Dwarf Gourami Problems

[Chri$]

I picked up a dwarf gourami from my lfs today, which i ordered last week. Unfortunatly i didn't get to see the fish before he bagged it up. (i was early into the shop so they hadn't opened up properly).

Only when i got home did i notice couple of problems.

Firstly one of his 'feelers' is only half the size of the other, like half of it has been bitten off. Secondly his tail fin is also very short, again like part of it has been bitten off.


So my question, will his feeler along with his tail fin grow back? If not could this lead to problems?

What would you do in this situation?

Thanks In Advance

 

[sylvia]

They will grow back though the ventral (feeler) may never grow to its full length again. Still, this shouldn't pose any problems for the fish.

What you need to watch out for is infection. The tail fin's state may not necessarily be due to nipping like the ventral probably is (they are temptingly like little wriggly worms for many fish ). It could be finrot. Even if it's not, there's a danger the fish gets finrot or some other secondary infection. These are usualy bacterial (Aeromonas most often) so most finrot medications will treat the problem. Also keep in midn that fish are most susceptible to infection when stressed and a move to a new tank is somewhat stressful so you need to keep a close eye on him.

Clean water is extremely important of course!

All I'd do right now is make shure the water's clean and the temperature isn't too high (high temps. encourage bacterial growth). Any changes to temp. have to be gradual so as not to stress the fish. Regular water changes are a must and, again, make shure the new water is at the same temp. as the tank's and, of course, dechlorinated.

edit: Should add, a rich and varied diet is a must - lots of live or frozen foods (eg: bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp) - and lots of veggie supplements (eg: spirulina flake, deshelled peas and blanched greens such as zuchinni).

 

[Chri$]

Thanks for your excellent advice Sylvia.

I will be keep a close watch on him

 

[Chri$]

The Gourami is currently hiding all the time.

I do know that he is still alive, as i saw him this morning, but only briefly then he went back into hiding. He is not coming out for food and will not even venture out if i disturb the plants.

He is sharing a tank with
6 Harlequins
4 Black Widows

 

[sylvia]

What are your water parameters? Also, do you know your LFS's water params?

Note that black widows can sometimes be nippy. They aren't always very bad but they can make many gouramies very nervous.

As you probably know, dwarfs are very prone to disease and often carry all sorts of internal bacterial infections when you get them. I'd never buy a dwarf from an LFS until it's been in their tank for at least a couple of weeks (kind of like a cheap quarantine period ). Clearly, you didn't have that option so your fish could be in any condition, having only recently arrived from the supplier.

Because you've only had him a couple of days, I wouldn't panic yet. However, if he still isn't eating after a couple of days, you'll need to start considering treatment (he'll probably be showing signs of disease by then anyway). To be honest, he probably is ill - but let's keep our fingers crossed that I'm being particularly pessimistic

Try tempting him with some live foods or at least something frozen. Try dimming the lights in the tank/room as well and reducing the current in the tank.

 

[Chri$]

I turned the lights off completly yesterday, and he started to venture out more.

Then today he has been out, swimming about with the tank lights on and although reluctant at first he did eat some flake.

Although he is still a little jumpy when someone walks by the tank or shuts a door he is getting better. Maybe he is just taking time to get used to his new surroundings? No signs of any disease as yet. He is begining to show better colours aswell.

I will keep a close watch on him and see how he gets on over the next few days.

Thanks for your advice Sylvia

 

[Chri$]

Would a dwarf gourami be ok with a bolivian ram?

 

[sylvia]

What size tank and with what other fish? Also, do you mean a single bolivian - or a pair?

If you mean just one and provided the tank's big enough with enough room for more fish, it should be fine.

 

[Chri$]

What size tank and with what other fish? Also, do you mean a single bolivian - or a pair?

If you mean just one and provided the tank's big enough with enough room for more fish, it should be fine.

In a 24g (20ukg) with:

1 x Dwarf Gourami
4 x Black Widow Tetra
6 x Harlequin Rasboras

I mean just a single male bolivian.

I can't decide on which fish to add to complete the stocking of this tank. These are fish which i have been concidering (not all of them):

Bolivian Ram (M)
Corys (pygmy?)
Black Widows (2 to bring the shoal number upto 6)
Amano Shrimp

But i don't know what the best options would be?

i.e 2 black widows, 1 bolivian and a couple of shrimp or 5 corys and a couple of shrimp. Which do you think the best option would be?

 

[sylvia]

I would personaly go for the cories but it's purely down to individual prefference. I love pygmy cories whereas I tend to feel that rams, like most cichlids, are only realy interesting when they are kept as breeding pairs. Then again, bolivians are one of the nicest 'peaceful' cichlids IMO

Pygmy cories tend to act more like schooling fish in the mid-lower levels of the tank. They don't actualy spend that much time at the bottom. They are also extremely active and their small size means you can keep several.

Bolivian rams are territorial and somewhat gourami-like in aggression. They tend to stick near the bottom next to a pot or whatever ornament they choose to define their territorial boundaries with. They can be quite shy. They are obviously more colorful than cories and more substantial-looking - so they are good 'centerpiece' fish.

I realy can't decide myself I'd probably swap the bolivian for a swordtail (or another medium-sized, non-schooling fish - maybe american-flag fish as they are somewhat cichlid-like or a trio of cherry barbs or something along those lines) and still get the pygmy cories if I were in your position. Getting 2 more black widows is also deffinately a good idea, though, with black widows, this isn't entirely necessary.

I don't tend to count shrimp in my stocking. They tend to vary in number anyway (they breed ) over time. Obviously, if you have a lot, you need to consider them - but just a couple shouldn't make any significant difference in terms of bioload.

 

[Chri$]

Thanks for you excellent advice as always Sylvia

I have decided against the Bolivian Ram.

So i'm definatly going to add (if my lfs can get them) a group of 4 pygmy corys.

Then either 2 more black widows or a male swordtail.

Last question (then the stocking of this tank should be finally sorted) which out of of the following stocking list do you think looks the best?

1 x Gourami
6 x Harlequins
6 x Black Widows
4 x Pygmy Corys
1 x M Swordtail
2 x A Shrimp

1 x Gourami
6 x Harlequins
4 x Black widows
4 x Pygmy corys
1 x M Swordtail
2 x A Shrimp

 

[sylvia]

I gather the only difference between the two is the number of black widows? I would go for the first one with 6 widows because you do have just about enough room for them
Have fun stocking your tank

 

[Chri$]

I have changed my mind yet again

I am going to add
4 pygmy corys
2 black widows
4 cherry shrimp

So my final stocking list would be:

6 x Harlequin Rasbora
6 x Black Widow Tetra
4 x Pygmy corys
4 x Cherry Shrimp
1 x Dwarf Gourami

I think a swordtail as well maybe pushing things slightly

But if my LFS can't get pygmy corys (they should be able to) it will be back to the drawing board

It's amazing on how hard stocking a tank is

 

[Chri$]

Ok so it turns out my LFS can't get me pygmy corrys so i just picked up a couple of black widows instead (no look with the shrimp either) so this is my current stocking:

6 x Harlequin Rasbora
6 x Black Widow Tetra
1 x Dwarf Gourami

So i'm just going to leave it at that for now and concentrate more on the plants (they could do with some attention)

As for the Gourami he's doing much better. He spends most of his time out and about instead of hiding all the time. His feeler appears to be growing back as does his tail fin.So things are looking up!

 

[sylvia]

To bad about the cories and shrimp but it's good to hear your gourami is doing better!