need help with my colisa lalia (dwarf gourami)

[nikki]

Hello,
I posted this some time ago in general discussion but had only one reply...

I've had some problems for three weeks now first with my female dwarf gourami (colisa lalia). Her behaviour changed, she started to hide and to be very shy, which she wasn't all. I thought she was bothered by her male so I separated them, it didn't help. I was told something may be wrong in the water, the parameters were okay, though and at my fish club they advised me to make a water change of half the volume and to add salt in the new water. I did it. She was better. After a few days, I reintroduced her male and slowly she went back to her 'shy' behaviour. She hid and hardly ate. You advised me both in this forum and at my fish club to add another female, but yesterday the male started to hide, too. I added 2 young females but they didn't care. They went on both hiding and hardly eating.
After 5 days, I found the 2 new females dead. They started hiding the night before and were dead next day. I didn't notice any other symptom.

Now the couple eats a little bit but still has the same "shy" behaviour..

Has anyone got any ideas on what's going on?

 

[loganj]

I know this isn't much help, but I don't have a clue. Are you sure you have eliminated anything that could have changed? Can you tell us what the water parameters are? I can only think that something has changed in their environment that is stressing them.
Logan J

 

[rthoman]

Hey all the way to France, (I was there 2 years ago )

I had 2 female Dwarf Gouramis and they lived for a few months then one died. Then the next week the other died. They seemed fine and I didn't loose anyother fish. My male chased them around all the time, and they never really hid anywhere.

 

[nikki]

colisa lalia

Thanks for your advice. I checked the water parameters, they are fine. The other fish are fine, too.
I still think that they have a kind of disease, but I don't know what they suffer from. It's weird the 2 young females died so quickly, they weren't stressed at all and suddenly they were hiding and were dead on the next day.
I noticed the male sometimes swims in a weird way, hitting the plants he swims near. Could it be a symptom of something? I'm new in this hobby.

 

[Guest]

I noticed the male sometimes swims in a weird way, hitting the plants he swims near. Could it be a symptom of something? I'm new in this hobby.

Does he swim real fast when he brushes aganst things? This behavior is called "Flashing" and smetimes indicates an external parasite or skin disease that they are trying to rub off by brushing up against things. Look at him as closely as you can and check for abnormalities.

however, I'm no gourami expert. Also, I've had other fish do this when there was nothing wrong with them!

To sum up, watch him closely, there may be something wrong, or he might just like to do that. Fish can be just as odd as people.

 

[BondStreet]

Hi There Nikki,

New fish, on some level, are so hit-or-miss. But I have some questions/suggestions that hopefully will shed SOME light as to what is goin on.

Are you buying your fish from a reputable place? And at the local pet store where you buy the fish from, are there other sick fish in the tanks where you choose your fish from? The reason I say this, is that I, too, have made the mistake of buying what I thought was a "superb condition" fish, ignoring the fact that there was another sick fish in the tank. I thought, "this one is not sick". I found out that the best way to avoid being suprised when you bring it home, is to not bring it home at all. Many times fish from sick tank aren't showing sypmtoms. Remember, fishstores restock their fish weekly. The fish look healthy, so you won't know they are sick till you bring it home. They appear well, but may be infected because of stress transport, or other sick fish that are in the same tank as it. Just be SUPER careful to observe behavior when choosing your stock.

Also, I, too, super shy fish. However, I figured that fish are very territorial. More so than most books/experts tell you. Therefore, I suggest creating an "area" for the shy fish to have - meaning hiding space. I have a planted tank and my plants are growing pretty astronomically and it is giving my shy fish great places to hide. It just relieves stress(I believe) when they have somewhere to go if they are being chased. Therefore, try creating some areas. Change the set up of your tank a little bit. I really suggest live plants, but that's just me.

Lastly, feeding shy fish, again, can be hard, but try using tongs to feed the fish bloodworms or live brine shrimp. I had this problem and was worried until I actually took live brine shrimp in between my fingers, slowly reached into the tank close to where the shy fish was(be very slow in doing this otherwise you will just scare them to another area of the tank) and I let the brine shrimp swim out of my hand and the shy fish ATE ATE ATE! You can also use tongs, but I didn't have them, so I used my hands(after rinsing them thoroughly without soap of course) Try it. It can be so satisfying

Well that is my few cents worth. Hope it helps and good luck with your tank. It is hit-or-miss at first. Don't get disheartened.

A Bientot...
Bondstreet

 

[nikki]

colisa lalia

Thanks to all of you for your pieces of advice.
I think Bondstreet you may be right about the shop. These fish have been in my planted tank for nearly six months and everythig was fine when suddenly the female developped that weird behaviour, followed by her male and then the 2 new young females died within a week. As they all come from the same shop , there may be something wrong with the shop.
I was told a lot of fish are sick when they are sold and so they die a little later. I think I should try to find someone who breed them and buy from that person.
By the way, I've got a lot of places for them to hide and they aren't chased at all by any other fish. They don't eat a lot, I mean they look at the food but don't eat a lot of it (as they used to).

 

[mlauzier]

Hi! I am new at aquarium stuff

I have a couple of Blue Gourami. I bought them together, a male and a female. When I got them home and put them in the aquarium, they were acting fine. Each time I fed them, the male would chase the female for a while after they had finished eating. A couple of days ago, the female started acting real strange. She is hiding and comes up for air very quickly then returns to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes she even "teases" the male. She swims in a very strange pattern, darting and stopping on a dime. Is this behavior normal.