. I added a 2nd dose of fertilizer today just to see if it helps perk the wisteria up. I'll go look up Blue Stricta and see what I can find. I have to get everything online. Lol. I may try to find some water lettuce too. I do like that plant!

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Is this the correct plant you are talking about?

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/details.php?id=226

I found it labeled as temple plant in the place I want to buy it from. But they are out of stock currently.

 

[NickAu]

Yes thats it.

The big tank in my sig is full of it.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Awesome! Thanks Nick! Hopefully aquarium co-op will get more in soon. They have amazing healthy plants. Lol. I signed up to be notified.

Oh, and I just bought 12 water lettuce plants from hopefully a different trusted source. I've never seen them available but they had one portion left so I went for it! Lol. Yay!