Big Big Problem

[pnyklr3]

I noticed about 2 days ago that one of my dwarf gouramis was lethargic and not swimming around. This evening, I found him at the surface. He just floats there (not "crooked") and breathes every now and then. He's still lethargic, and didn't try to get away when I tried to net him. I noticed that the cover of his gills have darkened significantly. Here are some pics...both sides are the same.

The very dark blue stripe begins just under his eyes.
The dark color also went a little bit down the fins on his belly. It doesn't look good, but I would like to know what it might be (so that I may protect my other fish). Please help!

 

[sylvia]

I have never seen this on any of my fish and can't realy tell from the pictures but I can say for certain that you should deffinately move him to a quarantine tank to keep whatever this is from spreading to your other fish. Could this have been caused by an injury that became infected? Are there any aggressive fish in the tank with him? Or sharp objects could also have caused an injury. It may be some kind of infection... doesn't look like a parasite could have caused it but I'm not sure, doubt its a fungus. How are your water parameters? Also, could this be a burn? Either from a heater (does sometimes happen) or from chlorine in the water or from high ammonia (though I've never seen this in gouramies).

 

[pnyklr3]

I've never seen anything like it, either! I looked through all of the pins on diseases, but nothing matched up....

I guess what is weird is that it seems as if his natural coloring just got much darker on his "cheeks", and that it was symmetrical (both sides were almost exactly the same color and size). I'm sorry to say that he died. All of the other fish in the tank seem fine; no clamped fins or other signs of stress. How long do gouramis generally live? I got my pair at the end of April, but there is really no way of knowing how old he was, I guess.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[sylvia]

Most gouramies are quite long-lived and can live for up to 8 years. However, dwarf gouramies have been mass-produced and a lot of inbreeding has occured that has resulted in weaker fish that are much more volnerable to disease. The non-wild type varieties, especialy, can be quite fragile.

 

[livelife]

I've had the same thing happen to 2 dwarf gouramis that I had at different times. Bought them at 2 different stores too. They were never exposed to each other, but one developed dropsy quickly followed by the dark coloring and black scales. On the second one, the dark coloring came first, consisting of a very dark blue around the cheek area, just like yours, followed by lethargy, blackening of the scales and death.

It's unfortunate, but I was at a loss to treat the poor fellow since I had no idea what I was looking at.

Nat

 

[sylvia]

You mentioned dropsy came first in your first dwarf... could this be an unusual symptom of dropsy? I know you don't always get typical symptoms with dropsy and sometimes the fish die before any dropsy-specific symptoms appear... what do you think?

 

[pnyklr3]

Hmmm...When he died, he was floating like he would be swimming, but with his head pointing up. Is this a sign of dropsy.

 

[livelife]

My first case was definitely dropsy. Pinecone scales and all.

The second developped the lethargy and dark coloring first, then stopped eating and would lay on his side, even getting stuck to the intake pipe of the filter. He had no outward sign of dropsy, but you never know. This second case of mine sounds alot like your case, Pnyklr3. This second one was *extremely* timid right from the get-go, so he might have been harboring something for awhile.

I wouldn't mind comparing notes on this. How was his behaviour before you noticed the illness?

 

[pnyklr3]

Well, he was lethargic before I noticed the coloring change. I knew something was wrong because he found a sheltered corner that was planted and just sat at the bottom of the tank in the same spot for what seemed like hours at a time. Prior to that, he was very active, for a gouramis I guess. He would swim around and "investigate" things with those arm-like fins (don't know what they are called) of his. Both of my gouramis were the type to be the first at the top of the tank for food, and the first to feel-around at the bag when a new fish came. They were both very peaceful and serene fish. Now I have one.....should I get more (do they get lonely)?

 

[sylvia]

If your other dwarf is healthy and is acting normal and there is no increased aggression, you need not get him a new tankmate. However, some gouramies have a tendency towards becoming little terrors when kept alone so keep an eye on him and buy a female (if you can find one) for him to share the tank with. This will usualy keep him from being aggressive. You could also get a male but there is no guarantee that they would get along at all.

 

[livelife]

I had two males, when the first died of dropsy I got another male again and they all got along great. Just my experience, so don't take that as gospel. ;o)

When mine got lethargic and dark, he was hiding in a dark corner near the bottom too. Hardly eating. I'd put food down near him and he'd grab a few bites, but was really not gung-ho about eating.

to that, he was very active, for a gouramis I guess. He would swim around and "investigate" things with those arm-like fins (don't know what they are called) of his.

Mine do that all the time. They are very touchy-feely type fish. They constantly touch each other with their feelers. Even when the one was sick and hiding, all the other gouramis (including blues and golds) would come and touch him with their feelers, seeing if he was O.K.

 

[sylvia]

all the other gouramis (including blues and golds) would come and touch him with their feelers, seeing if he was O.K.

More likely they were tasting him lol those ventrals have taste cells on them.

It sounds like both your gouramies had pretty much the same illness and it would be quite useful to figure out what. At the moment, it seems like it was either some unusual form of dropsy or an illness caused by the mass-production and inbreeding of these gouramies. I once heard about a 'gourami disease' but can't remember where or what it was... That was back when I was researching the best gouramies to buy (I ended up with Pearls and still adore them).

 

[livelife]

Wow Sylvia! There are taste cells on those feelers? Amazing!

I'd love to find an article on gourami behaviour, but haven't been able to find anything relating to their day-to-day behaviour. I'm so used to learning about my other pets' body language that I'd love to learn my fishies body language too. The gouramis especially seem to have interesting interaction, but darned if I know what it all means. lol. Regardless, I find it fascinating.

 

[sylvia]

Yeah, unfortunately there aren't many articles on fish, especialy gourami, behaviour The best way to understand them is to watch them, watch them and watch them - and gather what little you can from books, word of mouth and the internet... They are very interesting fish and have lots of character once you know what to look for.

 

[pnyklr3]

So, are we just assuming what our fish died of was a result of major inbreeding? Mine din't show the pine-coning of dropsy, but we had many of the same symptoms. I guess i want to make sure it's not a disease that is contagious for my other fish, and that it wasn't something I could prevent.