Is This Normal?

[Betta_Shark5678]

Hello.

My Golden Gourami was swimming around his temporary tank today in a panic it seemed, darting back and forth between the front and back of the tank, swimming in tight little circles, etc. Then all of a sudden he stopped, and it looked like he was choking, and bubbles came out of his mouth, and gills. Then he started rocking, but was otherwise fine. He's acting normal now, but should I be worried?

Thanks!

 

[juquiyu]

I think the bubble thing is common with anabantids.. They can breathe air by using their swim bladders.

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

I think the bubble thing is common with anabantids.. They can breathe air by using their swim bladders.

Okay, thank you. I know that they breathe air, but I wasn't sure about bubbles coming out of his gills because I'd never seen that before.

 

[betta fish]

From your description it does not sound like normal behaviour to me, the darting and swimming in tight circles then suddenly stopping and the rocking,how long have you had the fish? tank stats may help, had you just done a water change, any other changes?

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

From your description it does not sound like normal behaviour to me, the darting and swimming in tight circles then suddenly stopping and the rocking,how long have you had the fish? tank stats may help, had you just done a water change, any other changes?

I have had him since July, and he's been in a very over-crowded temporary tank because the people who gave him to me gave him to me months before they got me the tank that went with him. I did a water change yesterday. Only other changes are I took a few small sponges out and put them in my Betta's filter because the filter cartridge was blocked up, and I added a new one to the tank with the Gourami, and I put my Guppies in there because I have my 55 Gallon tank now, and it'll be ready soon, but my Guppies didn't seem to like bigger fish when I got them, so I wanted them to get used to being with the Gourami until I finish getting the tank setup. I'll be adding them in a week hopefully.

Water stats:
Ammonia - more than 0, less than 0.25 (I've tested my tap water, and it's about 0.25)
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10-20
pH - in between 6.8 and 7.2

Is it possible that he just feels cramped in such a small tank? He was only supposed to be in that tank for at most 2 weeks, but he's been in there 3 months now. It's 6.6 Gallons, with 9 other fish, so feeling cramped is my best guess for that. The bubbles coming from it's gills is really what startled me about the whole thing.

 

[betta fish]

It does sound very cramped in there yes, so his behaviour may partly be due to that, if you had just done a water change when it happened then that could also be another cause, his behaviour fits in with a sudden change in conditions, smaller tanks fluctuate much more, the bubbles from his gills were most likely from him taking a gulp of air at the surface, the rocking would be associated with this as the excess air would cause his buoyancy to be impaired, I'd imagine he improved after expelling the bubbles, the sooner you can do the move the better, stressed fish have lower immune systems which leave them open to attack from problems such as ich etc hope all goes well

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

Thank you! I started my fishless cycle last night, and I have Nitrates but no Nitrites I added two little sponges from my other two tanks, that seems to be helping a lot, so in just a few weeks they'll be in the tank. The Platys have also started nipping my Gourami's back, and dorsal fin, so I think they're all ready to be in their new tank.

 

[snazy]

Platys nipping fins? I've never seen that. Are you sure there's no ammonia in the tank causing his fins to rot?

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

I tested yesterday and there was no Ammonia. I saw the Platys nipping the Gourami's back, otherwise there's a little bit of fraying on his fins, but that's been there since I got him and still hasn't healed. I went through a very rough fish-in cycle in that tank that's only been done for a little over a month.