I have a beautiful powder blue dwarf Gourami - one of the first fish I ever bought that recently was experiencing bladder disease starting about 4 weeks ago. I first noticed after a couple of weeks that she NEVER went to the top of the tank, she just sat on the bottom - so for anybody that thinks Gourami's MUST breathe fresh air, mine went for at least 2 weeks without it and STILL won't come to the top of the tank unless I hold her up there - then she'll breathe and even continue to swim an breathe on her own for about an hour.. Her swimming is slightly unstable with a little tilt but even now that's pretty much gone since I put her in a 5 gallon tank. She has eaten a few bites a couple of times of fish food then puked it all up undigested 2 days later - I know how much because I forced it in front of her face until she took a bite. Of course she never would do that with peas (none of my other fish would eat peeled blanched peas either - stunk up my tank horribly). I gave her a cycle of General Cure by API, no change but she did get less off balance. Still won't eat and hasn't pooped. Now I'm giving her an antibiotic Furan-2 (treats both gram positive and gram negative bacteria) thinking maybe she now has an infection since her swimming is much more stable. Now you would never diagnose her with Bladder disease if you didn't know her history.
Finally I mashed up the peas and mixed with warm tank water and tried to force feed her through a syringe (needle-less) - boy can she clamp up her little mouth. She's too weak to fight me so seems really tame when I'm sure she's stressed out - EXCEPT that every time she sees me she flutters her little side and tail feather which I've always have interpreted as a happy greeting in my healthy fish. She doesn't fight me but if anybody else tries to pick her up - no luck- way too terrified.
Well I may or may not have gotten the mashed pea soup in her - if I did it didn't help her poop. So brilliant old-time doctor that I think I am, took a risk and mixed it with Miralax (a good mild human laxative) - again have been trying to get it past those stubborn lips every 4 hours with little or no success - I hope a little got in but no pooping yet and that should have worked considering her size.
So any more ideas? Like I said she strangely acts happy to see me - or maybe it's a terror dance. It's never a fight to treat her. She hasn't eaten a meal without puking in 4 weeks - she looks very thin but slightly bloated around what would be our lower rib cage area and - if memory serves - about where her swim bladder is.
HELP!!!
Finally I mashed up the peas and mixed with warm tank water and tried to force feed her through a syringe (needle-less) - boy can she clamp up her little mouth. She's too weak to fight me so seems really tame when I'm sure she's stressed out - EXCEPT that every time she sees me she flutters her little side and tail feather which I've always have interpreted as a happy greeting in my healthy fish. She doesn't fight me but if anybody else tries to pick her up - no luck- way too terrified.
Well I may or may not have gotten the mashed pea soup in her - if I did it didn't help her poop. So brilliant old-time doctor that I think I am, took a risk and mixed it with Miralax (a good mild human laxative) - again have been trying to get it past those stubborn lips every 4 hours with little or no success - I hope a little got in but no pooping yet and that should have worked considering her size.
So any more ideas? Like I said she strangely acts happy to see me - or maybe it's a terror dance. It's never a fight to treat her. She hasn't eaten a meal without puking in 4 weeks - she looks very thin but slightly bloated around what would be our lower rib cage area and - if memory serves - about where her swim bladder is.
HELP!!!
