Is my gourami okay?

[Swiftyfishy2008]

I got a gourami a couple weeks ago and I don’t know if it’s behavior is normal or not. When I give it food it spits it out and eats it and spits it out agian. It will sometimes stay at the top of the tank and will just stay there for a couple mins, or it will just go to the bottom and swim around the tank bottom/ middle of the tank. or stay in one spot at the bottom of the tank. I do notice when it’s staying in one spot it will still move it’s fine slowly, but the reason I’m a tiny bit worried is cause I’ve seen other peoples gouramis and they look a LOT more active than mine, I just want to know if mine is okay and its normal behavior or if something might be wrong. There is a heater, filter, bubble wall and led lights included, I used stress coat + and quick start for the tank.
Here are the pictures
And there is no other fish besides this one

 

[fishydaddy]

Spitting can be a sign of illness or the fish just not liking the food. I would try a different type of food, if you're using dry food, try frozen or live (maybe brine shrimp if you can source it).
I do see that your little one seems to be a bit skinny. The sharp forehead and pinching by the skull are usually a sign of malnutrition (which was probably already an issue before you purchased this fish, so don't feel bad).
I would focus on making sure they are eating as much as possible for now and see if that helps their activity level and weight.

Dwarf gouramis are, in my experience, one of those fish that just seem to not do very well after being irresponsibly bred in large numbers at fish farms for a long time. Many are often infected with an iridiovirus which, is unfortunately incurable and common in anabantids, especially this species. If this fish fails to thrive, I do not think it is your fault at all, I have seen this exact issue so many times in shipments of dwarf gouramis working for fish stores.

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

The food I’ve fed it so far is flake food, freeze dried daphnia, freeze dried bloodworms and freeze dried mysis and it still spit the food out

 

[fishydaddy]

The food I’ve fed it so far is flake food, freeze dried daphnia, freeze dried bloodworms and freeze dried mysis and it still spit the food out

I would definitely try frozen in that case, sometimes fish are just picky and won't take dry foods right away.

 

[Hellfishguy]

No fish can refuse grindal worms - if they do there's probably no hope for them.

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

No fish can refuse grindal worms - if they do there's probably no hope for them.

Yesterday I got him and put him in a cup and put some freeze dried daphnia on top. I left him in there for like 30 mins. He definitely seems notably more active than he was before so I think he just needs to eat and he will get better. But I just found out today that my heater is not working that well. Only sometimes it will turn on which is odd..

 

[FoldedCheese]

Yesterday I got him and put him in a cup and put some freeze dried daphnia on top. I left him in there for like 30 mins. He definitely seems notably more active than he was before so I think he just needs to eat and he will get better. But I just found out today that my heater is not working that well. Only sometimes it will turn on which is odd..

Why did you put him in a cup? You can't remove him every time you need to feed him.. He was probably more active because removing him from his "home" is stressful.

As for the heater a lot of adjustable heaters only turn on when the water temp gets below a certain amount to keep it within a 2 degree temp range. Totally normal as long as your temp is stable. Do you have a thermometer in the tank? I would also check your parameters if you think he's acting lethargic.

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

Why did you put him in a cup? You can't remove him every time you need to feed him.. He was probably more active because removing him from his "home" is stressful.

As for the heater a lot of adjustable heaters only turn on when the water temp gets below a certain amount to keep it within a 2 degree temp range. Totally normal as long as your temp is stable. Do you have a thermometer in the tank? I would also check your parameters if you think he's acting lethargic.

I only put him in the cup cause I wanted him to try the food so he would know that he’s supposed its food, I don’t plan to really do it every time I feed him, in fact early I put a little put of daphnia in the tank. No I don’t have a thermometer cause the last time I went to PetSmart they were sold out. I have my heater dialed at 78 and it gets pretty cold, like colder than lukewarm water idk if that’s normal or not. He doesn’t really look lethargic at all rn, pretty active tbh.

 

[FoldedCheese]

I only put him in the cup cause I wanted him to try the food so he would know that he’s supposed its food, I don’t plan to really do it every time I feed him, in fact early I put a little put of daphnia in the tank. No I don’t have a thermometer cause the last time I went to PetSmart they were sold out. I have my heater dialed at 78 and it gets pretty cold, like colder than lukewarm water idk if that’s normal or not. He doesn’t really look lethargic at all rn, pretty active tbh.

Okay, well I wouldn't suggest doing that again it's really stressful to catch him, keep him in a cup then put him back in the big tank..

Yeah I would recommend getting a thermometer to monitor the temp. It shouldn't be lukewarm even at 78 and the only way to accurately measure the temp is with a thermometer. That's good as long as he's not swimming back and forth constantly.

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

Okay, well I wouldn't suggest doing that again it's really stressful to catch him, keep him in a cup then put him back in the big tank..

Yeah I would recommend getting a thermometer to monitor the temp. It shouldn't be lukewarm even at 78 and the only way to accurately measure the temp is with a thermometer. That's good as long as he's not swimming back and forth constantly.

I’ll definitely look into getting a thermometer and he’s not swimming back and fourth he looks like he just explores around the tank a little bit.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

He sounded pretty normall to me from the beginning. They are not a super active fish. Is he still spitting out food? Try presoaking the dried stuff in tank water. try bug bites and presoak that too.

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

He sounded pretty normall to me from the beginning. They are not a super active fish. Is he still spitting out food? Try presoaking the dried stuff in tank water. try bug bites and presoak that too.

I looked at him eating and he will eat some freeze dried daphnia and spits out some of it. I don’t really know what a normal gourami really looks like since I’ve never really had one, but I think he might be fine if there not really that active of fish, I will presoak it like you said though

 

[Noroomforshoe]

Sometimes when fish spit out food it is a form of chewing. I worry the most when they have no interest in the food at all. Please keep an eye on him , I hope he is ok!

 

[Swiftyfishy2008]

Sometimes when fish spit out food it is a form of chewing. I worry the most when they have no interest in the food at all. Please keep an eye on him , I hope he is ok!

So it’s been 2 days and he still spits the food out even presoacked and tbh he looks pretty decent besides the fact that he keeps spitting his food out.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

Im glad that he looks good. and im glad that he is interested in food, both are good signs!. I suggest that you get some garlic paste, stir it into a shot glass size of tank water, and soak some of his food in it for like an hour.
The garlic is tempting to fish but it also has healing qualities, they say that it can kill parasites in fish. If you have dry food that already has galic, like new life spectrum foods, im not sure you need to soak with additional garlic but it would hurt, just dont do too much of the food incase he hates it.
You can also buy frozen blood worms and soak them, or a cheeper way is to buy zoo meds can o worms, soak that, and freeze the leftovers.