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well its happened, we had our first death we found our female gourami dead on bottom of the tank. she had been swimming about earlier but then had been up in top corner gasping for breath. it was all very quick. our tank is 70 us gallon (260 litre), it has been up and running for about a month. it has cycled and water parameters are ok

ammonia - 0
nitrate - 10
nitrite - 0
pH - 7

we have danios and corys in there and last friday added 2 small cichlids and a pair of gouramis. we also havent seen the male gourami eat yet but put that down to stress from the move. he swims about and seems happy.

should we be concerned for the other fish, or any thoughts. what about the male??should we leave him on his own, or get a companion???

any thoughts appreciated. thanks

What species of gourami was it? Were their any visible signs of illness right before she died? How did the male act towards her?

Don't worry about getting a companion for the gourami. They are fine by themselves. I might be concerned with male aggression. About the male not eating--it can take a little while for gouramis to get adjusted and start eating...don't worry. Keep a close eye on the tank. Don't add any new additions until everything seems fine.

it was a dwarf gourami. the male and female kept their distance, but no signs of aggression. they were swimming around together this morning. no signs of any physical damage on fish.

In addition to what solublefish said about future stocking...whenever I'm adding fish I leave the tank lights off. No light to fish is nighttime, and they calm down and rest. You might want to try that in the future when adding fish.
Fish can go a few days without eating, so I'm not sure I'd start to worry just yet. Is he not responding @all during feedings or is he just a bit slow on the uptake? I have one white skirt that just sits around till the end of feeding then decides that there's food in the tank and maybe should look for some :%).
One thing you might want to try is garlic. It's a known appatite enhancer. Use a few drops of fresh pressed garlic on the dry food. Or I've used a small ammount of powder mixed with water then allowed the dry food to soak before feeding it to the fish.

^_^[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

we always leave the lights off when addign new fish, and the lights are off every night. think he is abit slow on the uptake. he doesnt make mush effort at feeding time, the danios always beat him, but he looks around the bogwood and plants for food. not really seen him eat much tho