Red Honey Gourami Refusing to Eat  - 12/12/06 Hi there ... my name is Dave and I have a male & female red honey gourami.  I had them and a few other fish ( tetras, Corydoras, Plecos ) in a small 10 gal tank.  I recently got a 20 gal and set it up slowly transferring fish over. One afternoon when I had most of the fish in the other tank I noticed the gouramis breeding. <Neat!> I watched for a couple hours and they did their little dance and the male put the eggs in his small bubble nest. The next day when I turned the lights on the bubble nest was gone and he actually seemed fairly upset about it. <Happens>   Later that day I moved the rest of the fish to the larger tank in hopes that some of the eggs would survive ... but I never saw any baby fish. <Mmm... are very tiny when first hatch out... about four days in the lower 80's F...> All the fish seemed to be eating fine in the new tank.  Of course the gouramis were a little shy until they became accustomed to their new surroundings. Within the last week or so the male gourami has not been swimming much that I can see.  He very seldom eats when I put food in the tank.  I think the last time I saw him eat was 2 or 3 days ago.  I occasionally see him swimming around a bit but he quickly hides and stays in one spot for long periods of time.  He seems to be able to swim away fine when he wants to though.   I've noticed a few of the fish (not him) scratching their gills against rocks or plants but it's not constantly.  I've not seen any Ich on any of the fish! Could there be some sort of parasite affecting his eating? <Possibly...> Or could it be some sort of emotional reaction to losing his babies?   <Hmmm, more likely the new surroundings, being moved here...> I've never heard of that with small fish before but ya never know! P.S.  I've also been doing frequent water changes in the new tank in case there's something in the water that's bothering him! <Mmm, I would hold off on this for a bit... make sure the tank is readily cycling>   Also ... I feed a variety of foods .. TetraMin, Frozen Brine Shrimp, Tubifex, Spirulina Discs, Shrimp Pellets. <Sounds good!> Any suggestions that you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks .... Dave B. <I would take a wait/see approach here with your Colisa gouramis... and consider setting up the smaller tank for some future breeding trials... Do read up ahead of time re culturing live foods... Bob Fenner> Gourami Won't Eat! Hello my name is Leah and I have just started fish keeping about a 1/2 a week ago. I have a 10 gallon tank and I have a Male Neon Blue Gourami and a Male Black Molly. It seems that whenever I feed my fish (TetraMin Tropical Flakes), the Black Molly goes directly to the food at once and eats, but my Gourami just ignores the food. Every once in a while, the Gourami will find the food to eat, but it will put it in it's mouth and spit it back out. I dunno what is wrong with the Gourami. The tank is normally at about 76-82 degrees Fahrenheit. Please help me ASAP! < Give him a few more days to get settled in. Try some live food like brine shrimp or black worms to get him going. If he still doesn't eat then he might be sick but  I am sure he will eat  something soon but they don't eat much. make sure you keep the tank clean and siphon out any let over food so it doesn't pollute the tank.-Chuck> Colisa on hunger strike  07/02/05 Hi crew, <G'morning> I have a pair of Colisa lalias in a 12g tank-- male and female-- along with an SAE, a male Betta, and a trio of platies.  For the past few days the female Colisa has been hiding out in a corner and hasn't been coming up to eat.  I've been able to get her to eat by pushing some food down to her, so I think that she is just being "shy".  She tends to get chased around by everyone else.  This was a problem when I first got the pair, but she's been doing fine for a few months now, and this has just been happening just in the past few days.  I did some replanting recently so perhaps this has triggered the problem. Tank chemistry is good... What can I do to minimize the aggression towards the female Colisa? <Get a larger tank, add more plants, decor for her to hide amongst> The male Colisa, SAE, and Betta all dump their aggression out on her.  What about getting a third Colisa-- I've heard that these do best in trios? <Not likely to work> If that's the case would I want 2M+1F or 1M+2F?  Or would it be better to try adding another trio of dither fish? <Perhaps this last will help... something fast like small danios, rasboras...> On another topic, I've been interested in adding an A. agassizi, but I'm getting conflicting advice on compatibility.  I know they are territorial with each other but not sure about compatibility with other dwarf cichlids like Colisa and the Betta.  What's your experience been with these? Thanks, -Dave <Generally mixable in a system, with a grouping of species as you list. Like warmer, softer water than your other livestock though. Bob Fenner> Dwarf Gourami not eating Your site is great! Unfortunately I still have questions. I'm trying to save my little dwarf blue neon Gourami. <Fire away!> I think he may have internal parasites, and not sure how to administer medication, since he will not eat at ALL. The last time I can remember seeing him eat was at least a couple of weeks ago. He was being bullied by a larger dwarf Gourami.. to the point that every feeding the bigger one would chase him and he may have stopped eating back then. Took the big one back and got a female hoping he would be happier. Now she is wonderful and eating voraciously, and he is ill. He has the long white thread hanging most of the time... swims little, and eats nothing that I can see. Other than that nothing visibly wrong with him. There is some green algae, could he be surviving on that? I don't see how he's alive. <Is this fish exceedingly thin?> Main question (assuming it is parasites): what med.s would you recommend feeding him, and any suggestions as to how to get him to eat it? <Yes... Metronidazole/Flagyl. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/metranidazole.htm and the Related FAQs linked above> I've heard there is a new anti-parasitic gel out that is good. Could I do a quarantine with the gel and hope some of it will get into him by way of him swimming in it?? <Mmm, no, needs to be ingested> Today I got some anti-parasitic pellets, secluded him in a midsized net with the food, no dice. I even put a tiny piece of minced garlic in there with him (have been told it can help appetite)! Do you think I could continue secluding him in the big tank to treat him, or will this stress him further? <Not likely beneficial> Tank situation: 29 gal tall, 6 mo.s old, everything has been fine to this point. Have done irregular water changes every few weeks. Probably need to step it up, as nitrates have crept up to @30+. Nitrites are completely 0. Besides the two Gouramis there are: 4 zebra danios, 3 rosy barbs, and 1 Bristlenose catfish (@3-4"). (BTW I was sorry to read that the dwarfs are so disease-prone  :-( ... tank is too small to get the bigger ones... and they are so sweet!) <Mmm, actually... this tank could house some of the larger genera, species of Gouramis... more peaceful ones> Help, please? Thank you in advance!! <I would "lace" some of the more desirable foods (frozen/defrosted bloodworms, live brine shrimp, daphnia...) with the Flagyl... and keep offering, hoping this fish will take it. Bob Fenner>

Re: Dwarf Gourami not eating > <Is this fish exceedingly thin?> No, he isn't. Wasn't. He died today! :-(((  He was plenty full-looking, which is another reason I thought parasites. The last few days he not only wasn't eating, but was really lethargic (in the corner 24/7) and then this morning he was TAIL UP! Had also noticed some 'furriness' along one side, I think it might have been scales coming off? Poor guy. What do you think the chances are something spread to the others? <Mmm, actually depends on how closely "related" the others are... if this is/was a tank of Colisa genus Gouramis, particularly this species (lalia) there would be real troubles...> None of the others got a hold of him or anything, but I'd hate to have another one do the same. Should I treat the tank with anything? <I would not> Thanks, Jennifer <Please hold off getting more Gouramis till later in the year (a few months). There is a seasonal pandemic... Bob Fenner>