blue gourami near surface

twinkey

i just bought a Blue Gourami and add it to my cycled tank with 4 black skirt tetras...first day she was swimming in the middle and top..can home today i see she is in one place near the top and does move around and once in a while gos up to get air...i tested my water and everything is fine..the tetras are swimming along like normal is this normal for gourami

rmarkham

Hi,
It is normal for gouramis to swim to the surface to get air, they have the same organ that Betta fish do. He could be stressed out. I got a Blue Gourami a year ago and it took him about a week to really get used to his new tank. In fact, when he saw me approach the tank he'd dart around in fear.. after he started to realize that I bring him food he stopped doing that. How long have you had him?

How large is your tank?

thekoimaiden

I would venture to say your Blue Gourami is stressed out. Moving fish always stresses them, and then add to that the black skirt tetra (also known as Black Widow Tetra). Tetra are shoaling fish with pecking order. There needs to be enough tetra around for them to establish a pecking order. If there isn't they will turn on other fish in the aquarium in an effort to "make them part of the shoal." I have a feeling this is part of the problem.

You have also not mentioned the size of your tank as this contributes to stress.

twinkey

its a 40g breeder

fish monger

How is she acting now ?