Shy Honey Gourami

I got a honey gourami a couple of weeks ago. I had to keep him in my 10 gal for about a week while my new 30 finished it's cycle. While he was in there, he happily swam around with my emarld eye rasbora and CPD. Since moving him into the larger 30 gallon, he has become very shy and often hides behind the plants at the back of the tank.

He eats well when I offer frozen baby brine or daphnia, but doesn't join the frenzy when I feed pleco wafer. I have the sponge from the 10gal filter in the new tank to help keep the BB going strong. He likes to blow a few bubbles on it after he has eaten.

Question 1 He seems to poop a lot and sometimes has a string of it hanging from him. Is that normal?

Question 2 Is it ok for him to fast the day or two a week I feed the pleco wafers?

Question 3 Do you think that he would be less shy with another honey gourami or more so because of competition? I know honey gourami aren't that compatitive/agressive, but not sure if a shy one would be happier with one or two more males or not.

Specs: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, ph 6.8, temp 74
tank mates: 5 emerald eye rasbora, 5 CPD, 1 zebra nerite, 1 GBR

*Yes, I know I need bigger schools. More coming tomorrow! GBR is not agressive, except a little stingy when it comes to the pleco wafers. Lol! He will give a brief chase to the schools when they come to eat, but they come right back. He sometimes hangs out with the gourami. I have seen no aggression at all between the two.

 

Is there enough plant coverage in the tank or are they only in the back?

 

Mine was shy initially and spent most of his time in the plants near the back, just like yours. It took several weeks for him to really settle into the tank, but now he explores all over.

I did add a second male honey gourami and they get along great (my first one had become more adventurous even before adding the new one). The newer one was never as shy-- not sure if it's just a personality difference.

I can tell you that they both enjoy having floating plants at the top of the tank. That is where both of mine spend much of their time.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm using fake plants and most are rather short for the hight of the tank. I have a couple of floating. He hides behind one of the floating ones or the bushiest of the small ones. I think I'll get a couple of taller ones today and see if that helps. I did see him exploring a bit more this morning, so hopefully he is just taking his time to settle in. Although the GBR shows no aggression toward him, I wonder that he may feel a bit intimidated because it is much larger than he is.

Are the poop strings normal? I had a dwarf once and don't remember him pooping as much as this guy. Different species I know, but similar size and species. He is sometimes dragging strings as long as he is. Gross!

How long can he go without food? HI'm not eating the day or two a week when I feed the pleco wafers is ok, right? Perhaps he will come out to munch on them when he settles in a bit more.

 

Yes, I think adding some more plants might be helpful. It seems counterintuitive, but sometimes having more cover and hiding places actually allows you to see the fish more. I think it gives them a sense of security that encourages them to venture out more.

As far as the poop...I think it sounds pretty normal. What color is it? My honey gourami's poop is usually sort of light brown or slightly terra cotta color. It is a stringy shape. I would say it isn't usually quite as long as you are describing, but I don't think you really need to worry. It is totally ok for a fish to fast for a day or two each week. I fast my tank each Friday. Is there a reason that you feed only the wafers on certain days? Could you perhaps offer a small pinch of good-quality flake food along with it?

 

I mix things up, some days I feed daphnia, some days baby brine, and some days the wafers. None of my fish really go for the fakes. On the days I feed frozen foods, I feed am and pm. The days I feed the wafers, only am because it takes them all day and sometimes a little into the next morning to finish. I don't really want to add another food sorce while I have that setting in there. I have tried halving the amount of wafer so they would finish sooner, but then my snail doesn't get any.

I'm sure he'll be fine without food those days. I just wanted reassurance since his my new baby.

As for the poop, light brown/cream color that looks normal... a bit more terra cotta after the brine. So I guess it's fine. He doesn't always get a "klinger", but sometimes. I've seen this constantly with goldfish and plecos, I just wasn't expecting him to do it and wondered if it was a constipation issue or something.

 

Update: I went to my LFS this afternoon to pick up the emerald eyes that I had ordered and he had some perfect golden honeys. I couldn't resist bringing two of them home. (I hope 3 of them arre ok for my tank. It puts my stock a little on the heavy side. I think.)

He came out of hiding when their bag was floating in the tank on put on a bit of a breeding dress. His colors got much brighter and he got a bit of the black to his throat and ventral fin. When I first let them out of the bag, the 3 of them and the ram all just hung out at the top in one of the corners checking each out. Lol!

One of the newbies is larger than him and gives a bit of a "shove off" chase when he goes near it, but the other is repeatedly hanging out near him. He keeps going over to it and stanging completely vertical with his head facing up. Is this flirting? He just stands still like that awhile and the other sits there about an inch away staring.