Dwarf Gourami, Spawning, and Disease - 10/06/2007
Hi,
I have a pair of dwarf gouramis in a 260L tank which has been set up for about 3 months with no problems. About 2 weeks ago the pair had a failed breeding attempt (all the eggs got eaten) and since then the male has not eaten, he hides in the top corner of the tank, hardly moving and his feelers have started to disintegrate, they are now only about a third of their original length. Advice would be greatly appreciated as I am going on holiday next week and wondering whether his illness could be treated before then or if it likely to spread to other tank inhabitants: pearl gouramis Columbian tetras, clown loaches, rainbow fish, algae eaters, silver sharks.
Thanks
Gayle
<Gayle, while it is possible that your gourami has Finrot (in which case treat for Finrot using some appropriate medication such as Mardel Maracyn or eSHa 2000), the odds are 9 to 10 that your fish has Dwarf Gourami Disease (DGD). This starts off with lethargy and shyness, then loss of appetite, then blisters or sores on the body, and then death. There is no cure, and the best you can do is isolate the fish, provide optimal water conditions, and hope for the best. If the fish doesn't improve, then painlessly destroy it. DGD is apparently caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not help. DGD is practically ubiquitous in shipments of Dwarf Gouramis from Southeast Asia. One scientific study found almost 1 in 4 Dwarf Gouramis were infected with it. It is also EXTREMELY contagious, and as soon as one fish dies, the disease WILL spread, so that the entire batch of fish will be infected. For this reason, I personally recommend people NEVER buy Dwarf Gouramis from anywhere other than a local breeder. Truly, it just isn't worth it. If you want to keep a small gourami, skip Dwarf Gouramis (and their hybrids and variants, such as neon, robin, and sunset gouramis). Instead go for Colisa labiosus and Colisa fasciata (Thick-lipped Gourami and Banded Gourami respectively). These fish are similar but not affected by the disease. Your female gourami is, more than likely, infected and so doomed unless you separate the fish immediately and are extremely lucky. But the other fishes (including the pearl gouramis) should be fine. There's no sign that DGD spreads to fishes other than Dwarf Gouramis. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Neale>

Pregnant Honey Gourami?  8/13/07
I think one of my honey gouramis may be pregnant. I noticed this morning she (I am now assuming she's a she) is quite bulbous around the middle - about twice as wide as the other. And she is spending most of her time hiding in the cave, which is unusual for her. Is there any other condition that would cause this? I'm assuming she didn't go on an eating binge and double her girth over night as her mother has been known to do.
So if she is preggers, what do I do? I don't know if my other gourami is a male (didn't check under the hood), and there is no bubble nest that I can see. He wouldn't build it in the cave, would he? Would she even be producing eggs in the absence of a male? The surface of the water is pretty active between the aerator and the filter. There are lots of live plants, but not much at surface level (don't they build their nests on the surface?). What will happen if I leave her in there and there is no nest for her? Will she just lay the eggs anyway? And then of course, if there is no male, they won't hatch. Should I go to the trouble of setting up a breeder tank? But not knowing if my other is a male may make the whole effort futile. I'm a novice aquarist, and while I thought perhaps one day of breeding, I didn't think it would be this soon. Am I ready for that sort of responsibility?
What about all the plans I had for the future? <somebody slap me!>
Witnessing the miracle of life is intriguing, but, like every new parent, I don't want to screw up.
BTW - what are we talking about as far as gestation? How long before she lays her eggs?
Thanks!
-Grandmom-to-be?
<Greetings. Gouramis are egg-layers. They don't "get pregnant". While females can appear swollen when ready to lay eggs, in general they only come into "condition" (as this is called) when kept with a male, and almost always when pampered as well by being given a diet rich in live foods. Fish don't have a menstrual cycle, and the females only ovulate when conditions warrant it. This is why aquarists need to go through the conditioning process to get egg-laying species at least ready to breed. Sexing honey gouramis outside of spawning is basically impossible. When spawning, the male develops a black breast area and is obviously different to the female. Now, honey gouramis (Trichogaster chuna) are not the easiest fish to keep, and are prone to a variety of bacterial infections. They aren't so bad as dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia) but in anything other than very warm, very soft, and quite acidic water they come under the heading of "delicate". In other words, rather than being pregnant, it is entirely possible your fish is sick and the abdominal swelling is related to oedema or some other type of internal damage. The reason I mention this is that hiding away is a classic sign of bacterial infection in many fish. If she's off her food as well, then I'd be 100% sure about this diagnosis. Treating bacterial infections in (small) fishes is down to one simple rule: treat early if you want any hope of success. Once the damage is done, there's almost no hope of recovery. Depending on where you are, you will have a variety of anti-bacterial and/or antibiotic medications you can use. None are terribly effective unless the fish is treated at once. If the fish is still eating, you have hope; if the fish is off its food, don't expect much. With honey gouramis, the critical thing is not to mix them in a community tank. They're not community fish; they are far too delicate and prone to diseases carried by hardier fish species. They need their own tank, maintained at about 26-28C, pH 6-6.5, and soft to moderately hard water. You can mix them with other small, peaceful fish that inhabit similar conditions, such as rasboras or cardinal tetras, but don't mix them with any other kind of gourami and certainly not with dwarf cichlids, nippy barbs, etc. Hope this helps, Neale>

Re: Pregnant Gourami?  8/13/07
Never mind.
"Pregnant" fish + bulging eyes + pineconed scales = dropsy. Treated with Maracyn 2 and keeping our fins crossed. Thanks anyway!
<Ah, you just beat me. Sent off a reply already, suggesting much the same thing! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Pregnant Gourami?  8/13/07
Sorry to be a pest, here, but I'm a tad upset when faced with the imminent(?) loss of my first fish. I understand dropsy is a symptom of an infection. What I want to know is how to prevent it from happening again. I don't think I have any problems with my water quality - nitrites 0; nitrates 20; ph 6.8. The temp is pretty consistent at about 78 degrees. My water is hard and my alkalinity low - could this be a problem? I do weekly water changes of about 25%. I have 2 honey gouramis, 2 paradise gouramis, 1 female beta, and 3 Chinese algae eaters (which will be going to a good home very soon as they're getting somewhat aggressive) in a 29 gallon, heavily planted tank. What can I do to prevent future problems with dropsy? Thanks so much!
Your site has been a wonderful resource for this newbie!
Stephanie
<Hello Stephanie. There are two rules to avoiding sick fish. The first is to choose fishes suited to your tank and experience level. If you're a newbie, far better to choose a robust, reliable gourami like banded gourami (Colisa fasciata) or thick-lipped gourami (Colisa labiosus) than to go with one of the terribly sickly dwarf gourami varieties or the delicate honey gourami. While the gouramis I mention might not be as colourful as some of the others, they're still very nice fish, and can be relied upon to live for 5 to 7 years without much risk. The second rule is to quarantine new fish. Realistically, newbie aquarists almost never do this, and a lot of experienced hobbyists don't, either. But the bottom line is that if you can do this, life becomes simpler, because you can observe new fish and treat them quickly if required. Anyway, for the most part your livestock is not unreasonable. The Chinese algae eaters are, as you say, aggressive. I have no idea why they are traded at all, but there you go. The paradise gouramis are, I assume, the Paradisefish Macropodus opercularis. These are very tough, though sometimes snappy animals. I'd not keep them with honey gouramis, ever. They're actually subtropical fish, and their ideal tankmates would be fishes that like water a little cooler than normal, say, 22-24C. Peppered and bearded Corydoras, Danios, White Cloud Mountain minnows, golden barbs, rosy barbs, Variatus platies, etc... that sort of thing. (Although not widely understood in the hobby, there is a middle ground between tropical and coldwater fish, subtropical fish; ironically, goldfish are subtropical fish and can actually work rather well with some of the fishes I just mentioned.) Female bettas are fun little creatures, but I fear male Paradisefish will hammer them once the Paradisefish mature. This may all sound rather disillusioning, since it seems sometimes that tropical fish shops will sell anything to anyone, regardless of how easy or not said fish are to keep. But once you get the hang of things, choosing the "right" fish isn't that difficult. And once you have the right fish, disease stops being a problem. Fishes are basically hardy animals, and you can easily go years without having to treat them. Cheers, Neale>

Re: Pregnant Gourami?  8/13/07
Wow, thanks for the info and the quick reply. I didn't know that about honey gouramis. And here I thought I was doing good by buying at a small, privately owned specialty aquarium store rather than a big pet store. But they never told me not to put this species in a community tank.
<To be fair, not every aquarium shop is expert in every species. In many cases, they have a fair idea about what sells well and seems not to get complaints from customers. Often, the owner will be an expert in one particular field, the fish he or she keeps at home. If that field is, say, African cichlids, you can't expect great advice about South American catfish. That's why buying/borrowing books is so important. Even reading through one or two issues of a fishkeeping magazine can help, because it's like a booster shot of fishkeeping lore, and helps you understand at least some of the things you need to think about.>
Should I consider setting up a separate tank and moving them?
<The honey gouramis and female bettas would get along fine in a 10-20 gallon tank, with a sponge filter, heating, and lots of floating plants. That's all they'd need really. Keeping them together would certainly reduce the risk of trouble in the long term.>
What tank mates would be suitable with my 2 paradise gourami and female betta?
<Paradisefish can be kept with all sorts of robust, active fishes. Paradisefish are "semi-aggressive" and while lovely fish, you don't want to keep them with anything slow moving or delicate. On the other hand, you don't want to keep them with anything nippy, either (so no tiger barbs, black widow tetras, or pufferfish). I'd probably go with a danio species for the top of the tank, and one of the subtropical Corydoras for the bottom. You can then add some more challenging species in due course.>
I've already crossed the dwarf gourami off my list (thanks for the heads up). I want to stick with labyrinth fish, and figured gouramis are my best bet. Would most
other gourami varieties work?
<Not really, no. The exceptions might be three-spot gouramis (the males of which are pretty mean themselves) and the more robust Climbing Perch (Anabas and Ctenopoma spp.). There are also other species of Macropodus, including the lovely "black" Paradisefish Macropodus concolor. Be sure and look out for one of the several excellent labyrinth fish books. They are a fascinating group of fishes, and well worth exploring.>
I'm still holding out hope for my sick girl, though I know the chances are slim. She also has what appears to be a very small bit of ich on her head (but nowhere else) which I treated this morning.
<Well, fingers crossed.>
Thanks again for all the help!
-s
<No probs. Neale>

Re: Sick fish?? Breeding Colisa  - 7/23/07
Thank you so much for the advise......unfortunately my platy died, but i now know for future reference. (hopefully it will not happen again)
<Too bad.>
I want to know about breeding my dwarf flame Gourami. Can a breed him with a blue dwarf...or must they be the same color? I've searched the web, but all i find is steps on 'how to breed'
<Colour is immaterial, as all the dwarf gouramis are the same species, Colisa lalia. Some may be hybrids though, as some varieties seem to be crosses between C. lalia and C. chuna (the honey Gourami). Because of this fertility may be low or non-existent in some specimens. In other words, while it should work out, you might have to experiment a bit. Breeding this species isn't difficult, but do have a second tank for the female, or she'll be pecked to death after spawning. The males of this species (and indeed most other labyrinth fish) are very aggressive when guarding the eggs. Cheers, Neale>

Gourami Bubble Nest
Hi Bob,
I've got a 6-week old 29 gallon tank that has cycled successfully with Bio-Spira. So far it's had only two inhabitants, a neon blue dwarf gourami and a female Betta, who have been cohabitating nicely. Although Mr. Gourami likes to show her who's boss by turfing her around a bit, Miss Betta seems ok with it. Just today gourami has built himself a bubble nest and is definitely acting hormonal!  
<Yikes... well, they are closely related...>
More aggressive, jumping out of the water, things like that. Here's my two questions: since bettas and gouramis are both labyrinth bubble-makers, is this going to confuse them? 
<Apparently so>
Any chance he might get more aggressive with her to get her to mate, after all she's the only girl in town, AND she sucks air!  Just want to make sure she'll be safe.
<Me too... all should be fine though>
Also, I'm assuming that while he's doing this and guarding his creation this is probably not the best time to add new fish....yes? I was planning this weekend to add some Cory cats and a couple more female bettas?  Would this bother Mr. Boss-man while he's busy trying to procreate? Thanks for your advice.... Leslie
<Actually... adding these other fishes my be a good idea... help diffuse, defuse Mr. G's amorous attentions... Bob Fenner>