Gourami breathing continuously from surface

[Renzo77]

i get that gouramis have a labyrinth and can breath from the surface but my honey gourami does it for extended periods of time. He eats and swims around the tank but his time at the surface has increased. All the other fish are fine and are swimming normally (10 cardinal tetras, 1 molly, couple of amano shrimp)

I’ve also noticed he’s been swimming weirdly. Instead of swimming in one consistent line he swims in small bursts propelling himself small bits at a time, got no idea if I should be concerned or not.

Ammonia - 0.2ppm
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 40ppm
pH - 7.8

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Nitrates are super high, ph is kinds up there to, how long has your tank been set up?

How long have you had said Gourami?

And lastly, May I please see a picture or a short 20 second video of the tank?

 

[Renzo77]

Nitrates are super high, ph is kinds up there to, how long has your tank been set up?

How long have you had said Gourami?

And lastly, May I please see a picture or a short 20 second video of the tank?

My tanks been up for around 3 years and I’ve gotten the gourami around 2-3 weeks ago. Sadly the nitrates straight out my tap are very high here in London and am still trying to find a cost effective way to reduce it. I’ve just attached a video of the gourami

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I don’t see a video....

 

[Renzo77]

I don’t see a video....

There should be a YouTube link on the first message

 

[seangee]

My tanks been up for around 3 years and I’ve gotten the gourami around 2-3 weeks ago. Sadly the nitrates straight out my tap are very high here in London and am still trying to find a cost effective way to reduce it. I’ve just attached a video of the gourami

The water in London is also extremely hard. This would result in a significantly reduced lifespan for your tetras and gourami (and may even be contributing to your gouramis problem).

How big is your tank? I have tried a number of ways to reduce my nitrates and hardness (water is very similar in the Thames Valley). Mixing your tap water with RO water is probably the easiest option if you want to soften your water and reduce nitrates, but be aware this is not suitable for mollies or your amanos.

If you just want to reduce nitrates check out the pozzani website. Several posts about it on this site too.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish is skinny and could be looking for food. Normally I would suggest feeding it more often (3-5 times per day), however there is an ammonia issue that could get worse if you start feeding more often.

You could try deworming the fish, and feeding it more often, and doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate each day for a couple of weeks.

------------------------
You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If these aren't available, look for Flubendazole.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second and third treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

------------------------
What sort of filter do you have and how do you clean it?

 

[Renzo77]

My tanks about 90 litres(20 gallons) and I’ve been told of pozzani filters but don’t really know which one I’m supposed to get and I’m pretty sure they’re expensive?

 

[Renzo77]

The fish is skinny and could be looking for food. Normally I would suggest feeding it more often (3-5 times per day), however there is an ammonia issue that could get worse if you start feeding more often.

You could try deworming the fish, and feeding it more often, and doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate each day for a couple of weeks.

------------------------
You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If these aren't available, look for Flubendazole.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second and third treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

------------------------
What sort of filter do you have and how do you clean it?

I got an aquarium hang-on filter 600-ho by allpondsolutions and I just simply take out the black sponges and squeeze them out in tank water in a bucket.

 

[Colin_T]

I got an aquarium hang-on filter 600-ho by allpondsolutions and I just simply take out the black sponges and squeeze them out in tank water in a bucket.

That's fine

 

[seangee]

For nitrate only this is the filter you need:
https://www.pozzani.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=185 and the refills are https://www.pozzani.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=67&q=nr600. If you are changing 50% of your water per week the cartidge will probably last 4-5 months. I was changing twice as much as that and got 2-3 months out of a cartrige.

They do work and will reduce your nitrates all the way to 0. You do need to keep a spare though and test your output water because they don't gradually deteriorate. One day you'll get 0ppm and as soon as its exhausted your next bucket will be right back up to 40ppm.

Tank looks like a nice setup for the tetras (excluding the hard water).

 

[Renzo77]

The fish is skinny and could be looking for food. Normally I would suggest feeding it more often (3-5 times per day), however there is an ammonia issue that could get worse if you start feeding more often.

You could try deworming the fish, and feeding it more often, and doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate each day for a couple of weeks.

------------------------
You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If these aren't available, look for Flubendazole.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second and third treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

------------------------
What sort of filter do you have and how do you clean it?

So I’ve been checking up on him lately and I think he’s starting to bloat? I can see some swelling around the main organs and it’s starting to become noticeable. Could this be some kind of bladder problem?

 

[Colin_T]

The fish does not appear to have a swim bladder problem. If it had trouble swimming down and floated back up, or it sank and struggled to swim up, then it has a swim bladder problem.

Bloating is usually caused by an internal infection. What does its poop look like?
If the fish bloat up overnight, stop eating and do a stringy white poop, it's an internal bacterial infection.

If the fish loses weight, keeps eating a bit but not a lot, and does stringy white poop, it's an internal protozoan infection.

If the fish eats well but loses weight, then it's normally intestinal worms.