Honey Gourami - Sitting On The Bottom Of The Tank

[bikerman03]

Hi

I have been reading the pinned topics on Gourami & I have two (male/female) red honey gourami. They seem to spend a lot of time either hiding in the plants/nestled up in the top corner of the tank, next to the thermometer/sitting on the sand.

Evening time they seem to get very cosy with each other - rubbing alongside each other etc I'm just concerned why they sit on the sand so much & are very rarely out swimming around.

Tank stats - 20Gal (uk) Aqua one 620 - Amm 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 15 ish ph 7.0-7.5 (hard to tell from the test kit exactly) water is crystal clear. A few snails - not many
Tank mates - 6x Penguine Tetra, 2x Otto, 1x Guppy 1x Yellow (much smaller) male Honey Gourami

I did have an outbreak of White spot (I think) about 3 weeks ago (lost all of the Harleqines/Golden Barbs) - The Guppies were flicking on the sand (3 died & I have 1 left) I treated it with anti w/spot & I haven't seen any flicking in the past two weeks.

I generally do a 15-20% water change a week.

I almost don't like looking in the tank - for fear of finding another one dead!

Any ideas why the HG's sit on the sand so much? I've had them for a month or so.

Bikerman03.

 

[sylvia]

How long has this been going on for? If it's recent, it may have something to do with the whitespot and if you haven't owned the gouramies for long, this behaviour may be the first sign of disease.

If, on the other hand, they've been in your tank for a while and are healthy, something in the tank may be upsetting them. The first thing 'd suggest is more plants - particularly floating ones. Also, what temperature is your tank at?

I am a little concerned that you have 2 male honeys and only one female. Am I to take it that the wild-type homey doesn't mix with the reds? They are all the same species you know - just different colors (unless your red 'honeys' are actualy dwarfs).