Newbie Needs Help With Gouramis Fading In Color

[deborah]

i've set up my 10gal tank roughly 10 month ago
ammonia and everything is within normal range, the water temp is 80 degrees or a little less

the first 2 fishes i had were sunset gouramis, which first started fading in color, the red was fading, and they were hidding all the time, stopped eating and they got VERY thin,but it seems like their tummy was still big thou, and they didn't swim at all, so both of them died from that

i got a opaline after that, which developed the same condition, and so did the dwarf i got after that

i've tried malachit green, which improved just a little, tried pimafix and melafix, which didn't help at all
someone at the pet store suggested that it might be bacterial and now i have the gouramis on maracyn-two and copper safe

so they are comming out and eating now, and swimming normally, but the color still didn't come back

this is especially obvious on the dwarf, his head is a grey-ish color now, and there is a very intense blue on the bottom fin
all the other scales are shinny, except the ones that have turned grey

can some one tell me what this is and what can i do to help?

 

[Majjie]

Hi Deborah,

I suspect it's just stress. Once the treatment is completed and they settle down in better conditions and health, they'll probably colour up again. Apart from having an infection, chemical treatments in themselves are quite stressful for the fish (though sometimes absolutely necessary). Dwarfs are very prone to bacterial diseases.

Have you got the Opaline in the 10 gal tank? Because, as you may know, it'll need a bigger tank than that in the longer term.