Hello everyone, I have a wonderful giant gourami and recently he has started coughing out bubbles violently. It happens occasionally. He is also sleeping more and taking naps often. Occasionally he twitches and it looks like he has involuntary spasms. His appetite is good as usual. We generally feed him pellets, bananas, tomatoes, and peas. We have stopped the pellets for now. What can be possibly causing this? Any information and help is highly appreciated. I just want him to get better.
Help pls!! Giant Gourami Coughing
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That's a tough one. Gouramis make bubbles, but I've never seen any 'violent" coughing type production. I fall back to the idea of water changes. I never bother with test kits and readings, but i change a lot of water. A reason I've never had a giant gourami is I figure you would be doing large volume water changes if you had one indoors in a tank, and you're be doing them twice a week. I'm too lazy for a huge fish like that, as much as I like their intelligence and character.
Could he be simply building a bubble nest and twitching from frustrated sexual friskiness?
Could he be simply building a bubble nest and twitching from frustrated sexual friskiness?
video of the fish coughing?
what is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?
how often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
how long has it had the problem?
have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
are there any other fish in the tank?
what is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?
how often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
how long has it had the problem?
have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
are there any other fish in the tank?
His water is changed as often as we did before and after around 2 years now he is having issues. I don't think so. I noticed he gets startled when he wakes up from sleep then he swims to the other end and twitches. He mostly coughs when he opens his mouth too big as he tries communicate. Can that be the cause? I think he hit a growth spurt as his mouth got bigger but I'm also worried it could be a parasite or something I'm missing.
Unfortunately I don't have any videos of him coughing because it happens so fast.
I've never checked the levels. I have another tank with smaller fish and they seem fine so I ruled that out. But at this point I will give it a try. My brother changes 3 quarters of the water every week. He also has a filter.
It has been about three weeks. He is the only one in his tank. No new things, however my father fed him a chunk of banana without anyone's knowledge few days before the coughing and twitching started. I suspect maybe fertiliser can be involved
I strongly suspect his hormones are behind this. Spitting bubbles? Nest making. Shimmering or twitching, especially if he's catching his own reflection? Territorial claims.
Sudden activity after drifting along? Normal. in a small tank (relative to a BIG fish.
Sudden activity after drifting along? Normal. in a small tank (relative to a BIG fish.
The fish might have an infection in the mouth or throat. You could try doing a big water change and gravel clean each day for a couple of weeks. It might help the fish recover.
You could also try adding some salt to the tank. It can treat some minor infections.
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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
You could also try adding some salt to the tank. It can treat some minor infections.
-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
If it is doing that, it is territorial aggression.
The one at Morley Aquarium does that whenever customers go past the tank. The fish is close to 2 feet long and charges the glass, splashing water over nearby patrons. It's a bit of a loony fish
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That's where I was going with it. I've seen a few adults spitting bubbles while doing it as well, so hopefully that's all this is.If it is doing that, it is territorial aggression.
The one at Morley Aquarium does that whenever customers go past the tank. The fish is close to 2 feet long and charges the glass, splashing water over nearby patrons. It's a bit of a loony fish
DoubleDutch
Fish Gatherer
Maybe something got stuck ?
DoubleDutch
Fish Gatherer
Is it in an open tank? Is airtemp allmost
the same as the watertemp?
the same as the watertemp?
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