Comatose Gourami

[Geekborg]

For some reason my Gourami, 1 Pearl Gourami, 5 "standard" Gourami and about 18 or so little bristle nosed catfish that take care of any algea or any left overs plus 2 clown loaches. Anyway... The Gourami fish just seem to hang around the bottom of the tank - they're comatose.

Why are they so comatose? The water chemistry is perfect, the temperature is about 25 degrees C.

Here are some pictures in case they help diagnose the problem..

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The Aquarium

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Comatose gourami

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More comatose gourami

 

[Teelie]

I'm guessing stress. That's too many large fish for that aquarium size.

 

[Geekborg]

I'm guessing stress. That's too many large fish for that aquarium size.

It's a 108Liter Tank, so is that is too small huh?

How many Gourami and Bristle Nosed Catfish should we have to make them live comfortably in their environment.

By the way, the chocolate coloured ones were the resure of breeding in the tank between the Dwarf Orange and Dwarf Blue Gourami.

Its going to be difficult giving any of them away.

 

[vancouver]

The ''comatose'' gourami is a pink kissing gourami.. those grow to 12'' or more.. so definitely will be too large for your tank..

I'm not sure how many gallons that is, but definitely looks like there are too many fish in there.

 

[Geekborg]

Darn, the thing is that my wife just won't hear me talk about giving any of those fish away. We both love them all. Perhaps its time for a larger tank?

 

[Teelie]

If I did the math right, that's roughly 30 gallons so yeah, too small for them. Just the Clowns alone will ultimately need a 100+ gallon aquarium at adult size. That many bristlenoses would probably need another 100g. Those guys are poop machines and can foul the water fast. I have 4 of them in a 55g and I try to keep up with constant water changes.

 

[iroc]

If I did the math right, that's roughly 30 gallons so yeah, too small for them. Just the Clowns alone will ultimately need a 100+ gallon aquarium at adult size. That many bristlenoses would probably need another 100g. Those guys are poop machines and can foul the water fast. I have 4 of them in a 55g and I try to keep up with constant water changes.

I'm confused, i thought clown loaches only got to be like 7" so why would they need a 100 gal tank?

the BN's I see your point but those should be easy to sell out here at least they are very hard to find

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Geekborg

I can't really tell the gender of the gouramis behind the rocks, but is there any aggression between them? This might be between male and female, or male to male, or from one species to another.

Another possibility is that the surface area might be too turbulent for them and they are seeking a sheltered area to rest in. Gouramis are from still waters and do not do as well in a current some other fish do.

 

[Geekborg]

Hi Geekborg

I can't really tell the gender of the gouramis behind the rocks, but is there any aggression between them? This might be between male and female, or male to male, or from one species to another.

Another possibility is that the surface area might be too turbulent for them and they are seeking a sheltered area to rest in. Gouramis are from still waters and do not do as well in a current some other fish do.

Hi Inchworm

The Gouramis, definately the brown ones - of which there are 4 - fight sometimes, not that much but when they do they seem to swim into the glass and even bounce off the "roof" of the tank.

Your point about turbulent water is a good one, since maybe the columns of air and the powered internal filter (which I have changed recently to a far larger one - as seen in the picture) do product a fair bit of turbulence.

Should I try to turn off the air columns? Are they really that important?

 

[SamUK]

I'm confused, i thought clown loaches only got to be like 7" so why would they need a 100 gal tank?

they can reach anything from 8"-12", are very very active fish and should be kept in a group of atleast 5.


for all those reasons they need the space.

 

[Teelie]

They do love their space. Size is not always the determining factor in appropriate housing for a fish. Some fish need a lot of swimming space even though they're small while some can be twice the size and need half the space being sedentary fish that don't move much at all.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Inchworm

The Gouramis, definitely the brown ones - of which there are 4 - fight sometimes, not that much but when they do they seem to swim into the glass and even bounce off the "roof" of the tank.

Your point about turbulent water is a good one, since maybe the columns of air and the powered internal filter (which I have changed recently to a far larger one - as seen in the picture) do product a fair bit of turbulence.

Should I try to turn off the air columns? Are they really that important?
[/quote]


Hi Geekborg

Your brown gouramis are not dwarfs. They are color variations of Trichogaster trichopterus, which can get quite aggressive over their territory, especially the males. The females are usually peaceful and will swim together in a group.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=81130

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=129738

They can swim fast for short periods of time and if you watch them, I think you'll see that it's tied to aggressive behavior. The males chase and the females run and hide, so be sure there is a place for them to escape to. Stronger males will also chase weaker males. I've lost gouramis when they did this and swam up too fast and accidentally jumped out of the tank. If the females are too often subjected to this, it will eventually wear them out and their health will suffer. You may find it necessary to separate them.

Your pink gourami is a Helostoma temminckii:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34958

It's eventually going to get big and that alone will be a problem.

The clown loaches will get big too, and there are all those little bristle nose plecos to think about. They need zucchini or other vegetables in addition to the algae and are fairly delicate. They should have lots of room to grow up in peace. When the others grow and the water quality begins to decline, they will probably be the first to suffer from it.

I think it's time to think about, not just adding a larger tank, but adding more tanks, if you plan to keep all your fish. But don't feel bad because you're not alone with this. Many of us who have a lot of tanks started out this way.

Please let me know if turning off the airstones eases the stress of the gouramis.