Question re Dwarf Gourami.........

[TXFish]

Hi all,

I've recently added a Red Flame Dwarf Gourami to my 20 gall. Took the advice I got here & decided to go with him as a centerpiece fish instead of the Betta. I've never kept Gouramis before, but from what I've read on them, they are peaceful, if not somewhat shy. The one I got seems like he's a nervous wreck! He's fine when the tank lights are off, but when they're on he spends the day swimming from bottom to top to bottom again..........over & over again--all day long. He'll swim across & do the same thing on the other corner. I think he's seeing his reflection in the glass.

I'm assuming this is because he's new & he'll settle down???? Just wanted to find out from others who keep these fish what their thoughts are on this really odd behavior?

The other fish don't bother him in the least (8 Lemon Tetras & 5 Platies) and he doesn't appear sick or stressed. He's still too shy to come eat but will grab at any stray flakes that come by him at mealtime.

Thoughts?? Would adding another one help or just result in aggresion?

Thanks..........

 

[Stuart]

They are shy species - insomuch as they like to be able to shelter in plants. Do you have hiding places in there for him?

 

[lmw80]

floating plants, either real or fake should give him a better sense of security. Also, in my experience, gouramis do take a little bit to settle down.

 

[TXFish]

Thanks......I do have alot of plants in there (fake) & I've definitely noticed him hiding behind those & the rock when he's not swimming up & down in the corner. I'm glad to know they do take a little while to settle down.

Thanks again !

 

[Sati]

I've had dwarf gouramis in the past and they were absolutely insane. They pestered my other fish with their feelers, even stressing some to death. I ended up taking them back to the store. I tried them twice, a few years apart. Somehow I always ended up with the crazy ones. They were some of the most aggressive fish I'd ever seen. Absolutely incessant...

 

[Zezmo]

DGs can be aggressive. A while back I posted a quote from a book I have on Gouramis. IT says DG's can ram, and even stun or kill, other fish when defending their territory. I have only seen this extreme aggressive behavior when they are defending nests/eggs. The rest of the time they are peaceful to all other fish.
The swimming up and down thing, I have not seen with DG's, but I have seen other fish do this until they get "settled in". DG's are an all over the tank kinda fish anyways.

 

[Tiffi]

He's not stressed or scared.

Mine does the same plus I had dwarf gouramis before which did that too. If you give him some water surface without current, he might get interested into building a bubble nest, but every time I take the nest out (he's so nice to always take the algae for that) he starts swimming on the front again. He is absoulutely NOT scared just insane, he eats out of my hand, has lots and lots of plants to hide but he just seems to love to swim along the tank wall.

The first one I had killed my female after breeding with her. That was in the bigger tank that I had in Germany (see signature). He just followed her all over the tank, sqeezed her in the corner etc., so I brought the killer back to the store. They might be nice looking fishes, but slowly I'm starting to think they are hopeless!

 

[Sati]

Yeah, I'm done with DG's myself, heh. I really want to try Trichogaster leerii instead. I think they look lovely

 

[TXFish]

Y'all are scaring me now! What have I done to my peaceful & serene tank ??

So far, he really doesn't seem to care one way or the other about the Tetras & Platies......he just ignores them to do his little "crazy dance" in the corner. He does seem shy at feeding time, though--he's just not at all aggressive about coming up for food like the others are--but it's only been 2 days. I will be keeping a close eye on him, though. If he starts going berserk & terrorizing the others, he will be going back to the store! I've already got a male Platy with an attitude problem........don't need to add to it, LOL!

Thanks for the input!

 

[Bubble_B0y]

check for nipping -
even the most friendly nip can be very stressful - not to mention a disaster to fins on your favourite fish.

 

[willowthepoet]

I had to take my honey gouramis out of the tank with my guppies because they were constantly harassing the guppies with their feelers. I thought it was adorable, but I'm sure the guppies would disagree.

 

[coyotesweat]

lol... Just so ya know, my male dwarf gourami doesn't seem to be insane... he's just a pretty fish that wanders around the tank. He does enjoy playing with his reflection in the sides of the tank, but hasn't been agressive towards the rainbows or neons at all. I do have several plants, rocks and a little shack he can hide in. Every so often he likes to go in the shack and rest there a while.

 

[TXFish]

Thank you......good to know . So far, mine is still playing with his reflection in the corners of the tank but not as much as he was. He hasn't shown any aggression towards the other fish--quite the opposite, in fact. He steers clear of them entirely.

lol... Just so ya know, my male dwarf gourami doesn't seem to be insane... he's just a pretty fish that wanders around the tank. He does enjoy playing with his reflection in the sides of the tank, but hasn't been agressive towards the rainbows or neons at all. I do have several plants, rocks and a little shack he can hide in. Every so often he likes to go in the shack and rest there a while.