New Dwarf Gourami - Am I stressing out about nothing?

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Make a loop out of airline and a joiner.
Tie a length of string about 12 inches long to the airline.
Tie the other end to s suction cup.
Stick the suction cup on the inside of the tank at the opposite end to the filter. Have the suction cup about half way up the glass.
Put the floating plants in the plastic loop.
 
Hey, its been a few weeks since I've introduced him to the tank, and he still spends lots of time surfing the glass, he eats fine still. I introduced 8 pristella tetras to the tank (they are doing great and look fantastic schooling), they distracted him for a brief time, but now he's back to glass surfing. he looks healthy, so I'm not really sure at this point. Any ideas on what this is about?

Also, unrelated question, I've heard its better to feed your fish a varying diet, I currently just feed crushed flakes, what other foods can I feed to him and the tetras sometimes? Thanks

Last time I checked, water parameters were

0 Ammonia

0 Nitrite

5-10 Nitrate

Hardness somewhere from 70-100

Alkalinity between 100-120



I will update these when I can test the water later today.
 
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Hi,

yesterday I added my new Male Dwarf Gourami to my planted 20g tall. He's currently the only fish in the tank, he looks like he's doing fine appearance wise, he's eating the flake food I provided no problem, but he seems to be surfing up and down the glass pretty often, along with constantly opening and closing his mouth. I got really worried when I noticed this and did a 40% water change. (before and after the test water parameters were ammonia 0, nitrites 0, and nitrates 10-15ish, but I did it anyways.) However I watched videos of other fish of the same species also opening and closing their mouth a lot, is this normal behavior for a Dwarf Gourami, and is the glass surfing just because he's stressed from moving tanks?

One more thing, he gets scared when I open the lid on the tank right now, so he doesn't come towards the surface for feeding yet. I don't have any other cleaner fish or shrimp in the tank yet to pick up what he doesn't see, so to prevent any raising in ammonia levels from uneaten food, I drop individual flakes in front of him to make sure none go uneaten. So my question is - How many flakes should I feed him, this morning and night I gave him 3 large flakes, is this plenty? If not let me know.

Sorry for this being a tiny bit lengthy, but I appreciate any advice.
Where did you get the gourami from? Was it from a lfs store like PetSmart or petco? And the store that you got it from is that store known to have dead or dying fish when you go there? Like the other person said it could just be that it’s a little stressed cause it’s moved from a fish store to your aquarium. But if it still looks stressed in a couple weeks or looks worse than it was now, it probably has something wrong.
Edit: I just saw your new comment and see that it is still glass surfing. I recommend you use something like API aquarium salt, put 3-4 table spoons, make sure it is fully dissolved though, watch it for 1-2 weeks, see if that fixes the problem, he should be fine after after a week or 2 if it doesn’t it’s probably something internal that’s wrong with your fish or maybe something with your tank.
 
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Where did you get the gourami from? Was it from a lfs store like PetSmart or petco? And the store that you got it from is that store known to have dead or dying fish when you go there? Like the other person said it could just be that it’s a little stressed cause it’s moved from a fish store to your aquarium. But if it still looks stressed in a couple weeks or looks worse than it was now, it probably has something wrong.
I live near Portland Oregon, I got them from here, https://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/ (in person not online) all fish in the tank seemed healthy, I've been to this store dozens of times, the only dead fish I've ever seen was a single rummy nose tetra. He looks better than when I first got him, so I'm not completely worried, I had dwarf water lettuce in the tank that he spent lots of time hiding in, but the current from my HOB filter was rough on it, I've got it in a secure place now where the filter doesn't affect it, but most of the bigger roots died off in the nearly 2 weeks before I fixed the issue with the current. They seem to be recovering so I might buy a little more now. But I guess is it fine if nothing seems wrong with him, it just stresses me out a little bit. Also, any ideas on what other foods I could feed? Thanks!
 
I live near Portland Oregon, I got them from here, https://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/ (in person not online) all fish in the tank seemed healthy, I've been to this store dozens of times, the only dead fish I've ever seen was a single rummy nose tetra. He looks better than when I first got him, so I'm not completely worried, I had dwarf water lettuce in the tank that he spent lots of time hiding in, but the current from my HOB filter was rough on it, I've got it in a secure place now where the filter doesn't affect it, but most of the bigger roots died off in the nearly 2 weeks before I fixed the issue with the current. They seem to be recovering so I might buy a little more now. But I guess is it fine if nothing seems wrong with him, it just stresses me out a little bit. Also, any ideas on what other foods I could feed? Thanks!
also for the food, personaly I’m not sure what the best food would be for it, but I know bloodworms and brime shrimp are up there for fish food that is really good for fish.
 
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