gouramis and blackwater

[gi4get]

Is there any problem with adding blackwater to a community tank with a dwarf honey gourami?

 

[Briarmoor]

I added blackwater extract at about 1/3 the rate the bottle called for so the transition would be gradual to my 55g which has regular gouramis in it and didn't notice that it bothered them. I did it to bring pH down for the tetras, but then 2 of them are off-color right now, so not sure it didn't stress them or perhaps their problem is unrelated.

P.

 

[sylvia]

Hi.

Assuming you have colisa chuna/sota (honey gouramies a.k.a. dwarf honey gouramies) and not a color morph of colisa lalia (dwarf gourami), adding blackwater extract is ok as long as the pH fluctuates gradualy. No fish will appreciate sudden fluctuations in water chemistry. On the other hand, if what you have is c. lalia, you should know that they are very sensitive to changes and that sudden alterations to their environment can be the trigger for diseases to make themselves apparent through stress etc and can often be the cause of death for many of this species. Having said that, there's usualy no need to alter pH in the first place. A consistant pH within reason (ie not 9.0 ) is usualy fine for your typical aquarium fish and is deffinately prefferable to a constantly fluctuating 7.0. Most common species (particularly if bred in local water) should be fine in whatever comes out of your tap (with de-chlorinator ofcourse).

 

[gi4get]

Thank you for your replies.

Someone mentioned to me that blackwater interferes with the gouramis' ability to breathe. Just checking to see what others knew.

Thanks again.