Gourami + Mystery Snail - Sudden Filter Fixation?

For at least the past week, I've noticed that my gourami has been hiding in the back between the back wall of the tank and the part of the filter that hangs down into the tank. He does come out occasionally, and he comes out when I feed him, but other than that he's always hiding in that spot. He wasn't always like this... So what's going on? Is he sick, or maybe he's spooked or something?

The weird part, though, is that I've noticed that the mystery snail that I have in there with him has been hanging out mostly on the wall near the filter as well. I don't know what my water's parameters are, because I don't have any more test strips (I had them when I was first getting my tanks started, but ran out and haven't gotten any more) but I do change his water regularly, so I think it's safe to assume that the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels are at least acceptable, especially considering he's survived this long and had never shown any signs of discomfort previously.

Any ideas?

 

When is the last time you did a water change? It might be something wrong with the water or an oxygen issue. My honey gourami was doing something similar this morning and I checked my water and noticed the nitrates were a bit high, so I did a big water change and he's acting normally now. You might try a water change and see if it helps.

 

with tanks, its never safe to assume, I would recommend going out and getting some liquid test kits for at least ammonia and nitrate. in a stable tank pH will not move around much and should be ok. Without any of that data we are going to have a hard time trying to diagnose the problem.

 

When is the last time you did a water change? It might be something wrong with the water or an oxygen issue. My honey gourami was doing something similar this morning and I checked my water and noticed the nitrates were a bit high, so I did a big water change and he's acting normally now. You might try a water change and see if it helps.

I just did a big (50%) water change, since I saw he was acting abnormally, but he's still acting the same. I went in the room just now and lifted the lid, and he came out for a minute and was looking at me, then *shwoop* right back up into his little spot.

Is it possible that maybe he just likes it there?

I'll go ahead and get some test strips to be sure, though.

 

the liquid kits are a lot better than the test strips as far as accuracy goes. In a pinch I know that petco does free water tests, and if you pester them a bit they will give you the real numbers. Usually I stand over their shoulder and ask questions and ask for the numbers.