kimjam

hi can anyone help i have just put a blue gourami in my tank and it just swims up and down very odd.
any suggestions as to why it is doing this.
i have 1 red gourami
10 glowlight tetras
and 4 congo frogs in the tank also.
thanks

Amanda

First off, Welcome!
How old is this tank? What are your water parameters? Did you QT the gourami before adding it to your tank?

kimjam

the tank is about 1 year old as my dad had it downstairs with cold water fish in and i now have it with tropical fish i set the tank up a few weeks ago and gradually added fish to it.
i have not yet done any tests but i added the filter start and fresh start when i set the tank up.
all the other fish have been doing fine but its just this 1 i added today has been swimming funny.
i added a red gourami about 3 days ago and it has been fine

Amanda

Did you add completely new filter media?
If so, you may want to read about the nitrogen cycle.
Actually, that's something to read no matter what.

kimjam

i am using the same filter as my dad had.
the manager of aquatic department at my work explained to me what i had to do when setting the tank up for tropical and i have done it all and everything with the tank is fine just not the blue gourami.
another thing i have noticed about the blue gourami is that sometimes whilst its swimming up and donw is that it squeaks an produces little bubbles??

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
I'd echo Amanda, it would help if we knew the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
I see you have Congo Frogs, are they African Dwarf Frogs or African Clawed Frogs?

Sometimes new fish will swim like that if they're stressed from being in a new tank and calm down when they get used to their new surrounds or stressed he could be stressed
from having another Gourami in the tank. Some can get aggressive with each other especially in your size tank.

Can you get the water tested and post the readings?

DeanAsploded

Having two gouramis in a tank can create problems, I just want to point out. It's generally only people with lots of experience who risk trying to keep them together. (One of my females killed her mate, for instance.)

By red gourami do you mean Dwarf? ie; is the body rounder than the blue?

Athough it is also entirely possible that the blue gourami was simply from a bad/sick/weak batch.

kimjam

they are african dwarf frogs.
i can get the water tested next friday when i get paid as im skint at the moment.
do you think the sqeaking could be caused by stress

DeanAsploded

I've never heard of the "squeaking" you're referring to. Do you mean an actual squeaking sound or just bubbles issueing from the blue's mouth?

kimjam

no their bodies are the same but the red one has a more round top fin and the blue has a more pointed top fin i have been told that you can tell male to female by the top fins but cant remember which way round.

kimjam

nope its definately a little sqeak and bubble coming.

Amanda

I've never heard of a gourami "squeaking" either...

DeanAsploded

Asking about the "red" gourami because I've never heard of a red 3-spot gourami. Are you sure you don't have two dwarfs instead? I'm only aware of dwarfs coming in the red and blue colorings. I don't suppose you have a camera or could find me a similar picture of the species through google or something?

Mm. Asking about the squeak because I think some aquatic frogs make squeaks when they're looking for mates. If it's really the gourami then I suggest quarantining it if possible in a shallow container to allow it quicker access to the oxygen gouramis take breaths of. Perhaps something's wrong with its labyrinth organ?

Lucy

Thanks for clarifying They're cute little buggers aren't they?

I've never heard of a squeaking, but when mine went up for air, there would be a sound from him taking a breath.

At this point, I wouldn't be too concerned. Let him get used to the tank, watch for aggression between the 2 gouramis and have your water checked.

We'd love to see pics of your tank when you get a chance.

kimjam

i have just phoned my work and he said that they are dwarf gouramis.
does this help?

DeanAsploded

Doesn't really help per se, but I was simply curious about the "red" gourami. 3-spot blues need twice as much room, so it was just a way to figure out if a lack of space could be causing stress. Thanks anyways.

Also; If they're both colored then you have two males, just in case you didn't know already. Keep an eye out for nipping, as some males are territorial. =]

Thanks for calling him and clarifying it for me.

kimjam

thank you all very much for your help i will get the tests done asap and also ill see how they get on over the next week as i have only just put it in.
hopefully things will get better.

ps i love the frogs

Lucy

One thing with your little froggers, make sure they're getting enough to eat. They can be slow to find their food before piggy fishies eat it all. They could easily starve to death.
I don't know what you're feeding them but they should be given frozen blood worms and something like HBH Fog and Tadpole bites.
Flakes aren't the best diet for them.