Fat Dwarfy

[ushiwakafox]

Hi guys! I'm really new here, and also with gouramis in general. I have quite a bit of experience with general betta keeping, so I thought getting a gourami wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Right....
Anyway, I got a new dwarf gourami about a week ago at my lfs. He was and still is very healthy and active. For some reason though, he won't eat the food I feed him. I bought Tetra color tropical crisps, thinking that because there's a picture of a gourami on it, he would like it. Of course he doesn't. Luckily, I also bought some freeze dried blood worms. He eats those very readily.
Ok so here come the questions; how much should I be feeding my gourami? Keeping in mind that he probably eats more than a betta, so less than 4 worms is probably not enough for him. I have been feeding him a pinch of worms once a day, not counting the individual worms. Is this ok? Also, is just feeding him freeze dried food bad? I was thinking about going down to the lfs and asking what they fed him before I bought him. Maybe he's just one of those picky eaters and only likes what he was given at the store.
One more - I also have two julii cory cats, which I feed algae wafers. I was already aware that gouramis like algae, but I didn't realize they'll go for the wafers. So how should I handle this? He will pick at the wafers until there's nothing left. He'll even sometimes chase the catfish off so he can have the wafer to themselves. He's made himself quite fat and almost pregnant looking. I don't like to take the wafer out beccause I want my catfish to eat also. So what should I do here? What I've been doing is dropping several chunks of the wafer in so that my catfish can have several pieces to eat off of when my gourami's being a bully. After half an hour I remove all the food, mostly because I don't want my gourami to overfeed himself. Other than his fat self, he is very active and normal. His digestive system is fully functional still (defecating just as much as he was before) so I know he's not constipated. He's just eating too much.
So guys, what should I do about this, if anything?
Thanks!

 

[KittyKat]

Hi & welcome

For the sake of simplicity, I will assume that your tank is fully cycled, ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is low, pH neutral, water at 22-26C. Correct me if any of those are wrong.

So first I'll deal with the Corys (I know you didn't ask about them.. but I hope you appreciate it none the less ).. Corys are schooling fish, so if possible, have at least 6 of the same species, if the aquarium allows for it. Also they require a meaty based diet so algae wafers are not that great for them, look for catfish/Cory wafers or sinking pellets. I prefer to feed Corys only once per day, with one day without food per week.

Now for the gourami.. as with most fish, feed as much as he will eat in 30 seconds completely, twice per day. If he is not eating tabs or flakes, it is mainly because he has tasty bloodworm available to him. Standard flakes are a suitable staple diet for gouramis. You definitely should reduce bloodworm as they are more difficult to digest for him and can cause constipation. I recommend that you try feeding him boiled and shelled peas, which should help clear out his digestive tract and also not feed him one day per week. Basically, he should get bloodworm only as a treat, once or twice per week. Don't worry about starving him, you will be easily able to see if he starts to get too thin.. most fish do not need very much food.

 

[ushiwakafox]

Thanks
Of course, my tank has been cycled and all levels are normal, temperature is perfect.
I also feed my cory's shrimp pellets. But since you mentioned it, I'll go by and get another sinking food for them instead of algae wafers.
When I first tried the crisps, he took chunks of them and spit them back out. I'll try a different type of food then. I may ask the guy who sold him to me about what he fed him.
So my gourami picking at the algae wafer is fine? Of course since I'll be changing the corys' food, that won't really be an issue anymore. He also picks at the shrimp pellets, but I guess there's really nothing I can do about it. I'm definitely going to start the pea diet. I did this with my bettas and it always worked very well. I'm also planning on buying a cucumber next time I go to the store, since I read here that they like cucumbers.

Thanks for your help