Please Help! I Love My Fish!

[EricaGail90]

Ok, so I'm really scared.. about 5 days ago I noticed that my gourami's feeler whiskers were very short and had fallen off some to about half their size. I was really worried but thought, oh they will grow back.
But now 5 days later his whiskers are completely gone and Fish, is not swimming good at all. Two days ago I noticed that he was swimming with his body vertical instead of horizontal and he wasn't using his back fin to swim. But now he has just been laying on the bottom but he is still breathing, his eyes are open, and he struggles to swim and get up when I call his name or tap on the glass.


I just have a 1 1/2 gallon tank and one small goldfish and a little snail. I use Purified water to fill the tank that I buy from the supermarket and I do water changes about twice a month.

Please Help Me!

Are there any cheap remedies or special foods that I can give him??

 

[Athena]

Sorry, but are you saying that the gourami, goldfish and snail are all in a one and a half gallon tank? Surely not...

Does this "tank" have a heater and filter for the gourami (as it's a tropical fish)and was it cycled before adding the fish? If there's no heater then this is why your Gourami has become ill - but having said that, goldfish are coldwater fish so shouldn't be in a heated tank. The two fish are incompatible in the same tank.

Athena

 

[Jenste]

like athena...I am concerned over the idea that you have any of those fish in a 1.5 gallon tank


the gourami (depending on species) should be in a 15+ gallon tank, filtered, cycled, and heated.

the goldfish (depending on species) should be in a MINIMUM of a 20+ gallon tank, filtered, cycled, and UNheated.


perhaps you could tells us more details about the tanks, cleaning schedule, if you cycled the tank, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings if you have them

 

[mattlee]

also tapping the glass will only make the fish very stressed, jumpy and nervous....

 

[karin]

Also I read somewhere else on this forum that purified water actually does not have the minerals needed for the fish to survive. I agree with the others, a 1.5 gallon is really not big enough for any fish. Sorry.