Female Dwarf Death, Stressed Male, Can You Help?

[roz]

Hi, I appreciate this is not the most cheery of topics but I was wondering if a more experienced Gourami expert could help me find out why my female dwarf gourami died.

She is the second loss from my otherwise healthy tank. The first female I had was fine for about a month, the male was building nests on a weekly basis, they were displaying to each other and all was well. Then she became listless, stopped feeding as much as she had been, and hid in the plants for most of the time. She subsequently developed a white thread coming from her back passage. I took advice and was told she could be constipated and to feed only fresh food rather than flake. Unfortunately, she was found dead 2 days later.

The male seemed to be mourning the loss of his partner so I promptly replaced her. There wasn't alot of choice in the shop, only one female left. She did appear to have rather pink lips but the guy in the shop said it was fine and I stupidly believed him. Having been introduced to the tank her lips developed some kind of growth where the pinkness had been, it kind of looked like blisters. She had been feeding well but then lost her appetite and started hiding in the plants, rarely venturing out. She hung around at the top with her head up for a few days. I found her dead at the bottom this morning when I turned the lights on.

It's so tragic, my male is now a double widower. He looks displaced, he keeps going up and down the glass, like a lion pacing in a cage. It's quite upsetting, does anyone know what I can do to de-stress him?

I have attatched a link to some photos here Mrs G 2 deceased in the hope that someone may have seen this before. I had problems loading them so hopefully you can see them. You should be able to see the growth at the side of her lips. She also appeared to have a rather swollen abdomen which I hadn't spotted when she was alive. Is this a normal part of death or could it be linked to whatever she had?

Prior to her death, I had posted a thread in the emergencies section in the hope of treating her and it was suggested that it may have been a bacterial infection as both females came from the same tank at the same lfs, all be it at different times. If that is the case, should I treat my other fish, no-one is looking sick at the moment but should I use something pre-emptively? If so what? Stats are below, if you need them:

28 gallon tank, fully planted, set up over 4 months ago
Temperature: 74 degrees F
PH: 8 (always high)
Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: less than 10 mg/l (hard to tell from my testing kit)
Livestock: 1 adult male dwarf gourami, 6 juvenile preacox rainbowfish, 8 juvenile harlequin rasbora, 9 Yamoto shrimp

I'd be very grateful to anyone who can help with the post-mortum or ways to help my male get over his loss, thanks.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like she had a bad bacterial infection which gouramis are prone to, white stringy poo can be a sign of a bacterial infection, and the lips sounds like a bacterial infection too, sorry for your loss. R.I.P.
I would find the male gourami another partner but i would quarantine the fish first.

 

[severina]

Watch his belly, and if you notice any swelling, quarantine him and give him a general anti-bacterial med. Never medicate before a fish is sick, and then treat *only* that fish. Anti-bacterials for fish are actually bad for the fish too, not just the bacteria.

I actually had to treat mine right out of the shop because I noticed the bloated belly. They responded to the treatment beautifully. So as soon as you notice anything go ahead right then, don't wait, because the condition will get worse. Treatment doesn't take long though, 4 days at most, and its a really easy thing to cure.

I would go ahead and buy some more females (or take the ones that died back and trade them in for live ones) and go ahead and treat them if you notice the infection and then introduce them to your tank. That should help him get over his loss.

 

[roz]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have another question for you... I have been given conflicting advice on the male to female ratio that gouramis are happiest with.

Initially I was told that they get together in couples so pairs are best. But then I have also been told that a single female can be harrassed by the male so it's best to have 2 females for every male to divide the chasing.

Anyone got any thoughts?

 

[severina]

I think thats for regular gouramis. Dwarfs are pretty calm. Also...where did you find female dwarfs!? I've been looking everywhere.

 

[roz]

I'm in the UK and they seem to be readily available at most lfs. Be careful what you buy though. Having done some research I have found out that these fish are subjected to some apalling treatment in breeding farms in the far east.

Apparently, they are treated with hormones and antibiotics, suffer from overcrowding, and are fed dodgy food just to make sure they make it in the shipment. Once here they are then particularly susceptible to diseases of all sorts due the way they were bred.

Try and source from a local breeder as they are more likely to be an enthusiast who treats fish properly and isn't just in it for profit.

 

[sylvia]

Your fish deffinately died from an internal bacterial infection and I agree with everything that's been said except - don't just buy fish to replace the two females. Give your tank some time to ensure your existing fish are healthy. While you're waiting, buy yourself a quarantine tank (5-10 gallons is fine) with a small heater and filter and start a fishless cycle on it. If you notice any sign of disease whatsoever, move the fish into quarantine and treat with an antibiotic. Also, as far as sex ratios go, don't keep pairs. Particularly with dwarfs, even a tiny amount of stress can result in disease and, subsequently, death. You want the fish to be as stress-free as possible and keeping them in a pair certainly isn't the way to go about this. Your male dwarf has been lucky so far. Don't worry about him being lonely. He'll get over it soon enough.