Gouramis color

Question
QUESTION: Hi Karen,  a lot has happened since I spoke to you last. I started up a second tank and so far so good. Christy has been helping me with my questions.Let me tell you this is one of the best sites I've found. Yous have been extremely helpful and I want to thank you. I've been learning so much through you experts and other sites and reading.

I do have a couple of questions that I hope you could help me with. One of my Mickey Mouse Platy's had baby's last night. Mother and fry are doing good so far. I found I had a pregnant molly, also.  She looked like she was going to burst so I moved her to another tank.  Well she did.  The fry came out swam a minute or so and then died. This happened with quite a few and now tonight the mother died. I found about 5 or 6 fry alive and they seem to be doing ok so far.  What could have happened? Do you have any idea or does this sometimes happen>

My next question is about my gourami.  I have 2 I guess you would call them blue gourami's.  One of them has changed colors.  Is this normal? I believe that they are both females, from what I have been reading.  Is it if they have 3 dark spots? Anyways, she changed from the gray blue to a darker gray blue. It's a big difference in color.

I haven't lost any more fish, if you remember, I was losing the left and right.  Now I feel I have a pretty good handle on what I am doing.  I know I have a long way to go, but, I am learning. I am really enjoying my fish.

Thanks Toni

ANSWER: Hi Toni! It's really great to know that this site has been such a help to you. That's what were here for and knowing we are doing a good job is just plain awesome!

About your pregnant molly and the death of her fry the mother herself. This unfortunately happens a lot. One factor could be playing a part is if you moved the molly too late in her pregnancy which may have caused her to deliver too soon and caused a great deal of stress on the mother fish. Probably the moving part put too much stress on her. But sometimes this happens anyway, sometimes female mollies become too weak from having a lot of babies and they can't recover. It's really sad but at least you have several fry that are alive and hopefully they will continue to do well.

With the gourami changing color. I have seen blue gouramis (also known as Three-spot gouramis) change color drastically. Even developing a beautiful darker blue mottled pattern on their body. This typically develops when the fish is excited, stressed or fighting. The best way to distinguish between male and female gouramis is by their dorsal fin. In the females, it is short and rounded out. In the males it is much longer. The difference is very obvious.

I think you are doing an excellent job with your fish and I hope you continue to have good sucess with the hobby! Just remember, take care of the water and keep it clean and your fish will thrive! Feed a good quality varied diet and they will almost always be healthy!

Best wishes,
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Karen, My Gourami's are 3 spot. I have 1 male and 2 female.  It's the male that changed color.  It's a beautiful color, but, I am worried.  I did move him from one tank to another.  Everything, is the same. Size, amonia, nitrate and nitrite are all at 0. Temperature. The 2 females seem to be fine.  My male is staying, mostly, at the bottom of the tank towards the back behind the plants.  Actually, today, he seems to be coming out more.  Will this pass, if I stressed him out by moving him?  Is there anything that I should do for him?  I lost so many fish in the beginning of my venture, because of my ignorance.  I don't want to lose him.  He is just beautiful.  All 3 of the Gourami's are.  I think  they are one of my favorites.

By the way my fry are doing just fine.  I ended up with 9 black molly fry and I can't could the Mickey platys, yet. Maybe, 16. I, also, have 3 more pregnant platy's.  Right now this is exciting, just to see what they are going to look like when they get bigger. Pretty soon I may have to see if I could give them to a local fish store.

Thanks for your help.
Toni

ANSWER: Hi Tony,
One thing I'm a little leery of is your parameter readings. It's almost impossible to get 0 readings for nitrate unless you are changing almost 100% of the water once or twice a day, or maybe you have a heavily planted tank where they are absorbing all the nitrates from the water. I would just double check with your test kits and make sure they are accurate and not giving false readings. It's just a precaution just in case.

The male may just be really shy from being moved. If there aren't any disease symptoms or severe signs of stress then I'd be willing to experiment with adding some dither fish to the tank to help him get more settled in. A school of busy fish like zebra danios can often help bring shy fish out of hiding. There are other species you can try of course, but it has to be a group of them and they must be bold.
Your gourami may just need some more time to get adjusted, just watch him for any disease symptoms of course.

It's always fun to have baby fish around. They can be a a joy to raise, many petstores are usually willing to take extra fish from you. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can get a little bit of money off them. I have a local petstore that will give me $1 per baby angelfish that I use to bring in. And when I brought mollies I got some money from them also. But every petstore is different and you may not have the same luck as I had. ;-)

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Karen,  I was changing 50% of my water, almost, every day at first, because, I was afraid that I was going to lose fish, like I was with my first tank. Now, I change 24% once a week. Maybe, it was, too, much. But, my nitrates fluctuate from 0 to NO2-0.5 and NO3-20.  Amonia 0.  So far, everything is going good. Do you think something is wrong?  I cycled my tank using with 3 zebra danios.  Then I added the gouamis and a couple of platys, and 2 cory catfish.  My gourami is finally coming out of hiding. His color goes back and forth. But, he looks healthy.

Thanks, Toni

Answer
Hi Toni,
Maybe your aquarium hasn't yet established 100% yet the reason the parameters keep fluctuating. It could just because your tank is relatively new. Make sure you aren't over cleaning the filters or anything else extreme either. I'm sure you already know that. ;-)

Keep changing the water as you have been doing nicely now. And test your water frequently as well. Make sure the tests are done properly, the kits aren't old, and you don't have any water conditioners that may produce a false readings. This happens all the time to me and many other aquarists.

I'm glad to hear the gourami is coming out of hiding finally. The color fluctuation is common for many fish. It just depends upon their mood. As long as he doesn't look stressed otherwise, then he likely just fine.

Best wishes as always,
Karen~