Dwarf Gouramis

[Cybertech]

Our local shops have advised us not to get dwarfs because they are all inbreed and full of disease so die very quickly. Is this true or is it more likely just a case of bad water management/conditions. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance :bggrn:

[Adrienne]

A lot of dwarf gourami do seem to suffer from internal issues. Some people seem to have no problems, others can't keep them alive. I do tend to wonder if the food these fish are fed, that is a lot of the problem.

Given that most come from the wholesalers, who presumably have imported them I would expect that if your shop is giving you that sort of information, the wholesaler must have told them. I would wonder why shops stock them if this is common knowledge. Does the shop who told you this have them for sale?

[Cybertech]

A lot of dwarf gourami do seem to suffer from internal issues. Some people seem to have no problems, others can't keep them alive. I do tend to wonder if the food these fish are fed, that is a lot of the problem.

Given that most come from the wholesalers, who presumably have imported them I would expect that if your shop is giving you that sort of information, the wholesaler must have told them. I would wonder why shops stock them if this is common knowledge. Does the shop who told you this have them for sale?

Hi Adrienne thanks for the reply yes all my local shops stock them and all have told me similar things but reading online it says that they require prestine water conditions otherwise they become suseptable to disease.

[Adrienne]

Why stock and sell something that will die and tell people.

Anyway I would expect that being a labyrinth fish like siamese fighters, they require a bit more consideration as far as tank mates go in a community situation. Gourami are not beginners fish and they are certainly not for small or new set ups. If you decide to give them a go please record what you do and what happens. I might then chase you for the info so I can write a magazine article As you have done a bit of research you might be very successful.

The fact of the matter is that some people can only keep certain fish and have them survive, others can keep many varieties and while they exist they could be doing much better and others should not keep fish at all :roll:

[Cybertech]

Why stock and sell something that will die and tell people.

Anyway I would expect that being a labyrinth fish like siamese fighters, they require a bit more consideration as far as tank mates go in a community situation. Gourami are not beginners fish and they are certainly not for small or new set ups. If you decide to give them a go please record what you do and what happens. I might then chase you for the info so I can write a magazine article As you have done a bit of research you might be very successful.

The fact of the matter is that some people can only keep certain fish and have them survive, others can keep many varieties and while they exist they could be doing much better and others should not keep fish at all :roll:

I do agree with you Arienne some people should not have fish if I cant give our babies (fish) the best that I possibly can then it is time to give up on having fish.At the moment we have Aussie, Blue, Bossmani Rainbows, Blue Gourami, Black Neons, Assorted Swords including Hyfin lyretails ,Bristlenose, Golden, Blue and Electric Blue Rams and V2 our Zodiac loach. water conditions of 0ppm Ammonia,0ppm nitrate, <10ppm Nitrate, 0ppm Phosphates so am pretty happy. Next goal is Ehiem canister filter into Aqua One trickle filter in our Ar980 and same into our AR850. Then I will look at the Flame Gouramis.

[alexyay]

DGs do seem to be more susceptible to disease - they're also prone to idirovirus, and people may find that wounded gourami become prone to infection. I feel that perhaps the males all being kept together may be a cause of stress (especially in pet stores where there's small tanks and no where to hide), making them susceptible to illness. So they do tend to be more prone to illness, but that doesn't necessarily make them hard to keep. It'll probably be best keeping them in soft water, low pH with lots of hiding places, good vegetation, possibly leaf litter and/or other forms of tanins, without too many boisterous fish.

I have found honey gourami fairly sensitive too, so if you're looking for hardy, they're not necessarily the way to go. Thicklip gourami are fairly hardy, but I very often see them in stores with dropsy, wounds and infections. Banded gourami are also fairly hardy but aren't so common. I'd say the standard species like 3-spot gourami are probably the most hardy, but gets a lot bigger and the males tend to be more aggressive than the smaller species.