Pale Male Honey

[BeezerGeezer]

I have 2 pairs of honey gouramis in a 4x2x2 tank and one of the males has recently lost all colour. Seems a bit quiet too. He used to inhabit one of the back corners of the tank, whilst the other male had the other back corner. He now mooches around mid to bottom tank. Still eating ok and no other external signs of illness. Is this just a dominance thing with the other male or could he be ailing? There is another male in the tank, a rainbow dwarf, but he has latched onto the Discus and thinks he is one of them. He doesn't appear to interact with the honeys.

 

[DreamertK]

Perhaps he's hiding from the other male honey. The top gourami could be pecking at him while you're not watching.

How well planted is your tank? Perhaps putting in a ton of coverage will make him feel more safe.

 

[BeezerGeezer]

There is a fair bit of plant cover and he does seem to be making use of it, along with a lot of the other fish. The two do come together every now and then, but there is no obvious bullying going on. I guess I'll just keep tabs on him.

 

[DreamertK]

Well if there's not a lot of aggression, it could be a precursor to some sickness like an infection or worms or even water quality issues. Hard to say.

 

[Besty42]

My two gouramis did this, one was vibrant and happy while the other stayed in the corner and deteriorated. It is hard to pin point one cause, Check water quality as they are very delicate and whether the gourami eats the food, and doesn't just spit it out like mine used to. Dwarf gouramis are very shy towards loud noises and this might be the cause of it hiding away. Maybe the other is harassing the other? I didn't think this was happening to mine until I noticed feeding, whenever the pale gourami went for food the other one would quickly snatch it away, and when it did get to the old it would just spit it out.

Love to hear more about the discus, I have an aunt who's discuses have grown to be humongous and look almost like piranhas, and are starting to turn to cannibalism towards other tankmates!

I hope your gourami is more lively soon!

 

[BeezerGeezer]

Sadly he didn't survive. I found him at the bottom of the tank yesterday evening. I'm guessing water quality is not the issue, none of the other fish are showing any signs of distress and tests show it to be ok. The discus are doing fine and are very interactive with us. I introduced a shoal of neons a few weeks ago and after a few attempts to scoff them they soon gave up when they realized the neons were too quick and too big to fit in their gobs.

 

[Besty42]

Sad to hear that, sadly both my gouramis died. They were red robins and apparently their genetics have weakened them, making them almost impossible to keep alive. Just bad luck or something we are missing? i definitely will not be getting anymore of those kind.

LOL- glad your discus' are slower than my aunts, they had chomped up the newly bought tetras in a matter of hours they are that big!

 

[DreamertK]

Poor little guys. Sorry for your losses.