Three Spot Gourami Losing Spots.

Aug 20, 2013
1
0
0
#1
Hello!

So my story is, I have three large healthy tanks at home which are for the most part empty, I was at Walmart with my friend and I noticed they had fish that were in TERRIBLE shape, I felt so bad I had to purchase a few, I thought I could help them. I bought two cory catfish and a three spot Gourami. All three were very small less than an inch.

I put them in a new, empty, cycled 30 gallon tank where they all seemed to get along. Unfortunately one of the smallest, Panda cory was very sick and couldn't swim upright and would just float to his side. Long story short within a few months all the fish were overcome by sickness and the lone survive is the Gourami which was originally name Remmy but is appropriately and affectionately nicknamed fatty!

Fatty lives alone in his highly planted, heated, filtered thirty gallon tank. I siphon the poop and excess food from the rocks and then replace the siphoned water with treated water the same temperature. (I usually only siphon about 25-30% of the water)

Right now his tank is as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 7.0
Temperature : 79 F

Fatty eats a diet of Tropical Fish Flakes, Brine Shrimp and a small part of a rich in nutrients algae wafer. Recently I've noticed his four black spots (two on each side) slowly fading. When I first got him from the store he had very, very faint blue stripes, he was almost white and had very visible black spots. Now he's very blue with even darker blue stripes and what appears to be light blue speckles on his dorsal fin and tail. If I look closely I can see his black spots but they've almost disappeared.

I've been trying to figure out whether this is a good or a bad thing and if it's back how can I remedy it?
 

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
38
Cape Cod
#3
Gouramis will change color with stress, and many fish also have more vibrant color when their tank decor (or their environment in general) is darker or more heavily planted.
 

Aug 28, 2013
15
0
0
35
Dayton, OH
www.CritFest.com
#4
Hello!

So my story is, I have three large healthy tanks at home which are for the most part empty, I was at Walmart with my friend and I noticed they had fish that were in TERRIBLE shape, I felt so bad I had to purchase a few, I thought I could help them. I bought two cory catfish and a three spot Gourami. All three were very small less than an inch.

I put them in a new, empty, cycled 30 gallon tank where they all seemed to get along. Unfortunately one of the smallest, Panda cory was very sick and couldn't swim upright and would just float to his side. Long story short within a few months all the fish were overcome by sickness and the lone survive is the Gourami which was originally name Remmy but is appropriately and affectionately nicknamed fatty!

Fatty lives alone in his highly planted, heated, filtered thirty gallon tank. I siphon the poop and excess food from the rocks and then replace the siphoned water with treated water the same temperature. (I usually only siphon about 25-30% of the water)

Right now his tank is as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 7.0
Temperature : 79 F

Fatty eats a diet of Tropical Fish Flakes, Brine Shrimp and a small part of a rich in nutrients algae wafer. Recently I've noticed his four black spots (two on each side) slowly fading. When I first got him from the store he had very, very faint blue stripes, he was almost white and had very visible black spots. Now he's very blue with even darker blue stripes and what appears to be light blue speckles on his dorsal fin and tail. If I look closely I can see his black spots but they've almost disappeared.

I've been trying to figure out whether this is a good or a bad thing and if it's back how can I remedy it?
How are you determining your water tests? It shows that the tank is NOT cycled at all, and to have an exactly neutral pH is odd.

Fish often change colors when they age, as well as when under stress.
It's very odd to not have any Nitrates in a healthy cycled tank... there should be at least SOME. Are you using test strips to check your water? When did you add the fish?
 

FreshyFresh

Superstar Fish
Jan 11, 2013
1,337
23
38
East Aurora, NY
#5
Gouramis will change color with stress, and many fish also have more vibrant color when their tank decor (or their environment in general) is darker or more heavily planted.
The really small female honey gourami I've had for 5mo or so goes from a silver color to a dark brown/yellow with very black evil eyes. She's the 'alpha male' in my 20 long and tends to be more rotten than normal when she's dark with the black eyes.