Ok, another one of Jan's long posts. I'm trying to use paragraphs now.
I have had two powder blue Dwarf Gourami's since June 1, 2019. They were some of the first fish I ever purchased and have been very healthy.
Suddenly one of the two NEVER comes up for air unless I force her to. Then she'll inhale some air and dive right back to the bottom of the tank. When feeding all the fish she doesn't leave where she is to get food. If I can get food dissolved close to her she will eat it - but very slowly and very small amounts. She looks thin.
This has been going on for over 3 weeks and she hasn't gotten any worse or any better. At first I thought about euthanizing her but then I thought I'd wait and see.
I searched online for how often Gourami's need to come up for air and can't find any information on it. Does anybody know anything about it? She has stationed herself close to an air bubbler - so perhaps she's getting enough oxygen from that.
I know that a large percentage of Dwarf Gourami's can get a virus - but in this tank I have 5 and they are all healthy and active, except for this one fish. So if she has it - it hasn't seemed to spread - does anybody know the symptoms of this virus? I can't find anything about that online either. My understanding is that there is not treatment.
Should I just wait and see what happens or should I euthanize her now? I kind of don't see the point, if this is a virus all the others have been exposed to it. She doesn't seem in pain - how does one tell? She's just completely inactive.
Oh, and one more interesting thing - one large Gourami from another species goes down to her and just watches her. They sometimes engage in a sort of mating ritual (I don't know if that is what it is, but it sure looks like it). They both wag their tails and slide and rub each other. The one doing this is a very strange black Gourami that USED to be silver with red and blue stripes and now has red and blue stripes on one side of his body and is all black on the other side of his body (you figure that one out LOL). At first I thought he was waiting for her to die so he could have a bite to eat but he seems to be more interested in mating. I have another of the same species but they are both males. The other one has turned completely black all over and ignores her. All are peaceful Gourami's.
So lots of questions - but obviously Gourami's don't need to come up regularly for air - she's easily gone over 24 hours without coming up for air - it's only when I force her to that she gets any air. I have no idea of the symptoms of the dwarf gourami virus to even diagnose her. Is this some weird response to mating and is she just preparing to lay eggs? Will that work with another gourami species?
Water parameters: Ammonia - .25, Nitrates - .25, (last water change 3 days ago), Nitrates- 5.0, PH 6.8.
Topeka Water Stats: Total Hardness: average 10, range 6-16. Total Alkalinity (CaCo3) : Avg 96 ppm, Range 47-138 ppm. PH Avg 9.4 Range 8.5-9.9. I had to use PH down before I added fish and now occasionally after major water changes. I try to keep PH between 6.8 and 7.4 since that is what the majority of my fish require.
Companions: 2 Powder blue dwarf gouramis
2 Dwarf neon blue gouramis
2 Red/Blue (now black) gouramis
1 longfined zebra danio (he killed all his other school mates - he's a monster)
5 Cherry Barbs
3 Small CoryCats (Peppered)
2 Licorice Gourami
2 Bristlenose Lemon Pleco
1 Blue Phantom Pleco
3 Thomasi L188A Pleco (I can never locate more than 1 or 2 but they look different so I can tell them apart)
4 Algae eating blue fish
2 Gardneri Killifish
3 Rainbow Paecox
Overstocked? Most likely but you'd never notice. About 1/2 these fish are very small and most spend the day floating around or sleeping in the weeds. Some I can't even locate on any given day because they hide so well. I don't have cloudiness or a Nitrate problem so as long as I don't add any more I think I'm OK.
I have had two powder blue Dwarf Gourami's since June 1, 2019. They were some of the first fish I ever purchased and have been very healthy.
Suddenly one of the two NEVER comes up for air unless I force her to. Then she'll inhale some air and dive right back to the bottom of the tank. When feeding all the fish she doesn't leave where she is to get food. If I can get food dissolved close to her she will eat it - but very slowly and very small amounts. She looks thin.
This has been going on for over 3 weeks and she hasn't gotten any worse or any better. At first I thought about euthanizing her but then I thought I'd wait and see.
I searched online for how often Gourami's need to come up for air and can't find any information on it. Does anybody know anything about it? She has stationed herself close to an air bubbler - so perhaps she's getting enough oxygen from that.
I know that a large percentage of Dwarf Gourami's can get a virus - but in this tank I have 5 and they are all healthy and active, except for this one fish. So if she has it - it hasn't seemed to spread - does anybody know the symptoms of this virus? I can't find anything about that online either. My understanding is that there is not treatment.
Should I just wait and see what happens or should I euthanize her now? I kind of don't see the point, if this is a virus all the others have been exposed to it. She doesn't seem in pain - how does one tell? She's just completely inactive.
Oh, and one more interesting thing - one large Gourami from another species goes down to her and just watches her. They sometimes engage in a sort of mating ritual (I don't know if that is what it is, but it sure looks like it). They both wag their tails and slide and rub each other. The one doing this is a very strange black Gourami that USED to be silver with red and blue stripes and now has red and blue stripes on one side of his body and is all black on the other side of his body (you figure that one out LOL). At first I thought he was waiting for her to die so he could have a bite to eat but he seems to be more interested in mating. I have another of the same species but they are both males. The other one has turned completely black all over and ignores her. All are peaceful Gourami's.
So lots of questions - but obviously Gourami's don't need to come up regularly for air - she's easily gone over 24 hours without coming up for air - it's only when I force her to that she gets any air. I have no idea of the symptoms of the dwarf gourami virus to even diagnose her. Is this some weird response to mating and is she just preparing to lay eggs? Will that work with another gourami species?
Water parameters: Ammonia - .25, Nitrates - .25, (last water change 3 days ago), Nitrates- 5.0, PH 6.8.
Topeka Water Stats: Total Hardness: average 10, range 6-16. Total Alkalinity (CaCo3) : Avg 96 ppm, Range 47-138 ppm. PH Avg 9.4 Range 8.5-9.9. I had to use PH down before I added fish and now occasionally after major water changes. I try to keep PH between 6.8 and 7.4 since that is what the majority of my fish require.
Companions: 2 Powder blue dwarf gouramis
2 Dwarf neon blue gouramis
2 Red/Blue (now black) gouramis
1 longfined zebra danio (he killed all his other school mates - he's a monster)
5 Cherry Barbs
3 Small CoryCats (Peppered)
2 Licorice Gourami
2 Bristlenose Lemon Pleco
1 Blue Phantom Pleco
3 Thomasi L188A Pleco (I can never locate more than 1 or 2 but they look different so I can tell them apart)
4 Algae eating blue fish
2 Gardneri Killifish
3 Rainbow Paecox
Overstocked? Most likely but you'd never notice. About 1/2 these fish are very small and most spend the day floating around or sleeping in the weeds. Some I can't even locate on any given day because they hide so well. I don't have cloudiness or a Nitrate problem so as long as I don't add any more I think I'm OK.