Ok Dont Laugh At Me

[penguinpimp1990]

so i was at my lfs today and my mom asked what that pretty fish was (pearl gourami) and so i said, and i got talking about gouramis and i was telling her about how they come to the surface to breathe air, so then she asked if theyre getting oxygen out of the water, why do they need to live in water? I couldnt answer this.....can some one inform me please.

 

[Weaver]

Oops wrong thread

 

[annka5]

I think they get only a "top up" oxygen supply from the air. They still use their gills and these would "collapse" out of water.
They wouldn't be able to move around on land
They wouldn't be able to digest food etc (weight on stomache on land)
Wouldn't be able to reproduce
Would dry out (osmoregulatory system depends on them being in water)
Wouldn't be able to see, or hear, properly - organs are designed to take into account the distortion caused by the water
erm... they like swimming...?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

I think they get only a "top up" oxygen supply from the air. They still use their gills and these would "collapse" out of water.
They wouldn't be able to move around on land
They wouldn't be able to digest food etc (weight on stomache on land)
Wouldn't be able to reproduce
Would dry out (osmoregulatory system depends on them being in water)
Wouldn't be able to see, or hear, properly - organs are designed to take into account the distortion caused by the water
erm... they like swimming...?

LOL, i know most of that stuff but i was wondering, like what would happen if they were out of water for like ten minutes, (note i would never test this )

 

[Griz]

Many fish, such as channel catfish and brown bullheads can survive for a surprising amount of time out-of-water. But don't try this at home!

 

[sylvia]

Many labyrinth fish (including pearl gouramies) are some of the few species of fish that could actualy (theoreticaly) live their full lvies out of water. But this assumes they have some other way of feeding, reproducing, moving etc In fact, if you force a gourami to stay underwater, it will drown. They actualy use their gills to top up oxygen rather than the other way round (ie most of the oxygen comes from air). This is why it is so very important that all gouramies have access to the surface.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

They can live out of water so long as their coats do not dry out. Hence the way bettas are often shipped. I was once a witness to this after an accident involving a male bettas tank, my son and the floor all met. Houdini (yes, he's still going strong) had slid, thankfully unharmed by the splintered glass right behind my 35g tank in the fall and it took me a while to find him. He was immediately put into some water nabbed from one of my nearby tanks in a baggy and another tank was sorted and put into use within the hour. His coat was still wet and he was fine. Next day he'd built his first bubblenest.
One would also assume that, because of the areas many anabatids inhabit naturally that water levels can become low and somewhat unsavoury, hence the reason they don't depend on their gills for oxygen. BUT. They are still fish, albeit with special adaptations for their natural enviroments. And, like all fish, they are designed to swim and live their lives in water. They will die without it. Just because they breathe the air doesn't mean they can happily sit in your lap like the average pet cat. Even if it was a particularly docile fish you would kill it. They have a slime coat, like all fish and it needs to stay wet to remain effective. If it dries out chances are your fish will die. Yes, occasionally a fish can survive this but really, it isn't worth trying.
Hugs,
P.

 

[Durbkat]

Sorry couldn't help meself. They need to be in water because they are fish and like to swim and they'd dry up without water.

 

[Bling]

I'm surprised to hear that gourami DEPEND on atmospheric air. When I first got my fish they hardly ever (as a matter of fact, as far as I saw, NEVER) came up for air. They just hid. The male still spends most of his time deep down in the greenery like a betta. Maybe he keeps an eye out and comes out for a breath when no one's looking.

 

[sylvia]

Well gouramies do tend to be shy and they don't need to breathe air constantly as they do use their gills somewhat. Still, like I said, they would drown if they had no access to it. Having said that, not all species of gourami rely on air - licorice gouramies, for example.

 

[beta 1991]

I agree with sylvia gouramis do need to have access to oxygen. Although theoretically the specific gouramis could live their lives out of water, i do find that very unlikely, and i have never heard of that happening in my entire life, but i suppose it could?

 

[sylvia]

No they couldn't live out of water because they wouldn't be able to eat or move or reproduce and, if they dried out, they would die. It was only theoreticaly speaking that I said they could live out of water - because they don't need water to breathe. Having said that, it's not unsual for fish to leave the water for short periods - think of walking catfish for example.

 

[Dwarfs]

Most labrynth fish need water for more than just breathing to put it simply, if we as humans could breathe under water, we'd be pretty pathetic at catching food, and we'd bloat up because our bodies aren't designed to remain under water for a long amount of time.
Put a gourami out of water, it will stay alive until it dries up, or if you keep it moist, it will die of starvation. The only reason that some anabantoides breathe air is to survive in water with low oxygen levels or other problems that would make life difficult-if not impossible- for other regular fish to breathe in

 

[ben1234]

Another reason that these fish and other labrynth fish breath atmospheric air is because in their natural habitat many of times their water supply dries up drastically. Therefore they are constricted to a small stagnant puddle. Because there isnt any moving water there isnt any oxygen getting replaced back into the puddle hence, the need for an organ to store air, the labrynth organ.

 

[Fizban]

i like to think its there Defence if you dont clean there tank anuth ................ i do seem to see them do it alot befor going into makeing a nest so maby they do it out of stress