Unhappy gourami

[Kyohti]

Never good to mix inverts and fish unless you know for certain they won't prey on one another. I added a pair of baby crayfish to an aquarium and lost 6 fish before I realised they were hunting my fish while they slept!! They'd kill them and then drag the bodies under a rock to eat them... so it took me a while to figure out what was going on.

And in a reverse situation, I had shrimp that were falling dead mysteriously... turns out my betta found it amusing to pester the females and make them release their baby shrimp so he could hunt them down and eat them. Once the females were out of babies, though, his little bumps and prods got more and more aggressive until the adult shrimp were dying from stress, internal bleeding and injuries.

Personal experiences, of course... but I figured it was worth noting.

 

[steveakam]

My tank is just over six weeks old and was cycled using 2 danios. Once ammonia and nitite hit 0 I introduced more fish. I did this 2 at a time giving 3 to 4 days between new fish I’ve lost a peperd cory and a honey gourami ( 2 weeks ago) lfs had a lot of deaths at that point due to problems in their tanks, they’d had a lot of peed off customers. I havnt bought any more from their. I had a small nitrite spike early last week it went up to 0.5 ppm and was back to 0 next day. I’ve worked the size out to 13 imp gallons actual water.

Ammonia and nitrite = 0 ( used API test kits) nitrate = 0.2 mg/L (used a seachem test kit)

The local water as supplied tests at just over 2mg/L for nitrate and has a PH of 8.2 my last test a week ago showed 7.8

Plants = java fern, cabomba and water wisteria

Fish = 3 x peppard corys, 2 x golden danios, 1 x zebra danio 1 x leopard danio, 1 x dwarf aquatic frog ( the wifes idea) and two honey gourami

I went back to the shop this afternoon but he had shut early, so I went to another shop half a mile away. It’s a long established shop (over 20 years). I had a long chat with the owner and he seems to think it may be a swim bladder problem. He also thinks im changing my water to often (20% once a week), I’m feeding to often at twice a day. He suggested once every 2 days and suggested I use some salt in my tank. He also said the shop I bought my gourami from had not been open long and did not acclimatise his fish properly before selling them.

 

[steveakam]

He’s still alive. I’ve put salt in the water and medicated for swim bladder infections. I’ve also but him in a small breeding trap so he’s near the surface as he seemed to be having a struggle getting up their for air. I hope he comes out of this ok, he's a beautiful fish.

 

[mozart]

Wow!! I didnt know female dwarf gouramis could colour up like that!!

Anyway, I had a couple of female bettas that rested on the bottom or in plant leaves, both died soon enough , hope your honey isnt like that, I think mines a female, the male had a bit of black on his belly but he disappeared (I blame most of my fish losses on my now deceased crab, seeing as in one night I lost a few fish)

Yes, I agree, I have never seen a dwarf gourami with stripes! Nor, a picture. I see one has fins flaring, and the other doesn't. My female dwarf was pure silver. My male was a brute--eventually started picking on platies as well as the female. I found him another home. My pearls adore each other---wish they could all get along as well.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I really don't think you are changing your water too much. 25% a week is what people generally regard as the minimum. Does the LFS owner you talked to keep fish himself or just at the shop? I would think keeping fish in a shop would be quite a bit different since they obviously OS tanks all the time.

 

[yourchoice]

Males have a pointed dorsal while females have a rounded dorsal. Not a good idea keeping more than one male.

That is probably a male not a female.I have Powder Blue male whose fins look exactly like that.

 

[gvildawg]

You might be adding fish too quickly. The good bacteria have to be allowed to "catch up" to the new waste load whenever you add fish. Of course, if you monitor your water parameters like a hawk and do more water changes as necessary you can get away with more. Ditto if you have live plants and excellent filtration.

 

[HYLA WALDRON]

That is probably a male not a female.I have Powder Blue male whose fins look exactly like that.

From what I understand
With all gouramis that is how you tell male and female apart.

Male(pointed dorsal)

Female(rounded dorsal)

 

[HYLA WALDRON]

Adding salt is not always the best solution, it may be ok for the gouramis but not from other inhabitants(didnt see a post where you listed any)

 

[webdesigner]

From what I understand
With all gouramis that is how you tell male and female apart.

Male(pointed dorsal)

Female(rounded dorsal)

This gourami is either too young to sex or it's 100% female.