Frightened dwarf gourami

I've never had a dwarf gourami and had no intentions of getting any. Today at my lfs, I noticed one in a tank full of danios, who were picking at him. I just had to take him home!

I think he's powder blue (?), and I've QT'd him in a heavily planted 5 gal tank, since I"ve heard the dwarfs from Singapore may carry disease. When I'm sure he's okay, he'll go in my 20 gal community.

He's so scared! He hides if I approach the tank, and when I opened the lid to feed him, he freaked out.

Anyone else have a shy/fearful gourami, and will he get over it?

He's so cute.

 

aww hes sooooooooo adorable ..I have one also!! and a few others...they all were shy at first...mine are well now..congrats!!!!!!!

 

He is so beautiful!! Congrats.
Carol

 

LOL, I only went to the store for plants, I swear!

Anyway, I do see him picking around the tank when I'm not near, so I hope he finds the worms I put in there, poor little guy. I just hate seeing anything so scared.

Good to know he's not the only shy gourami. Will he be able to get his share of food once he's in with my super-greedy cherry barbs and neons?

 

omg my gourami's now are like betta's n angels when its time for food..HUGE beggers!! I really think I have his twin

 

congrats, I think he looks adorable. Poor guy but I'm sure he will do fine now he is safe from the evil danios

 

Wow, he's a beauty! Has he got a brother? LOL

I had one recently that was rather shy. I did a few things. When approaching the tank I moved very slowly, but smoothly, with no jerky or sudden movements. I dimmed the tank light for a while by removing one bulb. I added a floater plant to the tank. It was fake, but he liked it. They like to hang out near the top and he loved the floater. I moved the filter to the far end of the tank because they are unnerved by swift current.

He needs to be kept away from high traffic areas or doors because that movement will frighten him, too. When feeding I moved very, very slowly. Sometimes I think he didn't even see my hand moving. I also fed frozen bloodworms, and once he tasted them it was hard for him not to lunge for them. I put a few at a time at the surface of the water with a spoon. Very soon he would jump out of the water just enough to grab the bloodworms off the spoon before they even hit the water. Sometimes I would just sit calmly in front of the tank for a while letting him get used to seeing me.

I know he's in a Q tank, but there may be some very hardy, calm, docile, outgoing smaller fish that could be used as dither fish to assure him that all is well out in the tank. If he's that nervous, and no one else is swimming out it the open, then he probably won't either. At least not for a while.

Eventually my Gourami shared a tank with a German Blue Ram and they were buddies. I don't know if Gourami traditionally get along with GBR. But I can see how it's possible. GBRs are usually peaceful as long as they have enough space and no one is harassing them. Gourami also seem to be peaceful as long as no one else starts anything. My two would swim together all over the place, but they did have different sleeping spots. The Gourami is a top- to mid-dweller and the GBR is a mid- to bottom-dweller, and that helped. They just visited in the middle. LOL

Good luck, he's beautiful

Zambize

 

Unfortunately, that little beauty died within a week, from what I really think was iridovirus.

I do have another dwarf, a Flame this time. After QT, I put him in my 20 gallon community. He was quite shy at first, but now he's coming around and doing just great! He's even become quite bossy with my other fish. What charming little characters they are.

And yes, he just loves his bloodworms.

Here's a pic.

 

dwarves are amazing fish.. I'd give anything to have one in my tank again after I lost the 2 dwarves I had... they have incredible personalities. Does anyone in the forum know about local breeders?

 

Unfortunately, that little beauty died within a week, from what I really think was iridovirus.

I do have another dwarf, a Flame this time. After QT, I put him in my 20 gallon community. He was quite shy at first, but now he's coming around and doing just great! He's even become quite bossy with my other fish. What charming little characters they are.

And yes, he just loves his bloodworms.

Here's a pic.

Sorry to hear about the little boy. At least he died in a peaceful place and not at the lfs. The new guy looks great! You take good pictures, I never can get mine to stay still. That's a nice little neon, too.

Zambize

 

Thank you. Yes, I'm glad that if he had to die, it was in a nice peaceful planted tank instead of being dumped down the toilet at the lfs.

As for the pics, I probably take 15 lousy ones for every good one!

That's a nice little neon, too.

Actually, they're HUGE! Here's the rest of the pic.

 

I have one with the blue and red stripes, beautiful fish, I'll post a pic when I get home. He was shy at first until he got used to his friends, now he chases them off if they try and steal his food.

 

I have 2 the same colour as the little guy that died. Sorry for your loss. I notice mine tend to be shy in the lower regions of the tank which is home to my RTBS. But in the top levels they are kings. Like school teachers almost they stop bullying!? As for feeding I have noticed they like blood worms but also any food that floats on the surface. Mine love floating betta pellets. Your new one looks every cute and determined little guy.

 

Thanks for replies!

Sadly, my little Flame died also after about 2 weeks. He was perfect one night, then dead the next morning.

I said NO MORE......but went to the pet store for some plants and simply couldn't leave without this little guy. I've had him 1 month now, more than twice as long as any of the others so am really keeping my fingers crossed.

He likes me to feed him bloodworms on a wooden skewer at the surface of the tank. He's a feisty little Powder blue.

 

another beauty. Again sorry for the loss. I love dwarfs. Shame about all their problems at the moment.

 

These little guys are so lovable it's really hard to lose them.

I try and look at it as that at least for the time they have, they'll be in a big planted tank here, with clean water, lots of good food, cherry barbs to boss around, and someone to love them, as opposed to being flung down the drain at the pet store when they get sick.

 

I've found the powder blues to be less aggressive and overall more timid than either the flame or the striped pygmies. All of them are VERY susceptible to disease and infections though, which is usually compounded by poor tank conditons at the LPS/LFS. I believe 90% of the reason they die so quickly after you bring them home is because they are already sick... the other 10% would be due to improper acclimating or poor water parameters (including tank mates and tank size)

 

Where did I read that they were a hardy fish good for beginners? I am so sorry you lost that beauty. My fingers are crossed for mine.

 

I believe powder blues to be less aggresive too. I have 2 and they seem to enjoy each others company. When one was in the hospital tank the other seemed to get quite depressed. Hope you have luck with this one.

 

Where did I read that they were a hardy fish good for beginners?

If you get a healthy one, they should be fairly hardy. But the tank water must be kept very clean and free of any toxins like ammonia or nitrites, and they mustn't be kept with any aggressive fish, since they'll get stressed and be more susceptible to illness.

I have 2 and they seem to enjoy each others company.

You have two males together and they don't fight? I got only one because at the pet store there was one tank with only two in it, and both were quite badly beaten up.

 

yes I have 2 male powder blues in a 80g tank. They were both under an inch when I brought them home together. So they have only known each other. They have lots of hiding places and this seems to bring them out into the open more. They do sometimes chase each other and smack each other with their feelers. But this only happens about once a week I notice. They really do seem to enjoy each others company. I say again one got depressed and refused to eat when the other was in the hospital tank.

 

Oh, 80 gallons. So they have plenty of room to avoid each other if they wish.

 

oh definitely and they do avoid each other about 25% of the time. But I think with enough space you can keep multiple males. But maybe only powder blue as they certainly seem a bit more chilled out. They are just my fave fish. Such characters and I love brightly coloured fish.

 

Maybe I'll get another one when I get a bigger tank.

They're so cute I just want to take mine out and pet him.

 

they are cute. Out of all my fish they interact with me the most. Very clever as well. When the food lid is lifted they race to the opening waiting for food. But when the whole lid opens for cleaning they hide.

 

did u test the water before u bought the next one?

because two fish dying is not an indication to buy more normally..

 

because two fish dying is not an indication to buy more normally..

I agree and really did not plan to get another, but lost will power when looking at these cuties.

My tank is a planted community that's been set up for years. Params are perfect and many of the fish have been in there since the beginning. All are healthy.

I tend to think the problems were with the gouramis themselves.

 

Definitely agree with u Barbrella. Its so sad this is affecting some of the most beautiful fish. I include bettas in that as well. How is the current guy doing? I found out last night that mine love daphina (sp?)

 

Thanks for asking. Actually, he gave me a real scare last night. I had the lid open and was feeding him brineshrimp. All of a sudden he backed away and his mouth started opening and closing really fast and he went and hid at the side of the tank.

I had no idea what happened. It was like something was stuck in his mouth, but I couldn't imagine what.

This morning his mouth is still moving fast, but he came up and ate eagerly as usual and is acting normally. I'm stumped.

If I lose this one, I swear that's IT! (maybe)

How long have you had your DGs?

 

About 1 year. I added them last to the tank because of the issues with territory. They are about 2 inches long now. Their called Pinky and The Brain, which was a kids show in the uk. Not sure if you had that over there. I'm sure your guy just got freaked out by something. I find mine to be quite jumpy especially when I have the lid open fully.

 

I hope mine is around in a year!

Yes, I've heard of Pinky and the Brain. Very cute names!

My DG isn't overly skittish, but he really hates tank cleaning time. He dashes around and hides and I can almost hear him yelling "End of the world! Run for your lives!"

 

Yes mine do that to. I have no sharp edges in the tank because I'm so scared they will hurt themselves or rip their fins.