Is My Gourami Sick?

[kristynkarma]

I have a male dwarf gourami named Ringo. I got him in mid-late June of this year, and he was fairly young when I got him. For the first month and a half or so that he was in my tank, he was vibrantly colored and highly active. But for about a month or two now he's been completely different. His scales have gone dull and I never see him eat anymore (though I know he must be eating since he's still alive.) He's completely lethargic. He kind of rests on the bottom of the tank and he's always tilting sideways. When he does swim (which is usually only if he gets spooked by another fish or something) it looks like it's really difficult for him. Is my gourami sick? Could it be his swim bladder?

 

[Proud Pastry]

I'm sorry your fishy isn't well.
What are your water parameters? Is your tank fully cycled? Do you know how old he is?
He doesn't have swim bladder because swim bladder makes the fish float and it's hard for them to sink.

I don't mean to scare you, but my guppy was acting the exact same way. Laying on the ground and not eating...
Then the next day he passed away

 

[Jam Jam]

Please test your water and post the results oh here,then the members can help you get your fish back to health.
This forum is full of good advice off experienced fish keepers.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Sounds like it could be Dwarf Gourami Disease, you should look into it and see if the symptoms match up. If it is DGD i am afraid there is very little to be done.

 

[kristynkarma]

[sup]Tank size: 10 gallons
pH: 6.6
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 42ppm
kH: 10-15ppm (extremely low)
gH: off the charts (extremely high)
tank temp: 77-78[sup]o[/sup]f[/sup]
[sup][I plan on making a trip to my lfs as soon as I can to pick up some 'API Proper pH' to increase my Carbonate Hardness and some water softener to reduce my General Hardness. My tank temp is a little warmer than usual because I have newborn guppy fry in my tank.]

Volume and Frequency of water changes: roughly 25% every week or week and a half[/sup]

[sup]Chemical Additives: Tap water dechlorinator, API aquarium salt, and StressZyme (it has live bacteria to boost the biological filter), and just recently I used a 'Tetra No More Algae' tablet for the first time ever.[/sup]

[sup]Tank inhabitants: 1 male tuxedo guppy, 1 female cobra guppy, 1 female sunset wag platy, 12 newborn guppy fry (in a small net within the tank to avoid being eaten because I don't have another tank for them yet, sadly), and, obviously, 1 male dwarf gourami[/sup]

[sup]Recent additions (living or decoration): I just put in a couple of fake plants (because I had to remove my live plants before putting in the algae tablet) and the guppy fry[/sup]


[sup]I don't have any pictures yet but I will try to upload a couple tomorrow[/sup]

 

[kristynkarma]

Good news! Last night and earlier this morning he was swimming around a bit. He kept having to rest on the floor of the tank, like the swimming was wearing him out, but that fact that he is swimming a little bit now is an improvement right?

 

[kristynkarma]

Oh, and how do you upload pictures to this website?

 

[Zikofski]

it is best to use Photo Bucket to upload the pictures to and then link them from there, website is

http/photobucket.com/

then use the IMG code to post on here for example

[*IMG]http/i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g335/Zikofski/d01a1200-1.jpg[/IMG*]

take out the * that i put into the IMG Brackets

 

[kristynkarma]

Oh, thanks so much! But sadly, my gourami passed yesterday. He was perking up so much, I thought he was getting better He had a good, long life, though. I've heard many people say that their gourami's tend to last only a couple of months, and I had him for five months. I don't think I'll get any more gourami's until I get a larger tank -- I felt bad keeping him in just a ten gallon tank. Ten gallons is better for guppies and neon tetras and other small fish.

 

[Jam Jam]

Oh dear sorry to hear that

 

[Proud Pastry]

I'm sorry your Gourami passed away *hugs*
But it sounded like you took good care of him and loved him to bits!

 

[Sailfin Zach]

it was probably dwarf gourami diesese and what about ammonia.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Sorry for your loss... Dwarf Gourami Disease is dreadful, huh?