Anthing special I should know

[yvez9]

So I got 2 gouramis yesterday, a blue and a pearl. I have a 20 gallon tank with 8 guppies in it. The lady at the store said they would go along fine. Which they do.

Only the pearl Gourami looks kind of shy and he always stays away from the rest of the fish. He didn't even eat today.

What i'm wondering is what kind of food should I feed them. I know about bloodworms and flakes but is there anything else like fresh veggies or meat?


Update:

The Gouramis do seem a lot more active this evening. They didn't eat alot though and the lady at the fish store told me they have no bloodworms but gouramis should eat the tropical fish food that comes with the aquarium.

Ammonia level is good at 0

only thing is my heater went berserk today and brought the temp from 77 to 80 degrees. I brought it back down.

My Pearl Gourami died tonight. He seemed ok as he was swimming normally when i saw him this afternoon. He didn't show any kind of disease or pain... though his 2 "gils" i guess, the large wires that hang below is mouth, seemed broken. One was bent at some point, the other seemed split in half.

NEW

I went to the store this morning to return my dead fish. When i got back, I found the blue gourami dead also... he was fine when I left. I was gone maybe one hour total

So now i have no Gouramis left. I replaced them with a couple of mollies.

 

[sylvia]

Oh there is SO much to learn about gouramies! They are all so beautiful and so individual in their characters! I personaly favour pearls but they are all wonderful fish...

Blue gouramies are more aggressive than pearls and pearls are often over-shadowed by larger, more boisterous or aggressive fish and will spend much of their time hiding away from these. Blues also tend to grow *slightly* larger than pearls, but not always.

Both would appreciate floating cover of some kind, live plants being the best. They will eat most foods IME made for tropical fish. They will eat pellets, flake, blood worms, brine shrimp, frozen, live or freeze-dried and will also nibble on some veggies. You could try cucumber and slightly boiled lettuce. I think zuchinni is also an option. I've never fed mine meat and would personaly stick to foods I'm sure of. The main problem is that meat will pollute your water very quickly.

Do you know the sex of your gouramies? Blue gouramies (trichogaster trichopterus) have a more pointed dorsal in males, but are otherwise very similar. Pearl gourami (trichogaster leeri) males develop a deep red-orange throat when in good condition and can become quite dark when breeding. They also tend to have a more pointed dorsal and will develop extended fin rays on their anal and dorsal fins at maturity.

Unless the 8 guppies are all male, I'm sure you're aware of the number of fry they will produce. Hopefuly they won't breed to the point where your tank become over-stocked but keep it in mind anyway.

I assume your gouramies are still quite young and should get along fine for a while longer. However, when they reach maturity and if they are both males you may find the blue will begin to dominate the pearl but they may also get along alright as long as they have undisputed territories established.

I can't think of what else to tell you about these amazing fish so I'll leave it at that... I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you more and feel free to ask.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum. Introduce yourself in the newbie section.

And an additional source for every commonly kept fish is teh Baron's series.

 

[yvez9]

Thanks for the info!

I have 4 males and 4 female guppies. They are all pregnant i believe. Won't they eat the fry though? That's what i've read about them anyway. I don't want to breed them for now, maybe in a few months though.

As for my Gouramis, they are both males as they have the pointed dorsal fin and the pearl has the red belly.

My blue Gourami does seem a bit more agressive as he doesn't like to be bugged by the guppies. The pearl Gourami just stays clear of all the other fish but they don't really fight.

I just hope my pearl gourami will eat today. I don't want him to die

 

[sylvia]

The guppies (and the gouramies) will try to eat their fry but, if you have lots of hiding places in the tank, some fry can survive which *may* become a problem though it probably wont so don't worry too much about it. The long-tailed males are also quite slow so realy the females eat most of the fry. As long as there is plenty of cover, your pearl should be fine but make sure he is eating. Try live foods and, as long as he eats this time, don't worry about him not eating before - he was just adapting to his new environment.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi yvez9

It's difficult to predict how standard gouramis will act as they mature. I've had to separate my male three spot from my male pearl for it's own good.

I hope your gourami is doing better today. If he still isn't eating, try tempting him with some live or frozen blackworms or tubifex worms.

Do spend some time watching them carefully. One of them will almost definitely be dominant and delight in sending the other running across the tank. Just be sure that the pearl isn't so intimidated that he is trying to avoid the pearl by not eating when food is in the tank. If this is the case, you might want to bring him back to the lfs and exchange it for a female.

 

[yvez9]

thanks for the info

My aquarium is 24 inches large and i spread flakes all accross. The Pearl Gourami didn't even go for the food, he just stayed in the back of the tank where he spends most of his time. How long can a fish go without eating?

The Blu does seem to be the dominant member of the tank right now but he doesn't chase the guppies too much and I often see him swimming right next to the pearl.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Watch out with how much food in the tank, it might pollute the tank a little. If the pearl doesnt eat within 2days you should take the him back and get a female blue, normaly in the wild fish go up to 2 weeks with out food.

 

[yvez9]

Thanks for the info
I don't let any food stay in the aquarium more than 15-20 minutes uneaten. I scoop whatever's left out of the tank rather quickly but they usually don't leave too much behind

So I guess he will start eating sometime soon now...
The lady at the fish store told me it was normal. Then again, she told me that if pH was good, ammonia level was good...

 

[sylvia]

The Blu does seem to be the dominant member of the tank right now but he doesn't chase the guppies too much and I often see him swimming right next to the pearl.

Blue gouramies - well gouramies in general - don't usualy bother other fish, just other gouramies.

So I guess he will start eating sometime soon now...

The only way to ensure that he does eat is to offer him something more interesting. Go get a few freeze-dried or frozen blood worms and drop a few on one side of the tank (for the other fish) and a couple directly in front of him. If he still doesn't eat, you may have a problem and need to return him as suggested and get a female blue.

However, if you find the two don't get along in future, replace the blue gourami with a female pearl (rather than the pearl for a female blue)... I'm just biased cause I breed pearls Plus you can't deny that they're the MOST beautiful gouramies... ever...

BTW:

I've had to separate my male three spot from my male pearl for it's own good.

Are you saying your pearl attacked the blue?!! Wow...

 

[Inchworm]

...However, if you find the two don't get along in future, replace the blue gourami with a female pearl (rather than the pearl for a female blue)... I'm just biased cause I breed pearls Plus you can't deny that they're the MOST beautiful gouramies... ever...

BTW:

I've had to separate my male three spot from my male pearl for it's own good.

Are you saying your pearl attacked the blue?!! Wow...

Hi sylvia

Yes, the pearl male I have is a mean little fish! He took over the 55 from the three spot who had practically been raised in there, and who was bigger than he was when he was introduced.

And, I'll argue about the pearl being the most beautiful too. I raise the 3 spots so I tend to favor them, but actually, all gouramis are lovely. IMHO they are very badly underrated these days.

 

[Doggfather]

i agree with Inch, my male pearl gourami is a little dictator I guess thats the offset of buying a good looking fish

IMHO they are very badly underrated these days

According to some staff at a lfs there is only one kind of gourami, and that is a dwarf gourami, it seems that they've never seen or heard of any other

 

[sylvia]

I've only ever had one aggressive pearl but lots of aggressive three-spots and dwarfs My aggressive pearl is doing fine in a 20 gallon with zebra danios, platies and cories... he only gets mad when he sees another gourami All the other pearls have been extremely peaceful and have never bothered any of my other fish but have often been bullied by three-spots that then had to be moved...

 

[yvez9]

OK

I followed some of you guy's and girl's advice and got some frozen blood worms. Let me tell you the guppies were going nuts for them and my two gouramis just stayed in the back of the tank, going to the top to breath once in a while.

They just stay next to one another and don't really swim. I see them moving maybe twice a day or so...

I also got some brine shrimp for when the guppies will give birth. Can i feed this to my fish or is it just for fry?

 

[sylvia]

When you say 'brine shrimp', do you mean live, frozen or freeze-dried adults or eggs that you'll hatch yourself? If they are large (adults) your other fish would love to have some but your fry wont be able to fit them in their mouths. If they are baby brine shrimp, your fry will gobble them up but I don't know about the adults. I feed my fry (gouramies) liquid foods, infusoria and microworms, any livebearers that give birth and I decide to raise eat powdered flake. The only brine shrimp I've ever fed my fish was frozen for the adult fish.