i have two male gouramis which follow eachother everywhere and dont fight, much lol, two angel fish and just bought (and regret) a rainbow shark. the lady said the shark is a good community fish which ive heard from other people say its a luck of the draw if its a good one or evil one. but this thing does nothing but chase my gouramis around and just today i noticed the spot where the two side fins attaches is swelled up a bit on one of them. and im not sure if its the shark maybe nipping its fins or not while it endlessly chasing them around. ill post pics up asap. really wish i could return this little #19### but i threw out the reciept. either that or its been like that forever and im just noticing now. i have a 29gal tank. its only been running for about 2 weeks now.
Is There Something Wrong With My Dwarf Gourami
- Thread starter river_rat
- Start date
Hi - if your tank has only been running for 2 weeks then I take it you didn't cycle it before adding the fish? If this is the case then you're doing a fish-in cycle and will need to be doing regular water testing (with a liquid test kit) and water changes to remove the dangerous ammonia and nitrite levels.
Anyway, back to your problem of the fish...firstly, the rainbow shark isn't really a good community fish unless they are in very large tanks because they are very territorial and will chase/bully anything else that they feel is encroaching on their space. Speaking from experience here LOL. My rainbow now has a tank on his own (strangely enough there was only one particular fish he "took" to and didn't bully and that was a little guppy - but for the peace of the rest of the tank I removed the rainbow).
Gourami's are prone to ulcers - again, speaking from experience of when I used to keep them - stress (like being constantly chased and bullied and bad water quality) can cause these things to occur. I treated my Gourami with MYXAZIN and that cleared his ulcer up (and without the rainbow harrassing him it never re-occurred).
I would seriously consider explaining the situation to someone at your LFS and ask if you can return the rainbow. Regardless of whether you have a receipt or not (don't expect a refund), they might just take him off your hands. If they are conscientious aquarists then they won't want to see fish suffering and even if they don't have room right there and then they might be able to arrange something with you for when a quarantine tank becomes available, or know someone else who can help take him off your hands.
Other than that, another way out is to use a plastic tank divider sheet, or create a natural divide in the tank with plenty of tall plants. If the fish can't see each other all the time then there will be less aggression from the rainbow.
Regards - Athena
Anyway, back to your problem of the fish...firstly, the rainbow shark isn't really a good community fish unless they are in very large tanks because they are very territorial and will chase/bully anything else that they feel is encroaching on their space. Speaking from experience here LOL. My rainbow now has a tank on his own (strangely enough there was only one particular fish he "took" to and didn't bully and that was a little guppy - but for the peace of the rest of the tank I removed the rainbow).
Gourami's are prone to ulcers - again, speaking from experience of when I used to keep them - stress (like being constantly chased and bullied and bad water quality) can cause these things to occur. I treated my Gourami with MYXAZIN and that cleared his ulcer up (and without the rainbow harrassing him it never re-occurred).
I would seriously consider explaining the situation to someone at your LFS and ask if you can return the rainbow. Regardless of whether you have a receipt or not (don't expect a refund), they might just take him off your hands. If they are conscientious aquarists then they won't want to see fish suffering and even if they don't have room right there and then they might be able to arrange something with you for when a quarantine tank becomes available, or know someone else who can help take him off your hands.
Other than that, another way out is to use a plastic tank divider sheet, or create a natural divide in the tank with plenty of tall plants. If the fish can't see each other all the time then there will be less aggression from the rainbow.
Regards - Athena
yes i check my water every day beside my ammonia being a little high (1 ppm) everything is good. i took the fish back, they got the manager and lucky for me she was the one that got the fish for me so she remembered me and everything was taken care of. how does MYXAZIN work. do i need to buy a smaller tank to keep him in while treating him or is he free to swim with the others during treatment. once my water is done cycling i plan on putting more fish in any ideas on what will get along with 2 Gouramis and 2 angel fish? i had a bala shark but he only lasted the first week. once done cycling i might try another one although i know theyget very big it will be some time before they get that big.
Hello again!
Oh that's good you managed to return the rainbow to your LFS. Did they give you a store credit or anything?
When treating with Myxazin there's no need to remove the fish from the tank as it's nothing contagious that the gourami has. That has been caused from stress (from the rainbow and the ammonia). Even 1ppm of ammonia is high enough to cause stress and disease in a fish. Are you doing small daily water changes after testing? Obviously, if you do a test and you get 0ppm ammonia and nitrites then you know you don't have to do a water change that day, although it will probably take several weeks to reach that point.
I know you said your tank is 29gallons (which is roughly 3ft yes?) so I really wouldn't advise you to get any type of the shark family, especially not the balas you mentioned as it's just not fair on them. You will again have issues over territory and then as they grow they will need a much bigger tank - which means more hassle for you trying to rehome them (and stress for the other fish in with them at the time) and stressful for the fish being moved... I just think that when you buy a fish you have to think ahead and if you know you cannot give that fish the home it needs at adult size, then don't buy it. Just my honest opinion. The less stress for the fish and you, all the better! Happy fish = healthy fish!
So, as for other tankmates to go with your couple of angels and gourami's - well, firstly make sure your tank is properly prepared for your existing fish, with plenty of tall plants midway to create that territory divide. Gourami's can be just as territorial as rainbows! Especially as you have two males in there. So try to create a division so that they can each claim an area of the tank once they reach that stage of maturity when they might become aggressive towards each other.
Other fish to add should be fish no larger than the gouramis and look for peaceful species. What about some shoaling fish? e.g. harlequins, or tetras (there are various to choose from but avoid serpae as they can be a bit cheeky and try to fin nip), guppies, how about 5 or 6 sterbai corys (they are fascinating bottom dwellers - their eyes are like a lizard in that they can move them and look around and even blink! I got a shock the first time I saw my sterbais doing this.).
Avoid any more cichlids in that size tank as that could cause problems with your angels.
Regards, Athena
Oh that's good you managed to return the rainbow to your LFS. Did they give you a store credit or anything?
When treating with Myxazin there's no need to remove the fish from the tank as it's nothing contagious that the gourami has. That has been caused from stress (from the rainbow and the ammonia). Even 1ppm of ammonia is high enough to cause stress and disease in a fish. Are you doing small daily water changes after testing? Obviously, if you do a test and you get 0ppm ammonia and nitrites then you know you don't have to do a water change that day, although it will probably take several weeks to reach that point.
I know you said your tank is 29gallons (which is roughly 3ft yes?) so I really wouldn't advise you to get any type of the shark family, especially not the balas you mentioned as it's just not fair on them. You will again have issues over territory and then as they grow they will need a much bigger tank - which means more hassle for you trying to rehome them (and stress for the other fish in with them at the time) and stressful for the fish being moved... I just think that when you buy a fish you have to think ahead and if you know you cannot give that fish the home it needs at adult size, then don't buy it. Just my honest opinion. The less stress for the fish and you, all the better! Happy fish = healthy fish!
So, as for other tankmates to go with your couple of angels and gourami's - well, firstly make sure your tank is properly prepared for your existing fish, with plenty of tall plants midway to create that territory divide. Gourami's can be just as territorial as rainbows! Especially as you have two males in there. So try to create a division so that they can each claim an area of the tank once they reach that stage of maturity when they might become aggressive towards each other.
Other fish to add should be fish no larger than the gouramis and look for peaceful species. What about some shoaling fish? e.g. harlequins, or tetras (there are various to choose from but avoid serpae as they can be a bit cheeky and try to fin nip), guppies, how about 5 or 6 sterbai corys (they are fascinating bottom dwellers - their eyes are like a lizard in that they can move them and look around and even blink! I got a shock the first time I saw my sterbais doing this.).
Avoid any more cichlids in that size tank as that could cause problems with your angels.
Regards, Athena
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