Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami help

[pinkcadillac]

Ok so i have tried multiple time to keep Neon blue dwarfs and maybe there is just something i dont know about these fish but I'm about to quit trying with this particular species.

I have a planted 55 gallon community tank filled with (currently) 3 neon blue dwarf gouramis, 3 honey gouramis, 2 platys, 9 black phantom tetras, 5 harliquin rasboras, an upside down catfish, and a BN pleco. Before i picked up the honey gouramis i had 2 previous neon blues. The first died of swim bladder disease (or bloat im not sure the difference, but he swelled up and bobbed around at the surface) and then the second died of unknown causes a few days later.

I then purchased 3 more neon blues and one got stuck in a my texas holy rock and now another seems to be suffering from the bloat/swim bladder disease.

The honey gouramis have been doing great since i put them into the tank (about 2 weeks ago) and have not been aggressive towards each other or the neons blues at all.

I do weekly 25-30% water changes and have not lost a single other fish in the 8 months the tank has been running. Parameters are currently 0 amnonia, 0 nitrite, and 5ppm nitrate.

Is there something i dont know about these fish? Some strange care that im not provided them? Or do i just have terrible luck with neon blues? Any and all help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[RoxnSox]

(from: d3sc3n7)

We have a neon blue. The care is nothing special. We had 2, but one died of an injury, or so it seemed. You must just have terrible luck with them. They could be getting stressed out buy something your not aware of.

 

[TabMorte]

I read that the blues are more aggressive then the other breeds and you should only keep one in a tank. That might be the case with yours.

Swim bladder though should pass. There's probably some information on that in the disease link.

 

[brian1973]

Neon Blue Gouramis are a color variation of the common dwarf gourami so the care would be the same, The Honey dwarf is a different species but the care is the same as well. My guess is you just are having a rrun of bad luck.

FYI The neon blue care info is in the Aquarium USA 2008 annual and the Honey Dwarf care information is in the latest Aquarium fish international magazines. The honey dwarf article goes into good detail about care requirments. Also added some links for more info if your interested.

Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami, Colisa lalia (hybrid), Family: Osphronemidae, Subfamily: Luciocephalinae
Care for Honey Dwarf Gourami - Colisa sota

 

[Lotus]

Gouramis aren't generally a schooling fish. They don't like others of their kind. While there may be enough room for those you have now, adding more will stress both those already in there, and those you're adding. Basically, don't add more gouramis

 

[brian1973]

Lotus...I agree with you in my persoanl experience but all the links and articles to say keep in pairs...I assume they mean 1m to 1f but they do not specify this. Any thoughts?

 

[pinkcadillac]

Thanks everyone for your quick responses. I was very careful when I added the different species of gouramis into the tank, half expecting to have to return one type. But there was no aggressive behavior exhibited at all. Im not saying that they arent normally agressive towards each other, but in my particular case I dont think it has had anything to do with why my fish died.

Also thanks very much brian1973, those links are quite helpful.

 

[TabMorte]

I would assume they mean one male one female.

Also just because they don't seem aggressive when you're looking doesn't mean they're not bulling eachother. My tanks in a central location in my house. We've never /seen/ my black skirts fight but the occational nipped fin indicates they certianly do.