Dwarf Gourami Swimming Erratically, Lying On Side

[nem2k2]

UPDATE:

This fish has taken a turn for the worse now.. for the past 3 days he has had trouble swimming, he's been at an angle most of the time. So I tried stopping feeding him for 2 days and then feeding him a mushed up pea in case he had swim bladder problems. Today he is swimming in spirals and barrel rolls in a comical yet tragic manner When he is not doing this he lies at the bottom of the tank on his side. Due to his erratic swimming, he has torn open the remains of the eye that he lost to pop eye.

What should I do? I think it might be too late to help him, but I'd like to try anything to save him!!




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original post:

I have a dwarf gourami I have had for a while now. Several months ago one of his eyes started clouding over. I tried treating him with antibacterial meds but it did not seem to help. It then started swelling a little a month or so ago, then stopped. He seemed fine, eating and swimming fine etc. He just had trouble seeing out his swollen cloudy eye.

About a week or so ago, the swollen cloudy eye started swelling up more, until the gourami eventually popped it (presumably either because it swelled up too much or accidentally knocked it on a plant). The question now is, what should I do with this fish? He has a popped eye that does not look very nice at all. Will it sort of heal over leaving him missing an eye? Or is it likely to fester away and eventually kill him? Again, he seems fine aside from the popped eye - no loss of appetite etc. I just don't want him to suffer any more if he is going to get worse. I currently have him in my 'hospital tank' along with a couple of new neon tetras I bought a few days ago.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Your fish does have a bacterial infection, however, if he is treated, he may survive. Pop-eye is more a symptom than a specific disease, so your best bet is going to use a broad spectrum antibiotic such as Kanacyn (aka kanamyicin) or treat with BOTH maracyn and maracyn 2, assuming you are in the US.

Now would also be a good time to check you water stats. What are you ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels? How big of a tank do you have, and what fish are kept in it?

 

[nem2k2]

Your fish does have a bacterial infection, however, if he is treated, he may survive. Pop-eye is more a symptom than a specific disease, so your best bet is going to use a broad spectrum antibiotic such as Kanacyn (aka kanamyicin) or treat with BOTH maracyn and maracyn 2, assuming you are in the US.

Now would also be a good time to check you water stats. What are you ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels? How big of a tank do you have, and what fish are kept in it?

He is in a 40L tank now with only 4 neon tetras. Before I got the tetras he was in there on his own. The stats are fine (0 ammonia/nitrate/nitrite, pH 7). Though I don't know if that will help, his eye is already gone...

I used Melafix when the symptons first started, but it didn't help. Should I add some more to help the popped eye heal over? Or maybe some tonic salt when I do my next water change?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Fish can live with only one eye. Basically pop-eye is caused by fluid building up inside of a fish. The most treatable cause of this is an internal bacteria med. Melafix is a topical antibacterial medicine, so having something that will work internally is going to be your best bet to save this fish. Salt tonic can help ease stress, but that is all it will really be good for.

I would not leave him in a tank wiht the other fish. How long have you been quarentining the neons for? Some of the possible causes of this can be contagious, so watch out for their health too.

 

[nem2k2]

Fish can live with only one eye. Basically pop-eye is caused by fluid building up inside of a fish. The most treatable cause of this is an internal bacteria med. Melafix is a topical antibacterial medicine, so having something that will work internally is going to be your best bet to save this fish. Salt tonic can help ease stress, but that is all it will really be good for.

I would not leave him in a tank wiht the other fish. How long have you been quarentining the neons for? Some of the possible causes of this can be contagious, so watch out for their health too.

The neons have been in quarantine for 4 days now.

I live in New Zealand so I'm not sure what internal fish meds are available here, I will check at the store.

How will I know when his infection has gone away? The swollen eye was the only indication I had... heh

 

[tttnjfttt]

I have no clue what meds are avaliable over there. Most people on here are from the US, Canada, or the UK. Hmmm. I'd still try to look for those meds, althoug I know in some places, like the UK, you can't get antibiotics for fish without a perscription. I would still look for Kanamyicin or Maracyn and Maracyn 2 (antibiotics are eythromyicin and minocycline and conbine both).

I would begin with one treatment and see how the fish is behaving. I have a feeling you will notice an improvement in his behavior and activity level.

 

[nem2k2]

I have no clue what meds are avaliable over there. Most people on here are from the US, Canada, or the UK. Hmmm. I'd still try to look for those meds, althoug I know in some places, like the UK, you can't get antibiotics for fish without a perscription. I would still look for Kanamyicin or Maracyn and Maracyn 2 (antibiotics are eythromyicin and minocycline and conbine both).

I would begin with one treatment and see how the fish is behaving. I have a feeling you will notice an improvement in his behavior and activity level.

Ok thanks for the help, I will ask for these at the store. Hopefully they won't try and fob me off with Furan-2 like they did last time...

I have put the tetras in my main tank, it's a little overcrowded now but I'll take them out as soon as the gourami is looking better.

 

[nem2k2]

Unfortunately I could not obtain any Kanamyicin or Maracyn here (even from the chemist) I tried going to a different fish store and asked them what I should try and they said Furan-2 as well, so I have tried that. I put the first dose in last night, and today the gourami's (missing) eye seems to be swelling up again! This time, instead of his eye clouding over and swelling, it's like the 'scab' is swelling up, it's like a red bubble...

What should I do? Continue the treatment?

 

[tttnjfttt]

unfortunately, that seems to be all that you can do. A few other things you can try are to contact a local vet and try to get them to perscribe antibiotics. You can also call your doctor and explain the situation. I have also heard of people soaking the fish's food in a concentrated solution of the medicine, and then feeding it to help get meds inside the fish.

One thing i would recomend is that you buy a bottle of clove oil now incase it gets to the point where you need to euthanize him. From personal experience, the worst thing I have found is to have a fish at the point where you know there is no hope, but have no way to end it peacefully.

If the store carries other meds in that brand, EM tablets are the same thing as maracyn, and i THINK TC tablets are the same as tetracycline.

 

[steelhealr]

Tetracycline would be the antibiotic of choice if you had to get some from a vet. Dosages I've seen are 1g in 100 liters of water. Other names include terramycin. SH

 

[nem2k2]

Just an update (I didn't get the notification emails for the last 2 replies..): the gourami appears to have come out alright after the full 4-day treatment of furan-2. He is a lot more lively and what is left of his eye has healed up nicely, he doesn't look too bad

 

[steelhealr]

WTG...we have a cure here. SH

 

[nem2k2]

This fish has taken a turn for the worse now.. for the past 3 days he has had trouble swimming, he's been at an angle most of the time. So I tried stopping feeding him for 2 days and then feeding him a mushed up pea in case he had swim bladder problems. Today he is swimming in spirals and barrel rolls in a comical yet tragic manner When he is not doing this he lies at the bottom of the tank on his side. Due to his erratic swimming, he has torn open the remains of the eye that he lost to pop eye.

What should I do? I think it might be too late to help him, but I'd like to try anything to save him!!

 

[steelhealr]

Unless you want to isolate him and try a course of antibiotics, this might be a fish that should be euthanized. Sorry it's so ill. SH

 

[nem2k2]

Unless you want to isolate him and try a course of antibiotics, this might be a fish that should be euthanized. Sorry it's so ill. SH

He's still isolated from his bout of pop-eye. I've added a dose of melafix and placed a small amount of mushed pea next to him in case he is hungry/in case it helps with his swim bladder. It appears he cannot swim at all now, if he tries he just end up spinning around and around the horizontal axis (ie. doing "barrel rolls")