Trichopodus leerii food     1/9/20
Hello Crew, hope things are status quo in your neck(s) of the woods! Question—any suggestions for a (preferably low maintenance) daily food supplement to give my Trichopodus leerii in addition to flakes?
<A good quality pellet, maybe frozen/defrosted crustacean...>
My last Trichopodus loved your NLS Float suggestion but this guy spits them out, yet my cherry barbs devour them. Package says “regular size” 1-1.5mm pellets—could these be too big for him?
<Unusual... maybe>
NLS does not seem to sell a smaller, floating food, and he is too slow to grab sinking food from other inhabitants. I have Hikari micro pellets but they are smaller than flakes! Any ideas, or maybe his “begging” is an act of dramatics? Thank you! —Matt from NJ
<I'd go with what I do... the frozen/defrosted food in addition daily (better in the AM, use the dry in the PMs). I use (a lot) of San Francisco Bay Brand brine shrimp; though Hikari's line are also excellent. Bob Fenner>
Re: Trichopodus leerii food    1/10/20
Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll give it a shot.
<Glad Bob's suggestion of use. I find Gouramis tend to have "small mouths" and consume smaller foods than you think, preferring even tiny live foods like Daphnia and Artemia nauplii over chunky foods.>
Could his habit of staying up at the surface be a symptom of anything else?
<It is largely what they do; they are associated with floating vegetation in the wild, and rarely stray away from such.>
My water quality has 0 ammonia and nitrites, and my filter media is fresh. I have a steady air stone firing plenty of air through the tank and my filter is keeping the surface moving. The tank is a 15-gal column with 2 synodontis nigriventris and three cherry barbs, along with the pearl.
<S. nigriventris can be a 'fin nibbler' at times, but I think the real challenge here is the tank. 15 gallons is too small, and it's unlikely such big fish are going to feel comfortable in this tank, especially when it's a tall design. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Trichopodus leerii food   1/11/20
Thank you both. Yes, I have regretted purchasing this tank since the day I opened up the box... it’s a water quality nightmare... but I’ve managed to keep it going for almost 5 years so it’s a personal challenge at this point! I had a rock solid trichogaster trichopterus for 4 years in there and my cherries and these cats are years old (corys, as expected, grew sick of swimming to the top)... so I think I’ve done relatively ok. I’ve always shied away from the live foods out of both convenience (honestly) and fear of water quality issues. Maybe it’s time to “dive” in. You and Bob have inspired me. I will search WWM for some rookie tips on live foods.
<Understand your disappointment with the tank. Frozen foods can substitute for live foods in many cases, so well worth trying these out. Certainly Gouramis aren't too fussed about live vs. frozen foods. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Trichopodus leerii food    1/12/20
Thank you! This gourami is not going to make it...
<Oh dear.>
I’m on the third and final dose of Kanaplex after many water changes and removing the carbon from the filter—I hate medicating my tank but I thought it was necessary here—and now he’s showing fin rot, lost posture, and rocking back and forth. If I lose him, and after I let the tank sit stable for a while, do you think a smaller gourami would work in my setup, such as a T. chuna?
<In a tank this size and shape, I'd be thinking perhaps of a 'bed' of floating vegetation at the top, and then something smaller, like Sparkling Gouramis or Croaking Gouramis. Both associate with floating plants, and being farmed but not selectively bred, they're pretty robust. Sensitive to cold air, like all labyrinth fish, but the Sparkling Gouramis are tiny fish, and would be fine in a columnar tank. They have lovely colours! Floating Indian Fern would be an ideal plant to use, being adaptable and forming thick beds several inches deep, if doing well. Do see BobF's piece on this excellent species, here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/ceratopteris.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Trichopodus leerii food    1/12/20
Great ideas all around, thanks so much!
<Most welcome. Cheers, Neale.>

Trichopodus trichopterus changed eating habits?         6/6/19
Hi crew! Question—my three spot Gourami has enjoyed several years munching on a combo of flakes and NLS Float pellets. Suddenly, she spits out the pellets but still eats the flakes. She even “tries” to grab the pellets and “misses” them. The flakes were never enough for her so the pellets were doing the trick. Is it possible that she simply can’t digest the pellets anymore? She is about 4 years old (in my tank) and 3.5 inches long, if that helps. Thanks for all you do! —Matt
<It's more likely the flakes are 'off' or she just doesn't like them. She's not old at 4 years. Flakes and pellets have a shelf life of about a month, and much beyond that there is a risk of them oxidising and becoming rancid, especially in warm or damp conditions. Even if not actually nutritionally bad, it can lose the flavours that attracts the fish to eat it. It can be worth storing large tubs of flake in a cold, dry environment, and decanting out small portions to last a month or so into a smaller, separate container. If all else fails, starve the fish for a few days, and then offer something new, even human food like chopped up white fish or shrimp. If the fish happily consume that, but still ignore the flake, then the flake is probably bad and not worth keeping. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Trichopodus trichopterus changed eating habits?     6/6/19
Thanks for your reply and for your help!
<Welcome.>
I had no idea that the dry foods have such a short shelf life... wow.
<As I say, does depend on ambient temperature and humidity. But if your fish aren't eating flake that they liked before, and you can rule out disease or water quality issues, then it's worth considering if the food is stale. Certainly if the fish are scarfing down other foods, but ignoring the flake they ate before, it might have gone off.>
So much for expiration dates. The pellets are brand new, however... is it possible that they are too big?
<Can be, or too hard. The larger pellets meant for big cichlids can be impossible for smaller fish to handle.>
The last batch were fine and I bought the same brand/type. Perhaps the Gourami is just “over them”. Any ideas for another surface floating food that could fill her up? Sinking foods are lost to my two ravenous nigriventris :)
<Trichopodus are omnivores, so will nibble on softened plant foods, such as blanched lettuce leaves, cooked peas, sushi Nori, and so forth. So feel free to offer these if your fish seem peckish and you don't want to overdo the protein input and resulting water quality issues. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Trichopodus trichopterus changed eating habits?        6/8/19
I’ll give it a shot. Many thanks!
<Most welcome. Neale.>