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Stressed Honey Gourami?


MammaG
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I brought a male Honey Gourami home 3 weeks ago and he seems to be having trouble settling down. Originally, I put him in a 9 gallon Fluval Flex with no tank mates. He seemed happy and curious the first day or so, and then started pacing the front of the tank almost non-stop.  Probably 80% of the time he is pacing.

After 3 weeks of watching him pace, I moved him last night to a 15 gallon flex where he has a small shoal of exclamation rasboras, 3 otocinclus and a Nerite as tank mates. He seemed excited about the new home until around noon today, when he started pacing again and hasn't stopped.

The tank is established with good parameters and is planted with a heater. He is eating and seems healthy.

I was under the impression that these guys could live without a friend. In fact my daughter has a single dude in her 10 gallon tank who seems quite happy with just his Corie friends. But I'm wondering if my guy needs a goirami friend to settle him down? 

Getting a bigger tank is not an option for me, so basically my options are 

1) Get a friend for him

3) Put him back in the Flex 9

2) Rehome him

Thanks for any advice!

 

IMG_20210425_190010_414.jpg

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1 hour ago, MammaG said:

I brought a male Honey Gourami home 3 weeks ago and he seems to be having trouble settling down. Originally, I put him in a 9 gallon Fluval Flex with no tank mates. He seemed happy and curious the first day or so, and then started pacing the front of the tank almost non-stop.  Probably 80% of the time he is pacing.

After 3 weeks of watching him pace, I moved him last night to a 15 gallon flex where he has a small shoal of exclamation rasboras, 3 otocinclus and a Nerite as tank mates. He seemed excited about the new home until around noon today, when he started pacing again and hasn't stopped.

The tank is established with good parameters and is planted with a heater. He is eating and seems healthy.

I was under the impression that these guys could live without a friend. In fact my daughter has a single dude in her 10 gallon tank who seems quite happy with just his Corie friends. But I'm wondering if my guy needs a goirami friend to settle him down? 

Getting a bigger tank is not an option for me, so basically my options are 

1) Get a friend for him

3) Put him back in the Flex 9

2) Rehome him

Thanks for any advice!

 

IMG_20210425_190010_414.jpg

Honeys are pretty social. They do like the company of each other.

That said, did you treat him with any medications and what are your water parameters?

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2 hours ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Honeys are pretty social. They do like the company of each other.

That said, did you treat him with any medications and what are your water parameters?

He hasn't been treated with any meds. Parameters are:

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 20

Ph 8.2 (This is typical PH for where I live, and a steady, constant reading in my tanks)

I'm kind of overwhelmed with all of the conflicting info out there. I am happy to get him a buddy, but don't know if I should get him a girlfriend or a another male, or even 2 females?? 

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42 minutes ago, MammaG said:

He hasn't been treated with any meds. Parameters are:

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 20

Ph 8.2 (This is typical PH for where I live, and a steady, constant reading in my tanks)

I'm kind of overwhelmed with all of the conflicting info out there. I am happy to get him a buddy, but don't know if I should get him a girlfriend or a another male, or even 2 females?? 

Yeah the info on Honeys' is kinda sketchy. I have 2 males in a 75 and they are best buds....but that is not set in stone. So, that pH is kinda high for these guys. I would just watch and keep and eye on him. My best guess is the water may be on the harder side and he could be agitated. Some disease can cause this as well; parasites comes to mind. I'm sure some others will comment but my bet is on the harder water.

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1 hour ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Yeah the info on Honeys' is kinda sketchy. I have 2 males in a 75 and they are best buds....but that is not set in stone. So, that pH is kinda high for these guys. I would just watch and keep and eye on him. My best guess is the water may be on the harder side and he could be agitated. Some disease can cause this as well; parasites comes to mind. I'm sure some others will comment but my bet is on the harder water.

Thanks very much! I wonder if the store I bought him from does something to lower the pH of their water. He did come from a lfs, but it could be they are running their tanks at a lower Ph. My daughter has a honey in one of her tanks, and he adapted just fine, right away. But he came from a different lfs.

I put a large Indian Almond Leaf in the tank tonight to see if that might help. Typically I'm  not a huge fan of tannins, but if this helps the poor little guy settle, I don't care about the colour of the water!

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16 minutes ago, MammaG said:

Thanks very much! I wonder if the store I bought him from does something to lower the pH of their water. He did come from a lfs, but it could be they are running their tanks at a lower Ph. My daughter has a honey in one of her tanks, and he adapted just fine, right away. But he came from a different lfs.

I put a large Indian Almond Leaf in the tank tonight to see if that might help. Typically I'm  not a huge fan of tannins, but if this helps the poor little guy settle, I don't care about the colour of the water!

Hi there! I have alkaline water (8.0 - 8.2 ph), and it's only moderately hard (10 dGH, 10dKH). High pH is typically a sign of a higher amount of buffer in the water, which means our water is.... very resistant to pH changes from tannins. I have driftwood and indian almond leaves in my tank and there has been no effect on the pH whatsoever.

I don't really think that the pH is causing your honey gourami issues and suspect he might just need more time or a friend to keep him company. BUT... I'm not really an expert. Just a guess, and what I've found through my research when I worried about my 'hard' water!

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10 hours ago, MammaG said:

Thanks very much! I wonder if the store I bought him from does something to lower the pH of their water. He did come from a lfs, but it could be they are running their tanks at a lower Ph. My daughter has a honey in one of her tanks, and he adapted just fine, right away. But he came from a different lfs.

I put a large Indian Almond Leaf in the tank tonight to see if that might help. Typically I'm  not a huge fan of tannins, but if this helps the poor little guy settle, I don't care about the colour of the water!

I'd like to clarify something, and I apologize for not being completely clear. I take some things for granted and assume everyone knows my thinking. So, let me rephrase a few things.

I'm not saying an 8.2pH is irritating the fish; I'm saying what causes an 8.2pH could be irritating your fish. As KH rises, so does pH. Typically, soft water fish are found in waters around 3dKH plus or minus. So when I see a higher pH, I know your KH is higher and that's why I said your pH is kinda high. Again, I'm sorry if I confused you.

One thing you could do is call the store and ask them what KH they maintain. I highly recommend picking up a GH/KH test kit and testing your tank just to see if you are significantly different form your LFS. This way, it's possible to rule out a few water problems.

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