New Gouramis not eating

[lmgiles88]

Popped to my LFS on Sunday and got a pair of beautiful Powder Blue Dwarf Gouramis. Well they had the tank labelled up as Sky Blue Dwarf Gouramis, but I assume they're the same thing?

Anyway to the point. They seemed to have settled in quite nicely. One occupies the dense planted area underneath the filter and the other at the opposite end of the tank usually behind some plants and my mini rock bridge.

The problem arise when it comes to feeding time. They don't seem to eat anything. All the other fish eat (and eat well I might add!). But the Gouramis never look that bothered. They don't come to the surface like the others. They tend to just hang around the middle and bottom of the tank. When food then begins to sink and some drifts past them they still don't eat it. I think I've only seen them eat one flake each in the 4/5 days!

Any ideas?

[jaysee]

Well, it is normal for gouramis to take a few days to adjust to their new home. That being said, I've always found them to sneak a couple bites of food here and there during the transition.

How big is your tank, and do you have a m/f pair or two males? What are the other tank mates and is the tank cycled?

[lmgiles88]

Tank is the one in my Signature. Tank is fully cycled and has been for about 3 months. Regarding male or female, I'm not sure. Never been good on the whole sexing thing. What tells them apart?

[jaysee]

You can't see signitures after hitting the reply button:ssmile:

Sexing is easy. If they look the same, they're both males. Females are a very drab color - mostly grey with a few blue/red streaks and they have a more rounded body shape.

Here's a picture of a female.

[lmgiles88]

OK tank is 33gal

Tank mates are - 3 Zebra Danios, 3 Golden Zebra Danios, 2 Black Mollys, 2 Saffron Mollys, 3 Pakistani Loaches, 2 Guppys

To be honest, they both look the same. Both very colourful so it would suggest I have 2 males.

[rich311k]

I guarantee you have two males. I would just give them a few more days to settle in. Dwarf gouramis should happily eat regular aquarium fare.

[lmgiles88]

OK thanks Rich, anything in particular they like best?

[rich311k]

Try frozen bloodworms if you have them.

[lmgiles88]

Yeah got plenty of them. Will give them a go tonight.

[Rue]

I agree...try tempting them with something frozen...glassworms are also very well received I've found. Brine shrimp are another - could probably try mysis too - my goldies get them once in a while as a treat when I feed my anemones...

[Red]

Brine shrimp is also a nice trigger for them to eat.

[jaysee]

I guarantee you have two males. I would just give them a few more days to settle in. Dwarf gouramis should happily eat regular aquarium fare.

While I agree, females might be more available over there....

[VoidParadigm]

I've had a Dwarf before who would only eat sinking pellets. :shrug: Try brine shrimp or worms, though. Could help bring them out.