Worried About My Honey Gourami

my honey gourami started resting at the bottom of the tank today. He’s still swimming around like normal, but occasionally he just rests at the bottom. I attached a picture. Ammonia and nitrite are testing zero. pH is at 7.6. Nitrates are 20ppm. Is this normal? Is he just resting? I don’t see any other symptoms of diseases. He’s eating normally, poop looks normal.

 

As long as he is eating and showing normal symptoms, you shouldn't be worrying about it. It's most likely that he's resting.

 

Gourami's should typically hang out near the top since they are air breathers. If they start hanging out at the bottom, there is something wrong (stress, shock, disease). 20ppm is at the upper end for Nitrates. How much water are you changing and how often? I'd start by suggesting a 25% water change to lower the nitrates a bit.

 

I have been changing about 20% every other day because the tank is still new and he seems to pooping a lot haha. It’s just recently finished cycling. I was just about to start changing to weekly water changes

But I have always been told nitrates are normal as long as they aren’t above 40 ppm. Aren’t they necessary to keep ammonia and nitrites under control?

 

I would shoot for nitrate levels between 5ppm - 10ppm

 

Okay good to know

 

I'd suggest either two 25% water changes within a couple of days of each other or a 50% water change to cut that ammonia in half.

 

Okay. I mean like I said before, I have been changing the water every day since I added him to the tank, so are more water changes really gonna make that much of a difference? I will definitely continue the water changes, but is there anything else I can do?

 

Seachem Prime will detoxify ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You can try that.

 

Nitrates at 20 is not yet a problem, you heard correctly that a level up to 40 is roughly max for the average aquarist to tolerate. However, water changes never hurt anything.

Honey Gouramis don't normally rest on the bottom. First question in my head is what's the temperature?

 

The temperature has been around 78. That’s as low as I am able to get it with how hot it’s been in my area. I have a heater, but it’s set around 72-75, so it only starts heating if it’s below that.