Leucistic Opaline Gourami

[Brightestdai]

hi there,
im in need of some help!
i have a female leucistic(white) gourami and she's not doing too well...all she does is stay in a spot and moves back and forth with her fins.
she never touches the coral or bottom of my tank, but chooses the middle. now she refuses to eat, even her fav foods ie: peas, lettuce and brine shrimp!
she'll go up for air but she seems like she really isnt getting any air cuz shes not putting her mouth outta the water like she used too.
her sister went threw the same thing, starved herself, moved back and forth and then died with-in about a month.

i took a water sample into my local petstore for testing, only thing that was wrong was Nitrates.. they told me to put another dose of Cycle in, which i did and i really dont think thats the prob.

please help. i dont want to loose her like her sister

 

[fluttermoth]

How big is the tank, how long has it been set up and is it cycled? How often and how much water do you change weekly? How do you maintain your filter?

Next time you get your water tested (or, even better, get your own tests) get the shop to tell you the actual numbers, as their version of 'fine' isn't always the same as other people's.

The first thing to do, if you ever have any fish that's not 'right', is to do a big water change, making sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated.

 

[Brightestdai]

Hey, so my tank is 50 gal. It's been up and running since march of this year.
I change the filter every 2 weeks and clean the black sponge looking filter as well. I do a 20-30% water change the same time I change the filter, once a month I do 75% water change.
I have older opaline Gourami's but they're all fine, it seems to be only the Lucy's that are affected

 

[dannybgoode]

Could you just clarify what you mean when you say you change the filter every two weeks.

Do you take the old filter material out and put new material in? If so how much old material are you replacing-is it whole sponges?

If so this I suspect is where the problems are. Filter manufacturers would have you believe this is what you are meant to do, it's how they make money after all. They really should give much better instructions but would lose money by doing so and unfortunately it is the fish keeper that suffers

But, what you are actually doing is removing all the good bacteria that keep the water clear of ammonia and nitrItre and putting your fish in real danger and in effect you are cycling your tank every couple of weeks. Some fish do survive this process but the longer you do it for the ore fish will die

The filter sponges last for months if not years. All you need to do is wash them out every so offer (month or 2) IN TANK WATER, not tap water as the chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria also.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[Brightestdai]

Thank you for the information!
I remove the blue filter and replace it every 2 weeks, but now I'll be following your instructions.

Again, thanks so much for the info

 

[dannybgoode]

Do you use dechlorinator in your tap water before adding it to your tank also (also known as things like stress coat etc)? This too is really important as neat tap water will kill the good bacteria in your filter.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[Brightestdai]

I always use stress coat, my fish still isn't doing good.
And now my other fish are picking on her, I've put her in a medium-large container inside the tank so she won't get hurt but I have a crazy loach that somehow gets in with her.

Could it be a paracite? I haven't added any new fish in a long time so I don't know what's going on?

She's starting to get grayish to black tiny spots near her gills and abdomin

 

[Brightestdai]

And another new thing is she's twitching a lot. She'll be doing the back and forth thing then all of a sudden she looks like she has a shiver running down her spine

 

[Brightestdai]

Well she died :'( but thanks for the help