Anyone have Gourami experience, I need some advice

G

guppygal

AC Members
Jun 30, 2006
282
0
0
Hey there

I just got my first powder blue dwarf from Petsmart on Monday. The first night I got him he would rest near the bottom with his tail down at the gravel and his head up.

He still rests at an angle - especially in the plants. It is not 100% of the time but quite often. He appears healthy and eats and does swim around.

Is this normal? My guppies never change the angle - they always float/rest horizontal.

Guppy Gal
10g
3 male guppies
1 PB Gourami
temp 76/78
ammonia 0
Nitrite 0

Doing daily water changes since I got the PB on Monday
 
He is probably stressed by the move into a new tank. What other Gouramis are in the tank? Some can be very terratorial (like Three spot Gouramis, especially males) if you do have 3 larger Gouramis in a 10 gal its a little crowded IMO. I have 2 Three Spots in a 38 Gallon and if I would have known better when I first set it up I would have gotten either only one or gotten a larger tank. But I love their personalities and the way they "feel" things with their fins.
 
He's just settling in - I got a pair of pearl gourami's who for the first couple of week exhibited similar behaviour, but after that they were merrily swimming around (and they had to deal with a heatwave too!).

Give him time to get used to his new home, and he'll be right at home. You may want to go a little easier on the partial water changes, as a daily one could well contribute to his stress especially if it isn't conditioned (if needs be).
 
JoeRags3 said:
He is probably stressed by the move into a new tank. What other Gouramis are in the tank? Some can be very terratorial (like Three spot Gouramis, especially males) if you do have 3 larger Gouramis in a 10 gal its a little crowded IMO. I have 2 Three Spots in a 38 Gallon and if I would have known better when I first set it up I would have gotten either only one or gotten a larger tank. But I love their personalities and the way they "feel" things with their fins.
Click to expand...


I have just the one. I won't be getting a mate.

If he is sick, I want to return him ASAP - if he is stressed and adjusting then, obviously, just give him some time.

He is very pretty. He is about 1-1/2 inches already - should a baby be smaller or did the petstore sell me an old guy???

Guppy Gal
10 g
3 male guppies
1 dwarf (powder blue) Gourami
 
Joe, where did you get the idea she had three other gouramis?

Guppygal, if your tank is cycled and your water parameters are perfect, then most likely he is just stressed as joe suggested from the move. If your tank is still going through a cycle (didn’t know as you said you where doing daily water changes…) than just keep up with the water changes and he should eventually relax.

The other possibility is you bought a sick gouramis and the stress of the move flared up whatever issue may have preexisted. This is why most people have an isolation/hospital tank for new purchases. This makes sure that a new fish is disease free before putting him into a tank already housing fish. But for now, just let him relax and keep an eye on him, my initial guess would be stress. If anything else strange develops let us know and we can do our best to help you out. :)
 
pugwash said:
He's just settling in - I got a pair of pearl gourami's who for the first couple of week exhibited similar behaviour, but after that they were merrily swimming around (and they had to deal with a heatwave too!).

Give him time to get used to his new home, and he'll be right at home. You may want to go a little easier on the partial water changes, as a daily one could well contribute to his stress especially if it isn't conditioned (if needs be).
Click to expand...

OK on the water changes ... I am just paranoid about getting a ammonia spike but I tested the water before hand with good reading and changed it anyway to suck up debris.

I always condition the water with Stress Coat.
 
Last edited:
Is your tank cycled? The daily changes are good if your tank is still cycling because it will help keep ammonia and nitrites low. But if your tank is done cycling, then ya, every day might be a bit much! :p:
 
Rowangel said:
Guppygal, if your tank is cycled and your water parameters are perfect, then most likely he is just stressed as joe suggested from the move. If your tank is still going through a cycle (didn’t know as you said you where doing daily water changes…) than just keep up with the water changes and he should eventually relax.

:)
Click to expand...

My tank has cycled already ... I was worried about the extra bio load and an ammonia spike - so I thought for the first couple of days I would do daily water changes EVEN IF the parameters were good. I guess I was doing overkill and adding stress.

I will still test but stick to weekly wc.

Thanks guys
 
I would be really careful when purchasing gouramis from Petsmart. We just just lost an entire tank full of opalines and another tank of PB's to dropsy. It may have just been a bad batch, but I'm pretty sure that Petsmart gets all its fish from the same source, so be on the look out for sick gouramis. I heard we also had the same problem with tiger barbs awhile back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom