New Aquarist Joining the Ranks

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Gouramii

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 6, 2011
Messages
58
Location
Canada
Hello everyone!

My name is Gouramii and I am a high school student
from Canada. I started up my 10 Gallon tank this past September
and everything so far is going alright.

I am keeping only gouramis since they are my favorite type of freshwater fish. Right now I have 4 dwarf gouramis and 1 honey dwarf gourami. I added these fish (of course not at all the same time) about two weeks after starting my tank. I started the tank with a comet goldfish and added my first real fish (honey gourami) a week after. I then added what I thought was a female honey (for I thought what I purchased already was male) but she had died today of a broken water bladder ("she" showed the symptoms of one). Now I only pocess 5 fish altogether.

The main reason why I joined this site is that I am a new aquarist but also I have fallen in love with fish that don't come with much information attached. The pet store I go to can't help me with my questions so there must be someone here who understands my pain as a gourami hobbyist. Sexing gouramis has defeated me. I think my female was so stressed out because there were only males in the tank. Now I'm worried my "males" are going to start to fight. My poor tiny honey gourami! He's the smallest in the tank and I'm worried about him the most although everyone seems peaceful at the moment.

Watch out, for I am going to be posting tons of topics all over the site!

 
Hello everyone!

My name is Gouramii and I am a high school student
from Canada. I started up my 10 Gallon tank this past September
and everything so far is going alright.

I am keeping only gouramis since they are my favorite type of freshwater fish. Right now I have 4 dwarf gouramis and 1 honey dwarf gourami. I added these fish (of course not at all the same time) about two weeks after starting my tank. I started the tank with a comet goldfish and added my first real fish (honey gourami) a week after. I then added what I thought was a female honey (for I thought what I purchased already was male) but she had died today of a broken water bladder ("she" showed the symptoms of one). Now I only pocess 5 fish altogether.

The main reason why I joined this site is that I am a new aquarist but also I have fallen in love with fish that don't come with much information attached. The pet store I go to can't help me with my questions so there must be someone here who understands my pain as a gourami hobbyist. Sexing gouramis has defeated me. I think my female was so stressed out because there were only males in the tank. Now I'm worried my "males" are going to start to fight. My poor tiny honey gourami! He's the smallest in the tank and I'm worried about him the most although everyone seems peaceful at the moment.

Watch out, for I am going to be posting tons of topics all over the site!


Welcome to AA! :welcome:

Looking forward to your postings and hopefully some pictures!
 
:welcome: to AA! :)

Glad to see another high school student on here, lately they've all been disappearing to who-knows-where.

Just wanna give you a heads up that the gourami and goldfish won't always be compatible as eventually the goldfish will become too big and active for the gourami and they have different temperature requirements.
 
Perfect because gold fish was already given to little cousin. :)

I had to because the goldfish was "sucking" onto my little dwarfs and I was so P.O.ed. Just gouramis in the tank now! Thank goodness that mess is over.

And yeah not a lot of highschoolers are into fish at my school. I find it really relaxing during all these difficult assignments and preparing for diplomas. Very therapeutic.
 
Welcome to AA im sure you'll find its a pleasant website. Funny, I became a sophomore this year.
 
I quite enjoy studying next to my tank. And the studies about having a tank with high blood pressure are true. I have a bit of a high pressure but it seems to have dropped a bit since setting up my tank. Cool huh?
 
Hello everyone!


My name is Gouramii and I am a high school student
from Canada. I started up my 10 Gallon tank this past September
and everything so far is going alright.​

I am keeping only gouramis since they are my favorite type of freshwater fish. Right now I have 4 dwarf gouramis and 1 honey dwarf gourami. I added these fish (of course not at all the same time) about two weeks after starting my tank. I started the tank with a comet goldfish and added my first real fish (honey gourami) a week after. I then added what I thought was a female honey (for I thought what I purchased already was male) but she had died today of a broken water bladder ("she" showed the symptoms of one). Now I only pocess 5 fish altogether.​

The main reason why I joined this site is that I am a new aquarist but also I have fallen in love with fish that don't come with much information attached. The pet store I go to can't help me with my questions so there must be someone here who understands my pain as a gourami hobbyist. Sexing gouramis has defeated me. I think my female was so stressed out because there were only males in the tank. Now I'm worried my "males" are going to start to fight. My poor tiny honey gourami! He's the smallest in the tank and I'm worried about him the most although everyone seems peaceful at the moment.​

Watch out, for I am going to be posting tons of topics all over the site!​
Welcome. So, I have seen you have already posted a few things. Its good you want to learn. I have a question, do you have a bigger tank planned for the gouramis? Also, do you have a kit to test your water parameters?
 
Haha, I'm not obsessed! Maybe a little. I'm just a information seeking person 24/7. I love to learn.
 
absolutangel04 said:
Welcome. So, I have seen you have already posted a few things. Its good you want to learn. I have a question, do you have a bigger tank planned for the gouramis? Also, do you have a kit to test your water parameters?

I do not own a test kit... yet.

I am returning most of the gouramis back to the store because I noticed some fin problems with them plusss I have too many males. The store clerk obviously didn't investigate the genders when I asked. I'm planning to lower my fish count to 3 and save up for a 20 gallon before adding more.
 
I do not own a test kit... yet.

I am returning most of the gouramis back to the store because I noticed some fin problems with them plusss I have too many males. The store clerk obviously didn't investigate the genders when I asked. I'm planning to lower my fish count to 3 and save up for a 20 gallon before adding more.
Ok. Yeah, test kits are good things. You should look into your parameters because you may not have allowed a full cycle to take place. Also, poor params can cause fin problems.
Sorry to say this, but I think only one dg per 10 gallons is actually all you should keep. Also, honeys get bigger and, imo, do not belong in a 10 at all. If you want 3, good luck. Its hard to find female dg's. I have only seen them in a store once or twice ever. But, I think you will have issues with 3 in a 10g since they are territorial. If you just keep one, you can get a school of small tetras like neons or embers to live with him though until you can afford a bigger tank to keep more gouramis. :)
 
Test kit is definitely on my list.

And thank you so much for helping me realize the problem these stores have caused for me. I thought everything was going so well but nope! Thank goodness this site exists. I've learned so much in a... Hour. That is freaking wicked.

Oh, and I should explain the fin problem I mentioned. It looks like packing damage. Like, when all those fish get shipped in that one bag, it seems to have bent the two dwarf's "whiskers". No fin rot or anything like that at all.

I'm certainly going to try and get my money back. The "guy" told me it'd be fine to put all those fish in.
 
Test kit is definitely on my list.

And thank you so much for helping me realize the problem these stores have caused for me. I thought everything was going so well but nope! Thank goodness this site exists. I've learned so much in a... Hour. That is freaking wicked.

Oh, and I should explain the fin problem I mentioned. It looks like packing damage. Like, when all those fish get shipped in that one bag, it seems to have bent the two dwarf's "whiskers". No fin rot or anything like that at all.

I'm certainly going to try and get my money back. The "guy" told me it'd be fine to put all those fish in.
Oh man, I can't even count how many times people on here (myself included) have been led astray by random pet store employees. Some stores are awesome with an well-educated staff, and some are deplorable. There are a few posts on here about newbie downfalls. I guess one lesson a lot of us (myself included;)) learned was to do our own research and not trust a fish store employee unless they prove to us that they know what they are talking about. In the end, a lot of them want to sell as a first priority, and some of them just have no idea what they are talking about.
Yeah, I have seen gouramis like that before. Its sad that they get hurt like that. I also hate the dying process. I NEVER buy died fish either. :)
 
Oh man, I can't even count how many times people on here (myself included) have been led astray by random pet store employees. Some stores are awesome with an well-educated staff, and some are deplorable. There are a few posts on here about newbie downfalls. I guess one lesson a lot of us (myself included;)) learned was to do our own research and not trust a fish store employee unless they prove to us that they know what they are talking about. In the end, a lot of them want to sell as a first priority, and some of them just have no idea what they are talking about.
Yeah, I have seen gouramis like that before. Its sad that they get hurt like that. I also hate the dying process. I NEVER buy died fish either. :)
I would suggest you get the test kit, double check that you are well-cycled, fix any issues there if there are any, and look into a small school of fish to go with your gourami. I keep ember tetras in my 10 with a betta. They are great. Bright colored and very peaceful. Not fin nippers or anything. :) You can always ask other people about keeping a trio in a 10g if you want. I don't think its a good idea, but somebody else might have a different opinion.
Hmmmm.... I don't know why I quoted myself.... Oops.
 
Back
Top Bottom