Low Lying Gourami

[cybortech]

Hello,

I have a Biorb60L(I know) Looking to upgrade soon.

I have 3 Male(I think)Red Dwarf Gourami, I female swordtail and 5 Neon Tetra.

One is very bullyish to the other 2 but one in particular as it never fights back. This one lies at the bottom all day and comes for food hesitantly but never seems very interested. I know they are territorial and aggressive to each other. Is the tank to small for the 3 of them?

Also I am being told i am overfeeding them which I do not agree with. They are fed twice a day(food is eaten in at least 90secs.) very occasionally food will go to the bottom but not very often. They get bloodworms and brime shrimp once or twice a week. They do always go crazy when i come to feed them is this normal or am I underfeeding.

Help appreciated thank you.

 

[sylvia]

I would not say you are over-feeding but, in a tank so small, underfeeding is better than feeding a little too much.

The tank is 60 litres? I was under the impression biorbs were only 8 gallons. Yours is about 15 gallons - still MUCH too small for all 3 males. They need about double that to co-exist happily and this is also the cause of your troubles. If you aren't going to upgrade within the next couple of weeks, return two of your dwarfs to the LFS immediately. Dwarf gouramies are prone to disease and even just a bit of stress can trigger them to fal seriously ill - typicaly the result is death. It is clear that one of your males is not in good condition. It's likely he will succumb and die if you don't do something about this right away.

 

[shuhu]

If they all have bright colors than you got 3 males, females have no brigth colors and most of the time they are plain pearl-like

besides the fact that it is a small tank for the three of them, be aware that they do better in pairs (female and male) instead of 2 or more males only, it would be even better with 2 females per male, but unless you can have a bigger tank you should do as sylvia says and return 2 of them ASAP.

Females seem dull most of the time for some but you will have a peacefull enviroment, that is, if you get a bigger place for them

 

[cybortech]

Thanks for your help I will return 2 of them.

Rgds
Robert.

 

[sylvia]

Just so you know, trios do better than pairs. It's not good to keep just one female with one male because the male concentrates only on her and the result is that she becomes overly stressed. If you have 2 females, he chases both so neither is stressed out to the extent they would have been if they were alone with the male as he's forced to devide his attention.

I didn't realise you said they were all colorful - that's a very good point. Females are often difficult to get hold of because they don't sell as well as the males due to their lack of bright coloration. As a result, LFSs only stock the males. Never ask your LFS to sex fish for you or give you information concerning them as most cannot be trusted. Even those that can slip up once in a while.

Anyway, sounds like the issue is resolved. If you return 2, the remaining one should be fine. Males do perfectly well kept alone.