Why is my gouramis color fading???

[martintanks91]

My opaline gouramis color is fading, it almost has no spots on his body and 2 months ago when i got him he was beutifull. I do water changes every 2 weeks. I have a 80 galón tropical community tank with a pearl gourami, neons, rummy noses and red eye tetras. Please help


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[lilme]

I think it is stress my gourami did that when he was stressed

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[martintanks91]

Why would he be stressd i do water changes every 2 weeks and dont have any fish stress him or anything. What can it be?


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[martintanks91]

This is him before he lost all o his color and spots


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[lilme]

are your gouramies getting along
and water test readings if you have them would help

 

[martintanks91]

They get a long really well and i dont have water perameters now but i do water changes every 2 weeks is that enough?


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[lilme]

yes just asking lol and is there anything new?

 

[kdklovesfish]

My heater was broken and I didn't know it. The temp was going up and down, I'm sure causing stress. One day my gourami looked mostly just blue (what you're describing as faded) and the next day he was the same as your picture. Once I got a new heater and got the water down to the temp he likes (77 for this one) his colors came back. Worth a check.


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[azmodan]

They get a long really well and i dont have water perameters now but i do water changes every 2 weeks is that enough?


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It is impossible to say without knowing your water parameters. Do you have a liquid test kit yourself? Your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings are all very important to know and determine how often you should be changing your water.

Does the pearl gourami display any aggressive behavior? Does the tank have much cover, in particular floating plants? Gouramis sometimes get a bit washed out under bright light if there isn't much cover near the surface. Is it eating normally?

 

[martintanks91]

I dont have a test kit at the moment i need to get one quick and i have some plants and driftwood for alitle hiding but i dont know if its enough ill put a pic of my tank and maybe u can tell me if its enough. It might be the heater problem cause its really not the best heater but my pearl gourami is perfectly fine so i dont know. De pearl doesnt bother the opaline at all


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[bettaowner]

How many red eye tetras do you have? I had really bad experience with red eye tetras being aggressive and tormenting my angelfish. I'm not sure why but it could have been from the school being too small.


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[martintanks91]

I have a group of 6. They dont atack any of my other fish but they do hog all the food, theyr crazy when i throw the food in


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[DeirdreHoyle]

Did you cycle your tank before adding the gourami? If the tank is still cycling the changing water parameters could be stressing him. I know everyone else has already said this, but knowing your water parameters will be super helpful.

 

[trennamw]

What a lovely tank!

A very standard water change program is 50% of the tank every week.

It could be many, many things ... Food, water parameters, stress from not having enough cover, stress from other fish ...

So here are several ideas:

It's critical you have a thermometer and a test kit. Check the temp at least daily, and the water at least weekly. Strips tend to be wrong, the API kit with the test tubes and bottles is good. It may be confusing at first but in time it becomes very easy.

You might consider some floating plants and a background on the tank to help the fish feel safer. It's a lovely tank and if a background doesn't work for you, lots more plants might. Or at least a few floating ones. I like brazilian pennywort and so does my betta (a gourami relative).

Food affects color. What food are you using?

I've also read about gouramis being given a lot of hormones to color up at the breeder, maybe that has worn off.

It's great that you noticed and came to ask questions!


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[martintanks91]

Thanks for liking my tank. Ive had this tank for over an year now i cycled it at the begining and all the fish were fine. The background doesnt work for me because i can see it from Both sides as u can see in the picture but i do need some more plants. I feed my fish tetra min flakes witch i think are great. It could be my heater that really doesnt work that Well or few plants


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