Honey Gourami Seems Off

[Rynofasho]

I've noticed in the last couple days that one of my Honey Gouramis is acting different. Seems kinda listless, occasionally resting on plants or the thermometer. Will swim through the plants and kind of smack up against them all the sudden. I see no signs of Ich or any visible fungus, no recent introductions to the tank (besides fry from a spawn), water chemistry is all perfect, and tank was cleaned within last two days. One thing I noticed is that from behind, the fish suddenly seems slightly deformed. Near the tail, on one side the body concaves in a bit and on the other side it bulges out a bit. Seems odd and wasn't like that before. It also has less interest in food. All other tank inhabitants are behaving normally. Any ideas?

 

[hanny93]

Water stats in numbers? (perfect is not good enough.)
By clean the tank what did you actually do?
Filter working properly?


Oops just noticed you mentioned food.

The one thing that catches my eye is the smacking up against things, maybe it is a parasite under the skin thats what the bulge may be, and she is trying to get rid of it by smacking against the plants.

Would you be able to post a picture?

 

[Rynofasho]

No ammonia, no nitrites, 15ppmish nitrates. I maintain a very clean tank as well. Filter is working, no other fish affected.

Ill try to get a picture but it is very difficult as the fish has to be at the perfect angle. If it is parasitic would it be assumed that it is bacterial? I don't see it being fungal as there are no outward signs like white spots, but bacterial would make me think others in the tank would be affected.

Ill try for photos soon. Thank you.

 

[Caprichoso]

Does the gourami look pale and skinny? Is the waste stringy and whitish? If so, could be an internal bacterial infection. Not all the fish will be affected as it will usually get the ones who are weaker and more stressed out. I had this problem with a female honey gourami. I think she already had the bacteria but the stress of her being chased by the other 2 dominant females in the tank brought it on. I took her out and put her in a q't tank. I didn't medicate but instead gave her live shrimps to eat plus her regular food. She get strong again and the issue went away. After about a month or so, I transferred her back to the main tank and she got along just fine with the other 2 females after that. No one else has been sick since.