Elleric

I have two new red honey Dwarves. One of them however doesnt have his 'whiskers' (long modified front fins?)

He seems ok, and is swimming about... do some dwarves just not have these? or is he injured?

pinkfloydpuffer

If the other one has them, then he definitely lost them. And I don't know of any gouramis without them. It's certainly not a good thing that they're gone, but I think he'll be ok, and maybe they'll grow back...

Allie

They must have gotten torn off somehow. Keep an eye on them for possible infections. My angels ventral fins break off now and again, but always grow back.

Elleric

well, i got home from work last night and Stubby had passed away. Spike and the tetras in the tank were doing very well. He was swimming slower than Spike and acting differently, but it really didnt seem that bad. Going to have a little talk with the fish store.

pinkfloydpuffer

Oh no. That's so sad.

GouramiGuy

that is sad

If you didn't notice that the fins were gone when you got them the other one might have bit them off. This is even more possible considering the chance that you got a pair of the same one. This is what I think happened


1 you bought both fish and brought them home
2 one is a male one is a female
3 the male is being rough on the female because he wants to mate and she's not ready. (this is where the fins probably got bit off).
4 the female dies from the combined stess of the aggressive male and recent transfer.


I still think you should stick with the gouramis, return that naughty boy and get some females-- you can tell them apart by the shape of the end of the fin on there backs--the males is extremely pointy and the females have rounded ones.

Elleric

well, they were both males. Is it generally bad to keep two same type males together? the fins were never there, though the two were kept in the same tank at the store so that might have been where it happened. I was too excited/oblivious to notice the missing fins as a bad thing.

I dont want to return spike. he is good with the tetras in the tank with him and is very friendly when i come up to the tank. Any recomendations for other good tank mates? currently have Spike, the red honey dwarf in there with 8 cardinal tetras I was hoping i would be able to keep a few different colored gourami eventually, would this not work?

GouramiGirl1221

It is generally not advised to keep two males in the same tank, but there are exceptions to every rule. It sounds like Spike isn't one of the exceptions though. One of your options is to get 2-3 female gouramis to put with your male. My Edward is pretty aggressive toward other male dwarfs but is getting along famously with a female, and I plan on adding more. If you want other "centerpiece" fish, you could also look into rams, or you might want to consider a clean up crew such as cory cats or otos.

Matt

Elleric although people try and try again to determine the sex of fish sometimes they make errors and i agree with what GouramiGuy said about the whole mating thing.

ALthough heck i may be wrong.

From Matt