What happened to my Blue Gourami??

[newphishgal]

Hey guys!

I've had a few bettas before and decided I wanted to venture into some other fishies. I went to Wal-mart (I know, I know) and randomly picked out a Pink Kissing Fish and a Blue Gourami. I have about a 2gall tank (which I have since learned is way too small for the kissing fish) and I kept the overhead light on almost all the time, turning it off during the day from time to time. I fed them tropical flakes and they defiantly seemed to be eating them. The Blue Gourami was doing great, swimming all over the place and eagerly eating his food. But when I woke up this morning, after having them for about 5 days, lo and behold the Blue Gourami was floating at the top. The Kissing Fish is doing fine so far, but I can't figure out what happened to the Blue Gourami?! Can anyone help so I can avoid this in the future??
Thanks!

 

[Alien Anna]

Firstly, have you read my article on avoiding new tank syndrome? If you haven't, I suggest you follow the link in my sig and post any questions if you have them.

Secondly, I suspect that an un-cycled tank might be the reason your fish died (due to ammonia or nitrite poisoning) but then again, it was a gourami and can breathe air, so that might not have been the reason. So I'm suspicious of the kissing fish (aka "kissing gourami"). Gouramis are very territorial and in a 2 gal tank he wouldn't have had the space to build a territory. He may have killed the other fish in a territory dispute - after all, in the wild if they can't get a territory, they can't breed and they can't get enough to eat, so it's their prime directive.

I assume you intend to take the kissing gourami back to the LFS? What are your plans after that? It would be a shame for you to miss out on the joys of fish keeping due to poor advice. A betta would be ideal for a 2 gal tank - just something to think about.

 

[loachylover]

The 3 spot gourami(blue gourami) is one of the most territorial gouramis about so i dont think think a kissing gourami would have killed it, i have personally seen a three spot terrorise kissing & golden gouramis all over the tank due to territory. It would be more likely to be you tank parameters that killed the gourami or even the fact the fish you bought from the LFS was weak and could not adapt to the change??

 

[Inchworm]

Hey, newphishgal!

Sorry to hear about your gourami. I think you might have put your finger right on the problem when you mentioned that it came from WalMart. It's quite possible that it was in a weakened condition when you bought it and just could not stand the shock of yet another change in tank conditions.

Loachylover is right about the blues being agressive. They tend to be very agressive with other gouramis. If this was the problem you would have seen them chasing each other and you would have had some idea a problem was going on.

Right now you have to figure out what to do with the one you have left, because the small tank you have will not support it very well. Give it to someone who can house it better or get a (much) larger tank. A 2gal tank is very small, but would be good for a betta or even a couple of Dwarf African Frogs which live completely underwater.

Also, you don't have to keep the light on all the time. With an aquarium you want to try to create an environment that is close to natural. This includes periods of daylight and darkness. So give them a rest at night.

Please don't get discouraged. Fishkeeping is an excellent hobby and I would hate to see you give up because you got off to a poor start. Browse the web, read all you can about the subject, find a good shop to buy healthy fish and above all, ask plenty of questions.

Good luck!!!!!!