Kissing Gouramis

[Commander Cool]

My friend recently got 2 pink kissing gouramis for his 60G tank. right now they are the only fish in there. He said he cycled the tank before they were added and he put them in the tank properly. The problem is they hardly swim at all. They hover just over the bottom except when they go up for air. They do swim some but very little. they are also always hanging together. Is this normal behivor? I cant tell if one is a female and the other a male because on the site I found them on it says there is no easy way to tell. If they are one female and one male how long will they take before fry pops out?

 

[Boxermom]

Well they aren't livebearers, so fry don't "pop out." They are egg layers. There is no easy way to tell the sexes. The female is sometimes plumper than the male but that's not a sure thing. Gourami aren't terribly active swimmers, they tend to mosey rather than run. And they are labyrinth fish which means they breathe from the surface air, so yes, that's normal too.

 

[sylvia]

You won't be seeing fry any time soon. Besides being pretty much impossible to sex except when breeding (and your friend may not have a male/female pair anyway), they do not breed particularly readily and even if they do spawn, the fry won't survive unless they are catered for in advance.

In terms of behaviour, it's normal for them to be 'hanging around together' for the time being but they may become increasingly aggressive as they mature (though they should be ok together unless the two prove to be particularly territorial males and the tank doesn't contain enough hiding places). Also, as was said, coming up to breathe is normal and it's also quite common for them to be rather shy and quiet for a while until they settle in. They do later become considerably more active - though gouramies, by nature, are never like danios or barbs as far as activity levels are concerned.

HOWEVER, they shouldn't realy be 'hovering just off the bottom' and that suggests to me that there is something wrong - either in water quality or in the way the tank is set up. They may feel uncomfortable because of a strong current or because the tank doesn't have enough hiding places - especialy plants (which they also enjoy eating) to make them feel secure. Tell your friend to check the water's temperature and ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte levels and then do a water change with de-chlorinated water. Also, check the current is relatively gentle as most gouramies - including kissers - preffer still water.

If they continue to be this way for more than 5 days or so, some fresh veggies and live foods might help to bring them out more.