Gourami Sicknesses

[milkmanv1]

Hey guys! Heres the story, my sister wants a neon blue dwarf gourami to add to our community tank, but after looking here I see that they're so disease prone, my only worry is can the bacterial disease which kill the gourami infect my other fish (and african clawed frogs.)

 

[stang1]

I would avoid getting the Dwarf Gourami as it is prone to disease and you'd be lucky to have it survive more than 4 weeks. We owned a pair in our community tank and they came down with an infection and sadly died within a few days. We moved them into a hospital tank as soon as we noticed they were ill but no amount of medication helped.
The infection didn't pass onto our other fish as we had removed them quite early on, whether it's contagious or not, I'm not entirely sure.
To be honest, you would be better off getting some Honey or Sparkling Gouramies as they are very peaceful and don't grow too big.

 

[-germ-]

I would avoid getting the Dwarf Gourami as it is prone to disease and you'd be lucky to have it survive more than 4 weeks. We owned a pair in our community tank and they came down with an infection and sadly died within a few days. We moved them into a hospital tank as soon as we noticed they were ill but no amount of medication helped.
The infection didn't pass onto our other fish as we had removed them quite early on, whether it's contagious or not, I'm not entirely sure.
To be honest, you would be better off getting some Honey or Sparkling Gouramies as they are very peaceful and don't grow too big.

Exactly what Stang said but also consider thick lipped gourami

 

[SouthernCross]

I'd also like to make a recommendation - provided your tank is big enough - pearl gouramis. I've found mine to be incredibly hardy. They are also very beautiful - see my male in my av. They're the more peaceful of the larger gouramis - I've had no trouble with them in my community.

And I agree, avoid the dwarfs at all costs unless you can get them from a private breeder (unlikely).

 

[stang1]

I would avoid getting the Dwarf Gourami as it is prone to disease and you'd be lucky to have it survive more than 4 weeks. We owned a pair in our community tank and they came down with an infection and sadly died within a few days. We moved them into a hospital tank as soon as we noticed they were ill but no amount of medication helped.
The infection didn't pass onto our other fish as we had removed them quite early on, whether it's contagious or not, I'm not entirely sure.
To be honest, you would be better off getting some Honey or Sparkling Gouramies as they are very peaceful and don't grow too big.

Exactly what Stang said but also consider thick lipped gourami

Ooops - forgot to mention them...
We kept thick-lipped Gouramies and they really are a beautiful and peaceful fish. The Pearl Gouramies we found to be quite aggressive and ended up rehoming them.

 

[SouthernCross]

I would avoid getting the Dwarf Gourami as it is prone to disease and you'd be lucky to have it survive more than 4 weeks. We owned a pair in our community tank and they came down with an infection and sadly died within a few days. We moved them into a hospital tank as soon as we noticed they were ill but no amount of medication helped.
The infection didn't pass onto our other fish as we had removed them quite early on, whether it's contagious or not, I'm not entirely sure.
To be honest, you would be better off getting some Honey or Sparkling Gouramies as they are very peaceful and don't grow too big.

Exactly what Stang said but also consider thick lipped gourami

Ooops - forgot to mention them...
We kept thick-lipped Gouramies and they really are a beautiful and peaceful fish. The Pearl Gouramies we found to be quite aggressive and ended up rehoming them.

Really? Wow. Mine are the most docile things ever. Guess it goes to show how much individual fish can vary. I'd always heard the blues/golds/opaline/3 spots were the nastiest ones.

 

[stang1]

The ones you mentioned are definitely the most aggressive as well as the Moonlight Gourami.
Our Pearl Gouramies terrorised the Thick-lipped ones and wouldn't leave them alone.

 

[scooterchick]

My angel died a couple of weeks ago and since then my pearl gourami has come right out his shell and started chasing the rest of his tankmates around. Hmmmm.

 

[SouthernCross]

The ones you mentioned are definitely the most aggressive as well as the Moonlight Gourami.
Our Pearl Gouramies terrorised the Thick-lipped ones and wouldn't leave them alone.

I had sylvia (before she disappeared) tell me once that its not always the best idea to keep multiple species of gourami in the one tank - if you wanted a peaceful tank to stick to one species of gourami.

Maybe that's more your problem, although you could have just picked up a particularly nasty specimen

 

[stang1]

You could be right SC although I have been told that it's possible to keep more than one species of Gourami but not multiple males.
After doing more research, it does seem that they are only really territorial when kept with other Gourami species so maybe that was the problem.