Starving Dwarf Gourami?

[sarahsunshine]

I bought a dwarf gourami about 1.5 weeks ago. He's in my community 20g tank with neons, harequins, pleco, and khuli loaches. I think he's just got progressively thinner since I got him, and, until today, he has never come out - even at feeding time. Today he came up and ate about 2 bites of the hikari mini-pellets and then went and hid again.

Could he be starving? I thought that DGs ate regular fish flakes, and I've been feeding mini-pellets, tropical fish flakes, and a 1/8-1/4 algae pellet each day for the community. It all seems to disappear within 2 minutes, so I don't think there's anything left for the DG to scavenge - if they scavenge, that is.

Should I be trying some other type of food for him?

 

[h8z2luze]

I hardly ever see mine eat either he is not interested in flakes. He does seem to eat a few bloodworms and he nibbles on algae wafers I drop in for the loaches and crabs.

 

[sarahsunshine]

thanks - I'll try some freeze dried blood worms...

 

[h8z2luze]

Ya thats what I use.

 

[dkpate]

I feed one of mine the freeze dried sometimes, but they seem to bloat him a little. I feed him by hand so I make SURE he gets food. If I didn't my BGK would eat it all, since he's a pig and swims wayyyy faster than the DG.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

I was worried about mine - my DG that is,
I feed him seperately to the others until he got the hang of eating and fighting for food.
I fished him into the net and let it sink alittle below the water level, i then sprinkled the flakes above his head and he was fine.
Then he got stronger and stronger.

When i feed bloodworms i feed them with tweezers and let the fish get them, my danio's take them from me but with the DG, when he comes to the surface i let them drop and he catches them, they do scavange also, but letting food and bloodworms drop isnt a good idea, it all just rots and causes a build up of bacteria and even can cause a spike x

 

[dkpate]

Forget the tweezers! Use your fingers, much more fun! HAHA!

 

[joy13]

Soak any freeze dried food before feeding, the food will cause major constipation problems. It is better to feed frozen food. Another thing you can try is garlic guard or garlic extreme. Some people believe it keep fish healthy I know it stimulates the appetite.

 

[dkpate]

Youcan also soak your fish food in garlic juice, I do that for the bettas, and got that recommendation from a lady who has been keeping/breeding them for 30+ years. Fish LOVE garlic.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

So what do you do with the garlic juice??

Oh i couldnt use my fingers! I hate the feeling of them jumping at ya!

 

[dkpate]

You just drop the garlic juice on the food, or soak it in it. Garlic is supposedly a good way to keep them healthy too. Fish can't seem to resist it!
The lady who breeds the bettas has never had a disease, and she swears by the garlic.
Good luck!

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

dkpate - thanks for the tip - can you buy garlic juice?

 

[dkpate]

I would just get some minced garlic and use that juice, as long as there is nothing else in it. If you can get fresha garlic, and use a press that would be the best option.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Thanks for the tips,
Will try that tomorrow evening.
What kind of things should you put the juice on??
Like veggies or bloodworms or something?

Sorry if it seems like i'm bombarding you with questions,
Thanks dkpate. x

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Hows the DG getting on?

 

[sarahsunshine]

Yesterday I was optimistic because he nipped at the pleco's tail (the pleco didn't seem to notice) and he came out of hiding at meal time. Today when I got home from work I looked everywhere for him. DH too. I finally opened up the tank and located him lying on the bottom - dead.

Thanks for the tips. I now know that:
1) I'll only feed the freeze-dried blood worms to the goldfish.
2) that fish like garlic (I have a container of minced garlic but I thought it was in oil... maybe it's oil from the minced garlic? I'll check).
3) that I still have no idea why he died...

Should I go out and try another, or do you think there's something going on? Everyone else in my tank seems happy. I've had my neons for about 1+months and they seem to be growing and happy. I now have live plants too.

If I try again, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make a DG survive? Is my tank inhospitable to a gourami? Here's a photo: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/26382-albums812-picture5662.html

 

[Blueiz]

I just looked back at your first post with your stock list. For a 20 g tank that is quiet a lot. I think before you add anything else you should reconsider your pleco as they are huge waste producers and will quickly outgrow your tank. In other words, they aren't worth the probs they will cause in a 20 g tank.

If you do decide to go with another DG, I would select a different source to get them from. I have noticed a lot of ppl posting probs with DG lately, perhaps it's not the right time of year to buy them..just a thought.

 

[sarahsunshine]

I just looked back at your first post with your stock list. For a 20 g tank that is quiet a lot. I think before you add anything else you should reconsider your pleco as they are huge waste producers and will quickly outgrow your tank. In other words, they aren't worth the probs they will cause in a 20 g tank.

If you do decide to go with another DG, I would select a different source to get them from. I have noticed a lot of ppl posting probs with DG lately, perhaps it's not the right time of year to buy them..just a thought.

Yeah, it is a lot.

It's a bristlenose pleco - which are the smaller ones, and he's the biggest in the tank (2.5" long). Everything else is quite small still and I hope to upgrade to a 29g tank in 6 months or so.

According to aqadvice.com it's not a huge amount, especially since I have an eheim 2213 filter.

Anyway, I'll look into another LFS for a source...

 

[Blueiz]

I assumed it was a common.

 

[daijoubu]

The gourami will want lots of places to hide. I have 2 dwarf gouramis and they are like night and day. The powder blue is the biggest pig in the aquarium and the first to find food. The honey DG is shy and only takes food once it hits the bottom. Both stay near the bottom and graze on the algae on my plants...