Gourami Acting Strange

[t..j]

hi!
can any one help me out please.my son got to powder blue gouramis bought for him yesterday and the male has done nothing but swim up and down the same part of the tank since i put him in.i think he must like looking at him self cos he can see his reflection .the female is happy swimming round the tank with the fish.the only time he has moved was when i fed them this morning, i think it looks rather strange he is not even interrested in the female.whats wrong? is this normal because he is a new tank mate?

 

[voo]

fish can often swim up and down a tank when stressed

 

[t..j]

fish can often swim up and down a tank when stressed

do you think he is stressed do to the move??and will he settle down because my female seems to be very happy and we got them together.

 

[xJake]

Most of the fish I've bought do the exact same thing. They all have settled down eventually. It's probably just a bit of stress/curiosity being in a new tank and all. Good luck, I hope they do alright.

 

[t..j]

Most of the fish I've bought do the exact same thing. They all have settled down eventually. It's probably just a bit of stress/curiosity being in a new tank and all. Good luck, I hope they do alright.

well my powder blues have settled in really well to the extent of my betta dieing and two guppies,so im suggesting that the have been attacked by them cos since the gouramis have been in the tank i've had these deaths.I had none until they arrived so i think that it very strange.my partner wants to take them out but im unsure what to do,and my son is not happy about that idea.

 

[sylvia]

Firstly - dwarf gouramies should not be kept as pairs - a trio is much better. You are/were actualy lucky the male was mroe interested in his reflection than in your female as, once he starts chasing her around, she may well end up dead (not usualy due to him actualy killing her but as an indirect result of the stress this causes). Also, dwarfs are particularly fragile and likely to carry disease. They may well introduce all sorts of internal bacterial infection to an otherwise healthy tank and therefore cause deaths - but they usualy show symptoms themselves before anyone else is affected. Actualy, to clarify - is the betta in with the dwarfs and guppies? I don't know whether you realise this but bettas and dwarf gouramies should never be kept together. in fact, bettas are not supposed to be kept with any other type of gourami (bettas are gouramies too!) as they often get into fights. Whether this is what caused your betta's death or not is a different matter but, if it happened over night, this probably is the case and is a typical textbook example of what happens when you try to keep bettas with other gourami species. Also note that bettas can often mistake guppies for other male bettas due to their bright colors and long fins and often will attack them. It can take a while before a betta decides to do this and it may require that the betta is stressed or feels threatened before it actualy happens - the introduction of another gourami species may well be an adequate trigger.

 

[t..j]

thanks for that bit of info sylvia it was an interesting read.do i get a male or female to make my gouramis a trio?yes the betta was in with the dwarfs and the guppies and now that the betta is dead and 2 of my guppies,the remaining 5 guppies tales have been niped at so thats what makes me think that it is the dwarfs and not the betta.will the dwarfs settle down if i get another?if they are carring diseases about how long before it affects my other fish?i have had them a week so far nothing only deaths due to nipping.do i leave them in there and hope that he will settle when i get another or shall i take them out?sorry to ask a lot of questions but i want to make sure i can do this right with no more casualtys.thankyou

 

[sylvia]

You'll need to add females. I'd personaly add two more instead of just one. As the male dwarf would be the one responsible for any nipping, having extra females also means he'll be somewhat mroe distracted.

In terms of the disease carrying issue, not all dwarfs carry disease - just a very large number of them. Like I said also, you don't usualy get related deaths until after the dwarfs themselves start showing symptoms and they shouldn't start showing any symptoms unless they are stressed. Adding two more females and possibly more plants (especialy very tall or floating ones) both serve to reduce stress. Having excellent water quality is also crucial so keep up with water changes.

If you add another couple of female dwarfs, make shure they are as healthy as possible. If you can find a local breeder, that's perfect. Alternatively, just make shure the fish you are buying have been at your LFS for a good couple of weeks and don't pick out any that look like their scales are sticking out, that show any 'pineconing' of scales or that look 'hollow' or concave in the ventral/belly area. Also avoid any that are lying on the substrate or gasping at the surface (keep in mind that gouramies do rely on atmospheric air to breathe so coming up every few minutes is entirely normal - you should worry if they don't! - just watch out for those glued to the surface

Also consider adding some more guppies to even out any remaining aggression. BTW, what size tank do you have? You may not actualy have room to do what I've been suggesting

 

[jasonskillz]

this is really off topic but wow sylvia really brought this forum back to life because i have noticed that you havent been posting for a while
since you were gone, this forum was going really slow

 

[Lady_Lesley]

I personally dissagree with syliva. I'v had Gouramis now for 6 years, and never had a problem with any of them. I have never known them to nip. I always get my gouramis in groups of two, pref one male and one female -

1 Pearl - female
2 blue - both male
2 indian - 1 male 1 female
2 royal red - 1 male 1 female
1 kissing - male
3 gold - females

My other fish... guppies, mollys, x-ray tetras, penguin tetras, scissor tails, sword tail, bala shark, catffish.

I did have a siamese fighter, but he died, he got nipped... but it was NOT by a gourami, it was by a catfish.

Also, regarding disease, i'v never had a problem... only with a bala shark, which aparently are carriers of white spot.