Transporting a Gourami *** Update ***

[GouramiFanatic]

I've been worried about one of my newer Gouramis for a little while now and I've made the decision to bring him (or her) home tomorrow. It's currently in the 46 gallon bow tank along with the other fish in my signature. Anyway, since last week (Friday) it would just sit on the bottom of the aquarium at the far right corner. Every time it would go to the surface to breath, the others would chase it back down and it would sit there until it needed air again.

This fish is the smallest and dullest colored of all of the Gouramis. When it's meal time, it happily swims up to eat and they all get their fair share - nobody pushes anyone out of the way.

Just watching it sit at the bottom while all of the other fish are swimming along is very depressing. I want them all to be happy and healthy. I think this fish is healthy (shows no signs of being ill other than sitting at the bottom, but it does have a strong appetite) so I think it sits there to avoid being chased around.

With that said, what would be the best way to transport this fish from my work aquarium to my home aquarium? It's only about a 7 minute drive so I could put it in a dish or glass bowl if that would help minimize stress - or if it's safer, I could go to my lfs and get one of their bags. Any thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
- Mandy

 

[Tiffi]

Anything that is high enough so the gourami doesn't have to lay on its side and can be closed should be fine. I would prefer a longer plastik bag though since you could blow some air into it, but for a 7 minutes drive it shouldn't be a problem at all .

 

[rich311k]

A bucket or small cooler would work as well.

 

[xIHaKIx]

I would just go with a bag, even tho its only a few minutes, you got better chances if the bag happens to fall then the fish being in a bucket or something and falling

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thought I'd post a quick update on how things went. Yesterday after work I brought this Gourami home. I ended up using a large plastic pitcher with a cover. I filled it about a third of the way up and that gave the Gourami about 5" of water to swim in while being transported.

When I got it home, I slowly started to pour a little bit of this aquarium water into the pitcher to help acclimate it. I did this for about a half hour and then I made the jump and released the fish. At first, it kind of drifted down to the bottom and sat there for about 10 minutes. Slowly over the course of the next hour or so it started to swim a little more. Within the next couple of hours, it was all over the tank checking out it's new home.

None of the other fish have shown any signs of stress with the newcomer and the Gourami has shown no signs of stress from the move or it's new tankmates. In fact, it seems to have taken a very strong liking to the snail that I just purchased last weekend. It seems as though it's almost always at it's side. It's kind of funny!

So, at this time all is well. I think the Gourami is very happy in it's new home.

- Mandy

 

[rich311k]

Glad it worked out well

 

[erik7]

Nicely done. Great to hear he's doing good! Keep us updated!