Dwarf Gourami

I have heard that Dwarf Gourami's are very prone to illness? Should i steer clear of these fish or are they still worth getting?

Cheers
Niall

Have personally never had any illness issues with them

Dwarf Gouramis as a species are not particularly prone to disease, but there are so many poor quality ones that have potentially been infected with a particular virus that it is the source of fish that more of a problem than the fish themselves.

ian

Thanks a million!

So what should i avoid when buying them? is there any signs that it might be a bad batch?

There have been quite a few threads on the dwarf gourami in recent weeks here....maybe do a search of the forum and check out which batches (eg from which countries) people are finding the fish to be clean.

But, in general, when buying any fish, it is best to go for the ones that are obviously healthy in the first place. There may still be disease harboured, but you are betting on a better horse.
Different species act in different ways, and if a fish is supposed to be a top dweller lying on its side on the bottom then it is probably ill.

I do like the dwarf gourami, personally I would not buy a specimen that is not of the wild colouration.
They are very alert fish, mainly living near the surface, but are equally at home getting food from anywhere in the tank.
For fish that are half inch or bigger, there should never be any sign of a hollowed belly. See if the fish are active in all regions of the tank.

ian

Sorry I don't mean to hijack this thread,
I was thinking of getting a few dwarf gouramis myself
And wondering could you point me in the right direction
To get some good ones?

anglecichlid wrote:

Sorry I don't mean to hijack this thread,
I was thinking of getting a few dwarf gouramis myself
And wondering could you point me in the right direction
To get some good ones?

great question . suppliers can be an issue . so who has the goods .... ?

bmcg38 wrote:

anglecichlid wrote:

Sorry I don't mean to hijack this thread,
I was thinking of getting a few dwarf gouramis myself
And wondering could you point me in the right direction
To get some good ones?

great question . suppliers can be an issue . so who has the goods .... ?

I think that it would be unfair to any aquatic shop to say "these have good ones, and those have bad ones".

The reason is that a number of shops get their from different sources (or the wholesaler gets them different sources) from time.
Hence, one week shop-x may have some rubbish specimens, but a few weeks later that shop may have some stunners (and vice versa).
It is the original source of the fish (and what they have been mixed with) that is a problem

Dwarf gourami do come under the 'Bread-and-Butter' label in many people's eyes, and for that I guess shops are not really going to go out of their way to get German bred dwarfs unless they happen to be 'on-the-list'.

In my opinion, and this my opinion, if more long-term fish keepers put fish such as dwarf gourami on the "fish to own" category then maybe things would change (but maybe not).

I, for one, think that such fish are hard to beat as "the fish to own"....and I also know of a number of long-term fish keepers who are of my opinion.

So...maybe we should be putting Dwarf Gourami, Honey Gourami et al a bit more of a spot-light.

ian

i think its very fair to say that some suppliers are better than others in all aspects of fish knowledge and supply

bmcg38 wrote:

i think its very fair to say that some suppliers are better than others in all aspects of fish knowledge and supply

In the ideal world....that is true.

But in a world of libel or slander cases and mis-judgements.....things aren't quite as simple.

If you were chatting to me in a shop, I'd soon tell you what I think of so and so's fish.

igmillichip wrote:

bmcg38 wrote:

anglecichlid wrote:

Sorry I don't mean to hijack this thread,
I was thinking of getting a few dwarf gouramis myself
And wondering could you point me in the right direction
To get some good ones?

great question . suppliers can be an issue . so who has the goods .... ?

I think that it would be unfair to any aquatic shop to say "these have good ones, and those have bad ones".

The reason is that a number of shops get their from different sources (or the wholesaler gets them different sources) from time.
Hence, one week shop-x may have some rubbish specimens, but a few weeks later that shop may have some stunners (and vice versa).
It is the original source of the fish (and what they have been mixed with) that is a problem

Dwarf gourami do come under the 'Bread-and-Butter' label in many people's eyes, and for that I guess shops are not really going to go out of their way to get German bred dwarfs unless they happen to be 'on-the-list'.

In my opinion, and this my opinion, if more long-term fish keepers put fish such as dwarf gourami on the "fish to own" category then maybe things would change (but maybe not).

I, for one, think that such fish are hard to beat as "the fish to own"....and I also know of a number of long-term fish keepers who are of my opinion.

So...maybe we should be putting Dwarf Gourami, Honey Gourami et al a bit more of a spot-light.

ian

Cheers Ian tbh the reason I asked yourself was basically you seem to be in the know!
And I would be a novice, and as a novice I could go into any fishshop and pick absolute dirt,
Simply because I don't know what to look for.

So could i ask does anyone know of anywhere at the moment with a good stock of dwarf gourami?

Wackoo wrote:

So could i ask does anyone know of anywhere at the moment with a good stock of dwarf gourami?

At the moment, from the shops I've been to recently, I have not seen any that would tempt me.

I have seen some nice Honey Gourami, but only females left now.

There are some nice pearl (lace) gourami around the place.....they often look rubbish in the shops as they are youngsters, but they are likely to grow into nice fish. Pearls are one of my favourite fish.

There is a nice group of chocolate gourami in a shop at the moment that I have my eye on a few. Not a fish I'd recommend to someone new to fish keeping, but they are keepable with a little bit of extra care. Good prices as well.

When settled into a tank, a chocolate gourami will be a nice centre piece in a community tank of carefully selected tank-mates. A 2-inch (adult sized) Chocolate Gourami with its superb dark chocolate colours is also a great character fish when in good health.....it also believes it is a giant gourami with its stature in the tank.

Indian "Giant" gouramis (now....who on earth called these 'giant'?) and the thick-lipped gourami are also stunning fish (if you can get good ones) that will mix in a wide variety of community tanks.
When settled in, they too have a lot of character and soon become "pets".

The Indian Gourami is another fish that often looks washed out in shops.....but that does not necessarily mean they are duff uns'. Obviously avoid any with hollowd bellies or emaciated or are having problems moving up and down in the water.

I don't usually recommend the Opaline/Blue/3-spot/golden gourami (all the same species) to people simply because they keep skipping my mind....nothing wrong with the fish, and the opaline was my first ever tropical fish over 40 years ago.

In all of the above, the absolute best for a wide range of mixability is the lace(pearl) gourami.....tough enough to cope with some quite tough guys, and peaceful enough to be kept with some smaller and shy fish.

In one of our "Lace-Tanks" (Mr Pearl's tank), Mr Pearl has got himself into trouble......he hangs around a large Uara and nibbles stuff (small parasites, bugs ?)off the Uaru's side.......but when the gourami ventures over to the smaller Uaru to do the same, the big Uaru gives the gourami a good telling off.
Quite comical.

Soz to have gone further than the original question of this thread, but there are some nice gourami other than Dwarfs that don't often get pushed as much as they should.

ian

I do wish I'd read this early today! I've just bought two red dwarf gourami from my lfs. I do very much like the look of them and they've both settled into the tank alright (at the moment they're hanging around the top of the tank under some floating plants)

Fingers crossed they're okay! I've been assured that they'll mix okay with the zebra danios i have?

The only problem that's really occured to me is that the danios are so eager to food that it might be hard to feed the gourami's?

Thanks a million for all the help!
Niall

Niall, the red dwarfs.....are they a hybrid? possible a hybrid of Honey Gourami (much like the red robbins).

Although, I am not a fan of hybrids, I did find that the "Red Robbins" are fine.

Yes....Danios are fast, and the gouramis are new to the tank.

But, when settled in, the gourami are much better aims at getting food. They will target food in any part of the tank (surface, middle, and bottom). So, unless they are not well, they will do fine.

Best wishes with them.

Remember, some of what I wrote is only my opinion.....and it is possible to get good stock still.

ian

I think they are colour variants of Dwarf Gourami's

www.aquaticcommunity.com/gourami/flame.php

Also called Flame Gourami?

I fed this morning and they both ate however they were a bit timid and only eating anything that the Danios missed in their frenzy and dropped lower in the water. They are both actively moving around the tank which i presume is a good thing?

The only thing i noticed is that there seems to be a very large amount of detritus on the bottom of the tank since i added them yesterday?

As in an awful lot more than the six Danios produced? Is this normal? do they just produce more wast or is it because they've just been added?

Thanks a million for all the help!
Niall

I had 3 Flame Gourami in one of my tank (100l) (As you can see my avatar) Bad experience. It was very delicate fish. Very stressed out. First to white spots, last to plate. Take care of your Flame Gourami.

Anj wrote:

I had 3 Flame Gourami in one of my tank (100l) (As you can see my avatar) Bad experience. It was very delicate fish. Very stressed out. First to white spots, last to plate. Take care of your Flame Gourami.

Yes Anj i see what you mean, this pair are quite skittish... However my tank is in my room which is quite quiet and away from other noises like the tv.

I fed them worms yesterday which they seemed to really enjoy so hopefully they'll be okay!

Thanks everyone for the help!

Just an update on the Gouramis i got last week...

One of them doesn't seem to be doing so well? He's still eating but he's a lot less active than the other one? He spends most of his time in the corner at the bottom of the tank or just kinda 'floating' around the surface under some floating plants? He also tends to sit there with his fins flared a lot of the time?

Also today i noticed he has a little nick above his lip (It's hard to see in the photo)

Just wondering are any of these things I've noticed a cause for concern?

Niall

p.s. the other guy seems grand

Hi wackoo,
it sounds very familiar to me the lethargic one when you describe him just staying in the corner i hope he pulls out of it but it sounds like the beginning of the end, same as the four i lost.
Jim

The first thing to do is a good partial water change and to see if you can pep it up with something like JBL Acclimatol.
If other fish can tolerate peat, then add peat to the filter.

A mild medication such as eSHa 2000 would be recommended.

Really, the ideal water for dwarf gourami is like that required for discus. The dwarfs, though, tend (at their own expense) to tolerate water far from ideal for a short while.

ian

The best water in the world wont cure a dwarf gourami with the virus that is incurable.
Jim
See www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...-shops-be-supporting

Ah I see... so are they a lost cause for me then? Will the pair of them die? Sorry I'm very new to this so I'm not really sure what to do...?


Niall

Of course water conditions will not necessarily cure a virus (although in itself is not necessarily true), but there is no evidence that the dwarf in the picture has a virus.

Gouramis will slowly go down-hill if the water is not up to scratch anyway, or if there is silent bullying going on.
Hence, why I said the first thing to do is to look at the water (as is a general rule for any fish looking off-colour).

I have said many times that dwarf gourami stocks are, on the whole, rubbish. But there is still hope in my mind that some good ones are around.

ian

Follow ians advice niall with meds and water just don't beat yourself up if it don't work.
jim

newbejkjimk wrote:

Follow ians advice niall with meds and water just don't beat yourself up if it don't work.
jim

Yep. There is a good potential chance that the fish could be infected with a megalocytivirus virus (one genus of iridoviruses)and any attempt to help it could prove futile
But as the virus is not the only agent correlated to diseases or problem that dwarf gouramis get then don't give up instantly.

On a bigger story, it is not just Dwarf Gourami that have disease symptoms correlated to megalocytivirus, although it's reporting is quite recent (about the early 90s it was reported).

Other gourami's suffer diseases correlated to these viruses, as do orange chromides (a fish that has long known to go downhill if not kept correctly in a manner similar to gourami)

Angelfish also suffer.....bloated guts and pale gills and little chance of survival (some of which is poor selection of parents for breeding from weak gill plates)

Fish such as Rams have been known for years (that came out around the early 80s) to have disease associated with these viruses.

There are things that ate still not clear about these viruses.....it is still not clear about the whole relationships between the virus and the disease symptoms, nor on the relationship between the viruses causing the diseases in different species.
Pathologists only have time to spend on a certain number of species of fish......and, to be honest, it is only when an alien invasive virus threatens native stocks or affects fish of economic importance (eg trout etc) that any amount of proper research is dedicated to work on the fish.

Hence, keep a careful eye on any other fish in the tank.

ian

I'd definitely go with the Chocolate Gourami iv always loved the way they glide around the tank beautiful fish

Here's a pic i just snapped





Mark

Mark, they are some very nice looking fish!Where'd you get them and are they easy to keep?

Thanks guys for all the advice! So I've added some peat moss in tights and they're floating in the water cas i've no room in my filter, I've also added some API anti stress? As well as that i've some medication ordered, even if i dont use it im sure its handy to have?

But get this! a few hours after i added the peat and the anti stress my fish that was looking sick and very lethargic has become more active?

I've watched him now for half an hour scooting around the tank collecting stray bits of moss off the bottom of the tank and sticking it to the roots of my duckweed and frogbit? He even pulled a dying vallis leaf off the main plant and plopped it up beside the moss!

Is he building a nest? Is this a good sign? Is there any correlation between this and the peat and anti stress? I think it's very interesting... He hasn't done any of this kind of thing since i've gotten him?

Has anyone experienced this before?

Cheers
Niall

Yes I'd like to try it, do you know of anywhere that stock it because i can't seem to find it online?

Niall