Gourami Troubles

[rogue_betty]

Tank size: 75 gallon
pH: apps 7.4
ammonia:
nitrite: 0
nitrate: app 60
kH: app 100
gH: app 200
tank temp: apps 76 degrees

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
3 Spotted "Blue" Gourami (her name is And):
She (?) will swim fine for about 10 minutes and then she'll start wiggling sideways on the pebbles above the substrate. When I put her in an isolation tank the strange behavior stops and she starts to swim normal again. When I return her to the main tank, she repeats the previous behavior.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 20% - 30% every 3-4 weeks

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: tap water conditioner and "AquaBac-T" at water changes

Tank inhabitants: Black Spotted Eel, Ornamental Bichir and one other Blue Gourami

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): The two Gourami are new additions (yesterday) as well as some additional live plants (Indian Toothcup [Rotala Indica], Long Hair Grass [Eleocharis Montevidensis], and Amazon Sword [Echinodorus Amazonicus])

Exposure to chemicals: Nothing besides the chemicals listed above as far as I know.

The other fish, including the other Gourami that came with her are acting perfectly normal and strong. When Anu is in the isolation tank, she acts perfectly normal. She is eating and swimming fine. I think that she may have gotten in a tussle with the Bichir (Jax) last night because I noticed her nipping at him before bed and this morning she had some visible injuries. She had only a split in her tail and was acting fine this morning, but a few hours later she had an additional tear in her tail and some bruising at the base of her pectoral fin and at her peduncle... I've been doing too much research online on fish anatomy haha. I am confused at the difference in her behavior between the communal tank and the quarantine tank. Any thoughts? I am really concerned for her.

Thanks in advance you guys!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

can you post a short video of the fish acting funny?
a 20 second clip should be heaps

 

[Byron]

Agree the video would help, but there are a couple points to be made.

First, gourami are not compatible with the other fish mentioned; this is not going to work regardless of the issue. The "blue" gourami in any of its varieites (they are the same species, Trichopodus trichopterus) is one of the more aggressive species of gourami. But the activity of the other fish here is going to impact them as well.

Second, water changes must be more than what you mention. At least once a week, and change 50-60% of the tank volume. Provided the parameters (GH, pH and temp) are close between tank water and tap this will not harm but immensely benefit the fish.

Which brings me to the nitrates...60 ppm is way too high for nitrate. If this is due to the conditions in the aquarium, then the increased water changes may help solve the problem. Other factors are substrate vacuuming (except around plants) and keeping the filter cleaned; the brown organics are a source of nitrate. Nitrate should be as low as possible, and not be above 20 ppm. If nitrate is present in the tap water (you should always test the source water alone for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate so you know if any are present) that is another issue but one that can be dealt with.

The description would suggest something in the tank water is bothering the gourami; this could be the water conditions, or pathogens/parasites/protozoan.