Dwarf Gouramis

[SCORPIOCUPCAKE]

Is this their nature ? They have only been in the tank a couple of days and I wonder if they are just settling in or if its just in their nature to hide? They are in the little decorative cave we have in there, but its such a shame as they are so colourful and beautiful and we never see them !

 

[Miss Wiggle]

any new fish can hide when they're new to a tank, i'd suggest giving them a few days to see how they settle.

that being said DG's are pretty delicate and have a tendency to get poorly quite a lot, it could be that the stress of moving has triggered something more serious.

did you mention on the forum that you were getting DG's? I don't remember exactly but I'm sure someone would have said that they're quite sickly fish.....

 

[SCORPIOCUPCAKE]

any new fish can hide when they're new to a tank, i'd suggest giving them a few days to see how they settle.

that being said DG's are pretty delicate and have a tendency to get poorly quite a lot, it could be that the stress of moving has triggered something more serious.

did you mention on the forum that you were getting DG's? I don't remember exactly but I'm sure someone would have said that they're quite sickly fish.....

No, was recommended in shop that has given me lots of good advice so am sad to hear they are sickly, is there anything I can do to make them more resilient, ie special food or anything. Dont want my beauties to get sick..............what kind of things are they prone to then ?

Thanks or reply

x

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Here's some further info

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Gouramis...ami-Mini-F-A-Q/

unfortunatley they are just very unhealthy fish and there's not a lot you can do, a lot of people really struggle to keep them alive In a newly cycled chance you've probably even less chance......

no decent fish shop should be recommending them for a newly cycled tank

 

[nigsy]

I wish fish shops would stop recommending these fish, without doing some checks with the person buying them first regarding their home setup/ knowledge etc. I quietly had a word with someone in my LFS last weekend after she had been convinced to buy 4 honeyed gourami for her tank she had only bought and filled with water 7 days earlier!!

1. You need a big tank (I have 260l Fluval)
2. It needs to be well planted
3. Bogwood is good for PH levels for these fish, they would be used to this in their natural environment.
4. Your tank needs to be well established 6months at least.
5. 1M to 2FM is the rule, although I have 1 of each.
6. They are VERY easily stressed at first, and I think yours are, but give them time, I've heard of gouramis not eating for well over a week after being introduced!!

Once you get them through the first 2 weeks they will become very friendly, take food from your fingers etc. The males can be aggressive though and stress out smaller fish, both male and female are terratorial, so provide plenty of cover both ends of the tank!!

 

[SCORPIOCUPCAKE]

Thanks for all your comments and advice, one of the gouramis has been more active in the last few mins but I am concerned about the other who seems to be being terrorised by the barbs, the staff in the fish shop knew I had barbs in there too . . .its so annoying getting so much lame advice from these so called experts..............gggrrrrrrrrr................

The barbs are chasing it and nipping it and am pretty sure his tail has been nibbled, what on earth should I do ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

take the DG's back to the shop and give them a piece of your mind

totally unsuitable combination of fish

but it's also important to learn a lesson from this, you now know you can't trust that fish shops advise, so make sure you research fish yourself before you buy them. if you're unsure of anything just put a post up and we'll help you out

 

[SCORPIOCUPCAKE]

take the DG's back to the shop and give them a piece of your mind

totally unsuitable combination of fish

but it's also important to learn a lesson from this, you now know you can't trust that fish shops advise, so make sure you research fish yourself before you buy them. if you're unsure of anything just put a post up and we'll help you out

I also used this compatibilty chart.........says here gouramis ok with barbs ?

http/www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

so much conflicting info , this hobby isnt enjoyable any more..............

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry that you're not having fun scorpio don't throw in the towel though, once you get a nice mix of fish and the tank set up well it's a very enjoyable hobby.

there's a lot of dodgy information out there which can make it difficult to know what's right to do. I really don't rate those compatibility charts at all. The barbs would probably be fine with one of the normal sized gouramis but are too boisterous for the dwarf gouramis. Also there are a lot of species of barbs, some are nippy and agressive, some are peaceful, so you can't possibly make a sweeping statement that all barbs and gourami's are compatible.

This is why I generally use forum's as my main source for this sort of info, no one person can know enough about every species to answer every question on compatibility, so whatever website you use there will be mistakes. When you ask on a forum while individually we don't know everything, together we've got most of the bases covered so if one person say's something that's wrong, someone else will usually say so. If you've got 3/4 people responding to a post then you can generally go with the majority vote to help make these decisions.

If you read through the link in my sig 'guide to stocking lists' you should get some tips on how to work out for yourself if fish are compatible or not.

 

[boeingtech]

hi, i have two male dwarf gouramis in with 4 cherry barbs which tend to be quite peacefull, the gouramis were in the tank first with the barbs added about a month later i dont have any trouble with them together, but it all comes down to the size of tank if you have plenty of hiding spaces, some plants, but my tank has been running for a few years and my gouramis are very healthy if i were you i and you really want gouramis take the two back that you have wait a few months till your tank is up and running properly and then get yourself some more size of tank and decore willing.i have a 4 foot tank and i think if the tank were much smaller then you might get a bit of fin nipping and fighting hope that helps you

 

[SCORPIOCUPCAKE]

hi, i have two male dwarf gouramis in with 4 cherry barbs which tend to be quite peacefull, the gouramis were in the tank first with the barbs added about a month later i dont have any trouble with them together, but it all comes down to the size of tank if you have plenty of hiding spaces, some plants, but my tank has been running for a few years and my gouramis are very healthy if i were you i and you really want gouramis take the two back that you have wait a few months till your tank is up and running properly and then get yourself some more size of tank and decore willing.i have a 4 foot tank and i think if the tank were much smaller then you might get a bit of fin nipping and fighting hope that helps you

Thanks for your comments

x