How can I help my dwarf Gourami relax?

[Gabs19]

Hi there! I’m back with another question 😅. We got our first female powder blue dwarf gourami about two weeks ago. She’s super cute but she is harshing the mellow of the tank. The only time she’s ever just peacefully swimming in a chill manner is first thing in the morning when we turn the lights on. For the rest of the day she swims back and forth at a pretty good clip. I’ve never had a dwarf Gourami before so I don’t know if they’re active swimmers and this is normal or she’s stressed.
 

 She’s also harassing our mystery snails. She nips at them and now they hardly come out of their shells.  I don’t have the means or space to buy another tank and separate them, and I really don’t want to have to give anyone away. Is there something I can do to calm her down? 
 

I’m including a shot of the tank and maybe someone can advise if more plants/decor are needed, as well as water parameters. The only parameters that are not in normal range are KH, GH, and ph.

GH- 300

KH- 40

ph- 6.4 

 

 

Thank you to anyone who is able to help! 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Gabs19

[nabokovfan87]

Might be a flow issue?

What is the temp you have the tank at?

Quote

In the rivers and streams of Southern Asia, the natural habitat of the powder blue gouramis, the waters are thick with vegetation. As a result, they are slow-moving and heavy. These fish need a similar environment in their tank.

The aquarium should be set up with a lot of plants, rocks, and pieces of driftwood. The powder blue gourami is a shy little fish that loves to hide away from its tank mates in small crevices. It needs as many hiding places as possible.

These fish are not used to bright light. You should have a tank light that can be kept on a low setting, to provide only dim lighting in the aquarium. You should not place your tank in a position where it will be in direct sunlight for a large part of the day.

 

[nabokovfan87]

This video might help as well 🙂
 

 

[Hannah Parker]

I think you have really good, lush plants for her. I think you could add more hardscape to help her feel more secure. Spider wood is a favorite of mine for hardscape, it has lots of branches that create things to swim through and even natural little caves. It would also give your snails a place to hide from her.

Unfortunately, in my experience when a fish doesn't like a mystery snail that's how it stays, I find they don't like how big they are and will pick at them a ton. You will just have to keep tabs and see how dire it gets, hopefully not but you might have to think about rehoming the snails and trying smaller ones such as pest snails or nerites. 

[Gabs19]

@nabokovfan87 The temp is 78 right now. Flow issue meaning the filter flow? I’m new to the hobby so just making sure that’s what that means.  I have a canister filter and it seems pretty slow to me but I can look into that more. Actually as I’m typing this I’m watching Daisy and this is the most peaceful I’ve ever seen her. She’s just slowly swimming around and exploring. I wish she was always like this. I have the shades down so maybe the low light is helping 🤷🏽‍♀️    Thank you for the information and the video. 

 

[Gabs19]

@Hannah Parker thank you Hannah. I was wondering if maybe something was needed so there weren’t so many open areas in the tank. I will try the spider wood and see if that helps. Our mystery snails are pretty big so that’s probably why she targets them. I’m hoping the extra hardscape will help because I think my husband would sooner get rid of Daisy then part with his snails 😅. They’re adapting by keeping their antennas tucked, but they’re definitely way less active because as soon as they come out of their shells, Daisy is on them. 

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:18 PM, Gabs19 said:

@Hannah Parker thank you Hannah. I was wondering if maybe something was needed so there weren’t so many open areas in the tank. I will try the spider wood and see if that helps. Our mystery snails are pretty big so that’s probably why she targets them. I’m hoping the extra hardscape will help because I think my husband would sooner get rid of Daisy then part with his snails 😅. They’re adapting by keeping their antennas tucked, but they’re definitely way less active because as soon as they come out of their shells, Daisy is on them. 

I hope it helps and she calms down. I would give her a month to adjust maybe, and just keep keeping an eye on them. Good luck!

[Wrencher_Scott]

Looks normal to me. 

[Brian]

Hmmm.

any other tank mates?  
As for the PH, are you adjusting it to 6.4 or is that normal out of the source?  
I just looked at my spawning report for when I spawned them.  I kept mine at 7.4 PH.  I spawned them at 79.    But I kept them at 75-76 when not breeding them.  Also maybe try a non traditional floating plant.  Najas grass or something like that.

[Gabs19]

 

@Brian no I’m not adjusting my ph. I have had a hard time raising the level. I added about half a bag of crushed coral over a month ago and still no change. I haven’t gotten around to it yet but I was thinking of filling a mesh bag and adding some to the filter. I also heard you can add baking soda to the tank  

 

Oops and you asked about tank mates. Yes four glow light tetras, a khuli loach, 1 clown pleco and 3 Pygmy Cory’s. She is peaceful with everyone else except the snails. 

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:49 PM, Gabs19 said:

 

@Brian no I’m not adjusting my ph. I have had a hard time raising the level. I added about half a bag of crushed coral over a month ago and still no change. I haven’t gotten around to it yet but I was thinking of filling a mesh bag and adding some to the filter. I also heard you can add baking soda to the tank  

 

Oops and you asked about tank mates. Yes four glow light tetras, a khuli loach, 1 clown pleco and 3 Pygmy Cory’s. She is peaceful with everyone else except the snails. 

The crushed coral needs to have water movement to work. In the filter is perfect.

Give them a good size airstone, this will raise the pH too.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott