Listless Gourami

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Nordk

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I have a tank with 2 powder blue dwarf gouramis in it. This morining, I found one of them laying on his side on the bottom of the tank, pale and breathing heavily. There is no sign of bloating or parasites. A water test revealed sky-high nitrate levels, which most likely are the result of overfeeding and my being extremely busy for the past few weeks due to exams.
I netted both fish and put them in a mason jar filled with filtered tap water. I then cleaned the tank, and filled it with the same filtered water as was in the jar (the same water I always use). While in the jar, the ill fish appeared to recover, and eventually began to swim around the jar.
After putting him back inside the tank, he resumed the listless behavior. I currently have him quarrentined in another jar. Another water test reveals low nitrates and nitrites, moderately soft water, low alkalinity, and a pH in the low 6.'s. The other gourami seems to be fine, he's swimming fine, breathing normally, and shows no change in behavior.
Is there anything I can do to save this fish? He's still lying on his side and breathing rapidly, but his color has returned from its pale state when I found him. Should I be concerned about the other fish?
Also, I plan on adding a live plant to the tank to help reduce nitrogen compounds in the future, any suggestions for what would work best in a 5 gallon tank?
 
My test kit doesn't include a reading for ammonia. :dunno:
evilmad.gif
 After reading up on this site I will definately pick one up that does very soon.
My thanks to the people who wrote the instructional threads, they will prove helpful in improving my set up.
Sadly, I must announce that this fish has passed.
sad1.gif
 
:( It SOUNDS like ammonia poisoning.. I'm not one hundred percent.. If you didt test for ammonia I can imagine your tank isn't cycled.. The only solution is many, many water changes.
 
Thanks Relevantsam. After quarentining the now ex-fish I completely cleaned the tank, filter, heater, and substrate, then filled it up with new water. (After reading up on cycling, I realized this probably wasn't the best of ideas.) Should I still worry about water changes, and if so, how often and how much? It's a 5 gallon tank, BTW.
 
It sounds like it may of been DGD (dwarf gourami disease).
Is the tank cycled?
Also, the recommended tank size for a dwarf gourami is 10 gallons, 5 can be alright if the dwarf gourami is on its own but its not recommended. Males will often fight so don't get another one, especially with your tank size.
When you changed the water, did you add any dechlorinator?
 
I don't think the tank was cycled, and I don't have any dechlorinator. I never had issues with these particular fish fighting or bullying each other, even when this one started to fall ill.
 
A number of issues there.
 
Always use a dechlorinator - chlorine will poison the fish, and will kill the fledgling bacteria in your filter (once they're established, they live in a biofilm which protects them for the chlorine, but still it burns the fish.
 
Dwarf Gourami are too big for a 5G.
 
It would appear that the filter is not cycled, so that's another reason for your problems, and probably the main one.
 
You need to to quickly buy yourself a liquid based test kit (since you don't have an ammonia test, I'm assuming that you have the 5-in-1 paper strips, which are pretty poor, IMO). Test your water every day, and do a change (with dechlorinated water) every time you see a reading for ammonia or nitrite. Have a read of the green link in my signature area, which will give you a bit more detail and the background reasoning why you have to do this.
 
Any more questions, fire away!
 
The water I use runs through a water softener and filter which includes chlorine removal, but I'll pick up some dechlorinator anyways.
Thanks for the advice on the test kit, I'll definately invest in one. (Currently I'm using "Jungle" brand strips.)
In terms of water changes, how much? 25%? 40%?
 
The amount of the water changes depends on the amount of ammonia/nitrite. Ideally you want to get it under 0.25ppm of ammonia/nitrite so what ever you think is needed to get to that. (i.e 0.5ppm=60-70% waterchange)
 

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