# Sick dwarf gourami



## Animalofme (Jun 30, 2011)

I have a 20 gallon planted aquarium that I've had set up for about 6 months. I have two 2" opaline gouramis, two 2" flame gouramis, two small mickey mouse platies, and 1 betta. I do a ten gallon water change every week, and my water parameters are fairly steady as follows: 
Temp: 78f
Nitrites: 0.0
Nitrates: 0.0
Alkalinity: 90 ppm
Ph: 7.2

About a week ago, I purchased one male and one female neon blue dwarf gouramis, and all was normal until 2 days ago. The male started to not eat anything, and began hiding much more than normal. I tried frozen brine shrimp, but he wouldn't touch that, either. This morning I noticed his tail was a little tattered, and he was breathing very heavily. As of now, I have him quarantined in a 5 gallon tank that's been treated with aquarium salt and fungus clear in hopes that he won't get an infection in his vulnerable state. He's been cowering in the corner and seems to be having difficulty coming up for air, so I brought the water down to about 6" deep. Any advice you have will be much appreciated.
Jake


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Hi, the problem you have described is classic bully syndrome as i like to call it. More than one male gourami in any tank can lead to devastation. Seeing as your tank is only 20gl its a quicker knock on effect. The dominant male will harass any other approaching males and chase them and can cause damage to fins and body. They will usually keep going until death happens on the less strong gourami. Ive seen it from personal experience and is also seen in most aquariums (some manage to keep 2-3 males with no problems but even this can be a very rare occasion). The flame and dwarf will fight if they are male. the symptoms described sounds like it has been harassed to the point of extreme stress (hence the hiding and heavy breathing) The damage or discolouration to its fin/tail will be damage caused through the other gourami.


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## Animalofme (Jun 30, 2011)

The male flame is the most timid fish in the tank, but they both hid in the rocks a lot, so I can only guess as to whether they were fighting or not. I'll keep him quarantined for now and hope he starts feeling better. Thanks for the quick reply!


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

Mine was the same, timid and didnt look like it had any bad bone to him. Added a second male about a week later he was dead from stress from bullying. As i found out it happened when the lights were out or when i wasnt there to see (or when i did see it i thought it was innocent play chasing, i know better now of course).


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Mine has killed 4 other males before I finally stopped putting anymore in there.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yeah gouramis may look nice,but they are aggressive especially to other males Same with that betta.As a matter of fact it would not shock me in the least of the betta was one of the bullies.With that many aggressive fish,you are lucky to get by with only one being tattered.


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## bolram (May 17, 2011)

I actually missed the betta bit. Yeah bettas and gourami should not be mixed as they are known to be extremely aggressive towards each other.


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

My culprit would be the opaline gourami. The males can be real bullies to other males.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

at one time, I had 4 DG's in a 10 gallon planted tank... that was entertaining for a little while... they actually were fine in the 10 gallon for about 4 months before I got a 30 gallon and moved them all to it, then one of the Flames took out the other 3 within a month... they certainly can be ferocious little guys to others of their own species


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