wcohen
New Member
Hi folks,
New to group. I'm back in the hobby after a 20 year hiatus. Ten years of experience with a 20 gal tank before that. Current setup is 15 gal tank, that has been set up for five months, mostly live plants, with a few plastic floating plants (for shade). Lots of hidng places. Fish were added slowly and all chemical levels have been and are still normal.
I have 1 "regular" dwarf gourami, 1 "flame red" dwarf and 1 "powder blue" dwarf, all males. Also in the tank are 12 neon blue dwarf rainbows and four Siamese algae eaters. Filter is a Marineland 2000 (40 gal capacity) and I do 15 to 20% water changes 1 - 2 times per week. All tank members are thriving, except for the "regular" dwarf.
The three gouramis were early additions, and have been in the tank 4 months. None of the fish appear to be bullied. The Flame red was semi-agressive when first added to the tank, but calmed down about a week later. Things really calmed down a few weeks after that when I added the first few little Rainbows. They seemed to have a calming effect on everyone.
About 4 - 6 weeks ago, I noted that the "regular" dwarf was getting more and more reclusive - also getting thinner and thinner - I don't see him eat very often. In fact, he hides so often I hardly ever see him. I suspected he was being bullied, but I just don't see it happening. His fins are mostly clamped to his body, and about the only time he'll show interest in food is when I feed live brine shrimp. Then, his fins will perk up, he'll chase one down, swallow it and then....spit it right out again.
Any ideas what's going on here? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes, you do everything right and a fish will die anyway. I suspect that may be the case here, but still, I want to exhaust all options.
Thanks and regards,
Wayne in California.
New to group. I'm back in the hobby after a 20 year hiatus. Ten years of experience with a 20 gal tank before that. Current setup is 15 gal tank, that has been set up for five months, mostly live plants, with a few plastic floating plants (for shade). Lots of hidng places. Fish were added slowly and all chemical levels have been and are still normal.
I have 1 "regular" dwarf gourami, 1 "flame red" dwarf and 1 "powder blue" dwarf, all males. Also in the tank are 12 neon blue dwarf rainbows and four Siamese algae eaters. Filter is a Marineland 2000 (40 gal capacity) and I do 15 to 20% water changes 1 - 2 times per week. All tank members are thriving, except for the "regular" dwarf.
The three gouramis were early additions, and have been in the tank 4 months. None of the fish appear to be bullied. The Flame red was semi-agressive when first added to the tank, but calmed down about a week later. Things really calmed down a few weeks after that when I added the first few little Rainbows. They seemed to have a calming effect on everyone.
About 4 - 6 weeks ago, I noted that the "regular" dwarf was getting more and more reclusive - also getting thinner and thinner - I don't see him eat very often. In fact, he hides so often I hardly ever see him. I suspected he was being bullied, but I just don't see it happening. His fins are mostly clamped to his body, and about the only time he'll show interest in food is when I feed live brine shrimp. Then, his fins will perk up, he'll chase one down, swallow it and then....spit it right out again.
Any ideas what's going on here? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes, you do everything right and a fish will die anyway. I suspect that may be the case here, but still, I want to exhaust all options.
Thanks and regards,
Wayne in California.