Tropical Fish Forums

[andiesch]

not sure what type of gourami, its blue with a black dot on both of his sides.but today it started to act weird, it started to swim forward and back very quickly, the waters levels are fine and no other fish seem affected and the gourami has no external symptoms other than the odd swimming. please help!

[Angela G.]

First things first, lets try to identify this gourami you have. Is it thisgourami. Click the link to see the image. If so that's a blue/three spot gourami.

Secondly, what size tank do you have this gourami in? What other fish are in the tank with the gourami? Is the tank planted or are there hiding spaces available? What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)? How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change at a time?

Those are some of the basic questions you need to answer before anyone will be able to give you any definitive help. To me it sounds like your gourami is stressed out by something but I can't tell if that's the case unless I know the tank size/setup, tankmates, and water parameters.

[andiesch]

yes thats him!and hes not new by any means hes been in there for a year,(tank has been going for about a year and half) pH is 7.6 ammonia 0 nitrates below 20ppm and hes in a 20 gallon tank(would he get along with cichlids because I could put him ion a 55 gallon) he is in there will 3 platies (20 fry) and 2 yoyo loaches. there are a few hiding places for him but he just seems to want to stay in the corner. the tank is not planted because I.m in the middle of getting rid of snails. thank you so much for this help I hope thats enough information.. I think the tank may be too small but I am afraid of putting him in with cichlids. and usually when I change the water its about 20%

[Angela G.]

Yeah, he more than likely does need a tank bigger than 20 gallons. These gourami get to be 4 inches long. I know there are some people on the forum that have kept them with cichlids, however I don't have any experience keeping cichlids and gourami together. Perhaps someone else will be able to help you with that angle of things. Perhaps you should list which cichlids you have in your 55 so someone else can give you more information on whether you can put them together or not.

[andiesch]

yes, thats what I figured
I have
3- red zebra
2 yellow labs
1-albino (not sure what type)
2 auratus
1- pleco

[andiesch]

well my gourami is happily swimming around in my cichlid tank and has stopped his odd swimming. thanks for the help!

[mel_41085]

I have kept an opal gourami in a tank with cihclids. they were Indian Cichlids and my opal Gourami was approx. 2 inches long. There were about 20 other community fish in the aquarium including an Australian Archerfish, Silver Dollars, dwarf Gouramis, Loaches, Neons and more. He never acted weird and never sat in one corner of the tank... although my tank was 100gallons. I agree that he will need more space as mine grew very fast. I would suggest moving him into the cichlids tank and seeing how he goes. my cichlids never bothered my Opal Gourami. [/quote]
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- Mel -

[mel_41085]

Looks like I was too late with my Reply...... Sorry. hope it helped anyway.
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- Mel -