My honey gourami are not eating. What is the reason?

[Morayeel]

Yesterday I bought my first fish, three honey gourami. Today I tried to feed them, but they did not eat. I am thinking this is probably because I recently bought them. However they are not shy and hiding they are colourful and swimming all over the tank. The fish food I tried to feed them is Tropical Supervit Granulat. My main theories as to why they are not eating is that they are still getting used to the tank, they are vey young so the pellets might be too big, or that they don't like how the pellets smell or look. I didn't buy the flakes because the pellets had better nutritional value. They did notice the pellets but they did not eat it. I am not worried about their hunger though because they are eating the plants.

 

[PurityNRoses]

Usually, it takes a day or two for fish to get used to their tank. They honestly don’t eat for a bit until they are comfortable. I’d be worried if the kept the hunger strike going for a week or more. If they are still colorful, it’s nothing to worry about! I wouldn’t worry about your plants. They are probably pecking at the algae. Your honeys will be trained to your pellets and realize they are safe and tasty treats! It just takes patience! Best of luck with your honeys! I’m sure they’ll be great!

 

[JuDom]

Hi there!

It is very normal for fish not to eat when you first bring them home so don’t worry about that too much. It also could be that they received flakes at the FS and aren’t familiar with pellets.

As for picking at the plants, gouramis will do this when they are attempting to build a bubble nest. Do you have both males and females? Hopefully 2F and 1M

 

[BigManAquatics]

Give them time. All your theories are probably at least part of whats going on. May not even recognize the pellets as food yet even.

 

[Morayeel]

Hi there!

It is very normal for fish not to eat when you first bring them home so don’t worry about that too much. It also could be that they received flakes at the FS and aren’t familiar with pellets.

As for picking at the plants, gouramis will do this when they are attempting to build a bubble nest. Do you have both males and females? Hopefully 2F and 1M

They are young so its hard to tell but I think I have 2 females and 1 males, what I think is the male is smaller than the other two and what I think are the females are larger with a stripe.

 

[JuDom]

They are young so its hard to tell but I think I have 2 females and 1 males, what I think is the male is smaller than the other two and what I think are the females are larger with a stripe.

It’s difficult to ID their sex when they are juvenile but the most distinctive difference between males and females is their dorsal fin. The females’ will be short and rounded and the males’ will be longer and come to a point. At a young age, these fins are not fully developed so you may not be able to tell quite yet.