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My gouramis2007-11-24 23:39:18

I have 2 kissing gouramis. They are acting pretty strange.

Firstly they don't seem to be eating much, I tried freeze dried blood worms and tetra bits. They take in small bits of food but throw it out.

Secondly, the bigger of the two is noticed to have been nibbling on the smaller one and that drives the smaller one crazy. I don't know if its nibbling but the smaller one gets pretty disturbed.

Also, the smaller one only swims around real fast when the bigger irritates it, otherwise its only floating at the surface and moving slightly to take in a gulp of air.

Whats wrong with my fish? Its only been 3 days. I'm changing the water tomorrow, do you think that will help?

Answers:

!!NITRATE!!No3 !! Your big fella is trying to cut the level of No3 down naturally - which means killing the little one off - gourami do not have the means necessary to bite each other to death, though by 'NIBBLING' as you say they can cause infection to the other by removing their slime coating. The small one is only moving fast to avoid the other when it wants to attack. Otherwise it is staying at the top to recouperate. There must be a certain amount of oxygen in water for fish to survive- nitrate will affect the oxygen levels so that a fish wil become slow and want to stay high to gasp for the oxygen. One thing that is IMPORTANT to remember is that you should NEVER rinse your filter sponge in tap water as this will DESTROY bacterial growth which is VITAL to a tank. - Bacteria help to reduce nitrate levels and should be cared for. The only bacteria you do not want is the build up in the rocks at the bottom. SORRY TO LECTURE - HERE IS WHAT TO DO - Get a gravel cleaner and use it to suck the 'MUD' out of your gravel as you drain your water. (HALF THE TANK VOLUME * AND ONLY ONE HALF OF THE GRAVEL TO BE CLEANED *) If you have a decent aquarium shop nearby they will give you water from their tanks as a refill - THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE BACTERIA MENTIONED EARLIER as the shops have more fish per tank and the water is aged. Do this and NEXT WEEK do the same again cleaning the other side of the gravel. Hope this helps and good luck.

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No one cares i hope you well though.

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Water change might help. Do you have a way of checking your chemical levels (ph, ammonia, etc)? Some of what you describe sounds as if you have some chemical problem, but not certain.