Can you tell me what else is in there ie live plants, silk plants so on, and WHAT type of gouramis... gouramis when they mature get territorial (I am glad you have females not males in there, lol)... and often females get more aggressive as they age... as you already know bettas do jump, it's a natural thing when they catch insects in the wild. But she is not suicidal nor is the other fish assisting her... it could be aggression by the one betta towards the other, and she is avoiding her by jumping (escape behavior) and luckily gets stuck to the side as opposed to landing on the floor. Also, fish jump when the water chemistry changes (for the worse) so rule this out by checking everything. Cories btw should be kept in schools... at least 3 for this size tank. (larger school better, but cories need more space to swim about so 3 at least as to not overstock). I'd find another tank for the gouramies. So, she is not jumping intentionally as we know of it, but either jumping for food (but would do this when you come close to feed) (I had one that jumped about 8 inches as she saw me coming towards enclosure to feed her - lucky she was in a huge 50 gallon globe kept 2/3's full, so she would flop back into the water). 1 - check water parameters... 2 - the fish pushing her up probably is being aggressive... females can fight to the death as easily as males (I had a group all sisters, in huge 30 gallon fully planted, and when they matured pecked each other (and if done long enough they get stressed, sick and die) so had to put each into their own tank. I think you might have missed the aggressive behavior, and the "pushing" is actually her chasing biting aggression towards her. She is jumping to avoid if this is so. When my four at first got along, I'd then (as they matured) notice some in hiding, with number one top dog, running after the second strongest (like ducks they will pick on down the line)... they would fight just like males and I was stunned at the eventual ferocity! I could see her just nip at the others face... and I took her out fast - that was that. Gotten along for a while then all changed. Also, if gouramis are in need of space their aggression or even tension can spread to others - all in one tank are affected by the other fish - it spreads. As someone said one on another forum, put a lot of people in an elevator and see how you feel after a while. What looks like lots of space to us, due to each species needs may not be.. both bettas (females included) and gouramis are territory, and in nature are not in such close proximity, but loners unlike schooling fish. (save for breeding, and even then female bettas have even killed males). 3 - gourami (even dwarf) are in too small of a tank, and need a planted tank with enough space for each to claim their own territory. Again, learned this the hard way - 40 gallon with four dwarf blues. At first about one year fine, then each claimed part of the tank, then top dog wore down one (died before I got a clue and did more research on natural biotypes) and had to separate them and it was with tons of plants and wood. Just part of their nature. Can you put some java moss, other floating plants around edges at least.. eventually her scales/slime coat can get damaged (make sure lid is on tight to keep moisture on sides) if she is truly sticking and Flexibacter columnaris bacteria (looks like fungus but deadly) can set in. Even with plants if she is still jumping, eventually it will catch up with her.. they can breathe out of water for a while but if she dries up not good at all. (salt water bath can save her, but need to graduate it up and then back down dose wise slowly over time)... When fish (not bettas or those that catch insects and jump doing so) jump it is most often always an escape response - so try to observe/find out what she is escaping from. You are correct in assuming that this is not healthy for her. (guy on another forum had a small tank with aggressive barbs, fish dying right and left (cowering neons picked off one by one - gee could it be the barbs says he) and even the shrimp tried to escape (natural food for most fish esp those with teeth!) and he would find them crawling out of the tank to escape! No one wanted to be in the small tank (needed at least a 30 and he had them in a ten!) with those nippy barbs! (Not to mention all needed diff water chemistry). He is insisting on keeping what he wants so fish will suffer. Since she is doing this recently and not just during feeding time, something is wrong in her environment. Water chemistry, aggression (and it can come on suddenly after ages). (maybe transfer her water add some plants for security and put her in another tank (with lid) to see if she still does this behavior ) (to reduce stress, cover tank partiall and low to no lights for a while until she settles down)... Also, best to transfer bettas in plastic (like chinese soup tub) container as their tails/fins are one cell layer thin and nets can injure them. Also much less stressful for them (clear easy to do, just float under water and gently scoop them up - I add a bit of moss while taking it out and be careful they jump when stressed - lid on fast! lol) (as you can see many decades of raising bettas/fish with all sorts of experiences, lol). I once put a huge female guppy in another large planted globe with one of those seperated females. When I can back a few minutes later I was aghast to see this great guppy leaping out of the water like a skipped rock (like when as a kid you skim a rock over water, just like that bamm bamm bamm)... the female betta was chasing her down like a madman and she was running and jumping (escape) for her life... fish can be killed very fast by their powerful jaws. I of course ran for a net and took momma guppy out pronto! Try to remember if anything changed before this occurred. Best, let me know how it goes (my email stopped coming ages ago, so sherryazure@yahoo.com or sherryazure@gmail.com). Sherry

Maybe since his is sick, he is not eating. Its like you with the flu, you dont eat. I would not worrie as much to the eating as the fungus. Im sure once you clean up the fungus he will start to eat. I would try to keep the water temp with in a 2 degree range rather than the 5, do you have a heater in the 2.5g? Dont keep it by a window, you get drafts and sometimes direct sunlight, this can be bad for the overall health of the tank. Just a tip. If by chance the unfortunate happens, get your tank started before you put in the fish. That is, get the plants growing and a stable condtion. This might take from 1-4 weeks, probably the lower on the 2.5g. Good luck.

First, all fish will eat they just won't eat what you are offering. They get stressed (they should not be able to view one another as in divided tank, as in the wild they would not - one would be chased from the others territory not being forced to deal in aggressive mode constantly - adrenal stress hormones affect metabolisms ie eating so on. All betta's should have plants - the plants will grow little micro organisms and you'll see them picking at these. Dried food is horrible - like us eating dried up cereal, plus it swells up once inside fish - their eye is as small as their stomach so they get constipated down the line. I once caught a little moth and went to feed it to a female betta in a gigantic sword planted globe - she was in it as she was a super jumper, lol. Before I got my hand down near the water she flew out of the water and got her "bug". In the wild they are insect eaters. So find frozen such as worms, mosquito so on and mix it up. Feed a pinch (let it thaw) (I chop it up with knife while frozen, use my finger tips to warm up and tweezer (blunt nose so not to hurt betta) and let it hang over water, she notices and that's it. One meal a day is fine, but I offer a pinch of flake plant food for digestion in later afternoon (much better then dried pellot, put one in water cup and see how huge they get and full of filler foods like wheat and crud)... I also now grow my own worms so on (found on aquabid, ebay) a small amount of work to feed my fish the proper way. Socks, your table food is probably much better (but may need vitamins to round out, they make fish vitamins) as most of the waste from our meat markets and cats/dogs killed at pounds are sold to commercial dog/cat/fish suppliers. Not all, but unless you really check the source, you never know. That's why I grow my own fish foods. Or second best is frozen, then flake. The betta when feeling secure and offered the right foods will eat. (they can go a while before starving but again pellet food is, well would you eat it, lol.

Google "Aquafarm" and you may get some idea, look for a review without the hype where no punches are pulled from someone who made an effort to get it going. This sort of setup does not separate the plants from he fish with filters -not good. After an initial spurt of seedling growth, the plants will be very anemic looking and the tank will not be a stable ecosystem without adding algae eaters for the accumulating wastes and goop and extra other care like in an aquarium, where the emphasis will be on simply keeping the plants alive, and minimal production at best.