# Dwarf gourami breathing problem



## eguynth (Jun 17, 2010)

So I added 4 more little dwarf gouramis for my neon tetra and gourami tank. all together I have 13 neons 8 gouramis.
They are getting along very well, but at night I see some of the gouramis are on top of the water. breathing from their mouth. I have set up my co2 system to my pump filter, so I thought there might be too much co2 in the water since plants release co2 at night (correct me if im wrong)
So I change my co2 to normal air valve. still some of the gouramis are breathing the same way. they are bit shy as well. not active as the others.
I change the water every week end. (20-30%)

30g tank, No stinky water, well planted, DIY co2 2-3 bps (only during the day)
any advices guys? is it normal? or just some thing wrong.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

All gourami are anabantids, and all anabantids must breathe air to live (as well as normal gill respiration). Have a read of the general info on Anabantids in our profiles, second tab from left in the blue bar, click on "Anabantids" to see the general write-up, plus the info in the species account.

However, the CO2 is also an issue. CO2 should always be off at night, and I'm not sure from your post if this is the case. Plants cannot use CO2 at night, so it is being wasted; plus it over saturates the water and could affect the fish (and plants).


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