powder blue dwarf gourami not doing well

[elfuego]

Hi guys and gals it's been awhile.
Just put 3 new gouramis in my tank. the pb went strait to work building a nest . No not a bubble nest but a nest of plant material spit up onto to the top of the aquarium wall (not in water), anyway, he has been very aggressive, defending said nest for about 2 weeks now, however for the past 2 days he hasn't eaten, is very inactive and the other 2 gouramis now pick on him.
Cannot see any outward signs of disease. These fish are new to me don't know if I can separate him to a bowl (like a betta) for rehab or not.
unfortunately I do not have a hospital tank set up.
I also did not know that I should not have put more than one male in the tank. I can't tell the difference and I know the fish store dude didn't know.
30 gal tank, lots of vegetation, been thriving for about 2years with 5 sids, 1 sae, 5 cardinal tetras and now the gouramis. One Powder blue dwarf, one dwarf, and one pearl.
Any help would be appreciated!!!

[mistergreen]

yes, separate the sick one. You can put him in a bowl temporarily, if you must. But you'll have to do daily water change. He's probably stressed from the others picking on him. You'll have to deal with this a lot.. Gouramis in general are not very nice in groups.

Go and get a 10G tank and set up a hospital tank. It's pretty cheap.

Your tank sounds a little crowded.

[elfuego]

Thanks mistergreen,
I have the tank to set up I just haven't done it.
I should have stayed in touch with you guys and I wouldn't be having this problem!
I will separate him now. Should he be medicated with anything? Melafix perhaps?

[Diana]

Do not use Melafix.
There are known problems with Melafix and Bettas, dealing with the labyrinth organ. Gouramis have the same organ, and while I have not seen any studies saying do not use Melafix with Anabantoids in general, I would play it safe and not use it. Start with plenty of water changes to keep the nitrogen products as low as possible, keep him warm, especially the air above the bowl, keep the water moving gently, perhaps with a small bubbler.

Dwarf Gouramis have been bred in hatcheries for so long that they seem to be getting weaker, and are susceptible to many infections.

Dwarf Gouramis do build bubble nests using lots of plant material.

A single Pearl or Dwarf Gourami would be enough for a 30 gallon, any way of returning the excess fish? Or getting more tanks?

Female Dwarf Gouramis are almost never available, and there is not much of a way of telling them apart.

[mistergreen]

you can tell a female a little. They're a bit duller and the end of the dorsal fin is rounded.

[elfuego]

Hi Diana,
Did not use melafix. Took out Big Blue put him in a bowl and will set up a tank for him tomorrow. It will take time to cycle can he live in the bowl that long? I will change the water every day. He has a very small heater, the same I use with all my bettas and some java moss in there.
Already figured out the other two will need separating as well.
Have kind of been waiting for our dumb piranha to go to fishy heaven so my fish in the 30 can move to the 55gal.
May have to set up 2 new tanks. Don't do well returning fish.
Thanks

[starsplitter7]

Of course, set up more tanks.

[Diana]

Bowl or tank the wastes will build up.
I would move him to the tank ASAP, and put some cycled filter media in the filter of his quarantine tank. For one fish it will not take much, and his tank will be at least half or 3/4 cycled. This will be better, I would think, than keeping him in a bowl.

[loachcoach]

Of course, set up more tanks.

That's my answer for everything

I echo setting up a bare bones 10 gallon hospital tank.....inexpensive to setup and will relieve headaches in the future.

[elfuego]

Thanks everyone.
I lost the powder blue last night.
However, I am setting up a 20 gal as we speak, for the pearl and other tank mates(any ideas)?
I will set up my other 10 as a hospital tank.
I will leave Dwarf Daddy in the 30 gal.
I still have another 10 and a 5gal hex, which I am really tempted to set up for another powder blue. I really liked him.
All this I do, when I'm supposed to be studying A&P, and the significant other and I had agreed to cut back on fish tanks.
I blame it on you people. I should have stayed away!
This time if you don't hear from me for a really long time, I was probably cut up and fed to the big dumb piranha.
Thanks again!

[Diana]

Pearls tend to be rather peaceful, especially to other fish that are not surface dwellers. I would put the Pearl in the 30, however, they get bigger than the Dwarf.
Tankmates for either would come from a similar list:
If you want to stick with an Asian theme, then
Rasboras, warmer water Barbs (pentazonas, for example), Some Loaches, but be careful: Gouramis do not really care for faster moving water, and most Loaches do like it. A power head set rather low in the tank seems to work well.

If you do not mind mixing fish from different continents then any of the warmer water Tetras that do not get too big for a school in the tank you have would work. Neither species of Gourami eat smaller fish (well, maybe Guppy fry), so Cardinals, Rummynose, and many other Tetras would work. Bottom fish like Corys will work well with these fish, too. In a 10 or even a 20 I would go with a school of smaller Cories such as Dwarfs or Pandas.

Avoid:
Bettas, Paradise Fish, other Gouramis, other similar shaped surface fish like Hatchets.
(I have Hatchets with my Moonlight Gouramis, but in a larger tank, and the Moonlights are really mellow fish)

[elfuego]

O.K.
I should keep Pearly in the 30. I"ll put Dwarf Daddy in the 20 gal. I always like to throw an SAE in for grounds keeping. Is that ok? It's not a long foot print 20 it is a tall tank, as I understand it, not the best for loaches but I would really like to put some in there if possible.
I like rummynose tetras. I'll go and check out the Corys.
My fish store had black and golden kuhlis, yoyo, Queen Botia, and 1 Zebra loach(i think) have to do more research.
I am rather fond of the Kuhli types.
Using fine textured, sand like gravel.
Will take all suggestions!

[Diana]

SAE gets too big for a 20. Maybe start with a young one, then move him up to the 30.

What sort of algae do you get that you need one of these guys? There are other (smaller) fish that eat some of the hairy sorts of algae.

[elfuego]

Actually, more than algae, my current big one eats fish poop. He especially likes the gourami stuff. Keeps the sand looking quite tidy.
He is quite large though.
Any other suggestions?

[mistergreen]

i don't think any fish eat poop. They might move things around.

Try a couple of otos instead of a SAE. SAEs grow pretty big.