# I've lost 4 Dwarf Gouramis... ONLY them though



## jaydoubledub (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for any help on the matter.
I strongly dislike re-posts. Therefore, I looked through all 4 pages with "gouramis" in this Topic area (Freshwater Fish Diseases etc.) I didn't find anyone with the same issue. I did however find a thread I found to be entertaining: http://www.aquariumforum.com/f5/what-heck-going-10020.html

Anyways, back to the matter at hand, sorry!

I am not horribly beat-up, but, I hate losing any fish!! I had The first dwarf powder blue gourami since I first started at a 10g tank, then a 20g, then a 40g, and now as a 60 gallon tank. I would say over a time frame of two years. A hearty lad he was! About 4 months ago a added a sunset dwarf gourami so he could have a pal, just like his tank mates do. A few weeks, to a month ago he died! I initially saw him hanging around the bottom and it didn't seem he ate much. I noticed his lack of eating when I gave him/them a freeze dried bloodworm treat and he loves/ed them! A few days later, or so his buddy died. About a week after that I decided to get another dwarf powder blue. A good two or three days and "swiishhhhh"! After just over a week I went for one last chance. I just got back from the field for four days and guess who was floating? Yeah.

My stock is in my signature, but, I will cut and paste it here, since I need to adjust it now... 
60 gallon
6 Orange/Sunburst Platy
1 Powder Blue Gourami :-(
1 Red Dwarf Gourami :-(
1 Silver Tip Tetra
2 Glass Catfish
4 Zebra Long Fin Danios
4 Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE)
2 Amano Shrimp
2 Fancy? Tetras
1 Green/ghost pleco (about 1-1.5" currently)
Egeria densa/Anacharis
Melon Sword
Rose Sword
Glossostigma
Anubias barteri/Broad Leaf
Brazillian Pennywort
A few other plants...

My levels are:
Ammonia: 0ppm
pH: 7.0
Nitrite: opp
Nitrate: Ran out of liquid test, need to get more.

My CO2 is a reactor, which produces about 1 bubble per 1.5 seconds.
Since its on a reactor I use an aerator on a timer that kicks on bubbles about 30 mins before lights out and and off 30 mins before lights on. 

Heat sits about 77-79 degrees Fahrenheit between two 200 heaters.

Filtration is a Ecco Comfort 2234 by Eheim.

hmmm, what else? Oh, My feeding is mixed btween different flake types on an auto feeder, twice a day. I alternate about every two weeks between API Tropical flakes for community fish and Nutrafin MAX Livebearer flakes+Freeze dried tubifex worms. Occaisionally I will give a treat of Tetra Bloodworms or a TINY pinch of New Life Spectrum, color enhancing pellets. These have been pretty normal. I would say the only diet change is from Tetra flakes to API about 3 months ago or so.
And maybe once a week to 10 days I sink a slice of skinned cucumber for the SAE's



Please, let me know if you need anything further. I will be heading to my LFS shortly for more nitrate testing solution.

Thanks!

P.S. I totally forgot to mention that for nearly a year I've been fighting a chronic black algae (BBA) issue. It goes almost completely away and then returns. My SAE's eat the fuzz/beard but the algae is still on my slow growers. I changed the substrate entirely when I upgraded to my 60g about 2 months ago (keeping about 20 gallons of original water, with an upgrade/transfer time of about 3 hours.) I added the Eheim Comfort about a month ago with some of the bacteria pellet things in the canister, from my original power filter to keep the colonies in the filter. I didn't see any nitrite or ammonia spikes.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Sorry, didn't read the whole post....but, if you are putting Dwarf Gouramis in the same tank, unless it is 5-6ft long, you're going to have issues. They will kill each other until 1 is left. Stop buying them and only put one per tank. My Blue Gourami has killed 4 others.....took me that long to figure out what the issue was. The dead ones didn't have a mark on them, but they cause each other so much stress they end up dying. Some people say that you can have with females, but that doesn't guarantee the same issue won't occur.

Cutting back on your lighting time may help your algae. What light do you have on the tank and duration it is on?


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## jaydoubledub (Jun 28, 2011)

That's weird. Why did my latest one die then?
He was solo this last week and POW! He died.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I am sure that stress was a major player. Even the eventual winner of the tank, will have gone through quite a bit of stress.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

The dwarf gourami was a difficult species when it first came in, in its relatively robust wild form. Now we have farm produced color forms - highly inbred and according to people I've spoken with in the 'industry', prone to very high mortality rates in the stores. I wouldn't touch a non-wild caught gourami with a barge pole, for fear of what would come with them. The fishfarms produce a lot of fish well, but the gouramis are now a mess.

I say that as someone who loves this group of fish, and who kept them for close to 20 years. The honey Gourami is one of my all time favorites to keep and breed, but I don't even look at the hybrids being sold under that label now. 

In practical terms, you can keep buying them til you get a robust individual like your original one, or you can give up. I doubt it's you, or your set-up. They're the fish-farm version of the dog with collapsing hips....


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## Vic (Apr 19, 2011)

I have to agree with Ben, he told me the same thing and once I separated them they did great. I've got dwarfs and powder blues. Then the guy at LFS told me I could put a pearl in with one of them and be ok b/c they are "very timid". Nope... didn't work. 

Mine did the same thing, they would cower in a corner until they died. I lost several before I separated them and one afterwards.


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## Vic (Apr 19, 2011)

I have to agree with Ben, he told me the same thing and once I separated them they did great. I've got dwarfs and powder blues. Then the guy at LFS told me I could put a pearl in with one of them and be ok b/c they are "very timid". Nope... didn't work. 

Mine did the same thing, they would cower in a corner until they died. I lost several before I separated them and one afterwards.


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## jaydoubledub (Jun 28, 2011)

Thanks for the input. I am going to do a PWC today and grab another... Maybe an angel fish or possibly a smaller cichlid tomorrow or later today. I want a "centerpiece" fish for my tank and I really like the kind of neon glow the powder blue gouramis have... Any suggestions?


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## R4E5G5L (Jan 19, 2012)

I just came home for lunch to find my dwarf flame red dead. Beautiful color, no other gouramis, nobody picking on him, no signs of disease. Over the last few weeks he has become less and less active. I would lean towards the inbreeding and I've heard that the commercial breeders are all fighting dwarf gourami disease. Good luck with your next centerpiece fish.


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## jaydoubledub (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you! I still haven't purchased a new one. Mainly because I don't want to replace him yet lol
Also, I'm focusing around buying the best priced CO2 injection right now as well.


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## fishnjeeps (Nov 11, 2011)

Is this only an issue with the dwarf variety of Gourami's?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

fishnjeeps said:


> Is this only an issue with the dwarf variety of Gourami's?


I believe that is the case. I presonally haven't heard of the same type issues with the others.


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## jaydoubledub (Jun 28, 2011)

Well, I wanted to just give an update. I haven't purchased a new DG yet, but, I did lose two other fish over the last two days. One SAE and a sunburst platy. I think the platy may have passed from giving birth. It was fairly large one day and the next day or two later I notice a couple fry. I think they were eaten or still hiding very well. Later, I saw the platy struggling to swim at the floor and on either side.
I think the SAE may not have been getting enough food. The flakes in my auto-feeder was getting stuck and not much was coming out. That one I'm not sure of though...

As far as the other stock, everyone looks fine and all are swimming around.


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