Sick Honey Gourami - Buoyancy troubles

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
šŸ¶ POTM Poll is Open! šŸ¦Ž Click here to Vote! šŸ°

rhapsody32

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2019
Messages
23
Reaction score
7
Hi everyone,

I have a honey gourami in a 10 gallon with 6 galaxy rasboras. I noticed a week or two ago that he had a bit of a swollen swim bladder, but thought it was normal and I had just not noticed that it looked like that before. He was acting normal, eating and being very responsive when I approached the tank. He started sitting on the ground a few days ago, but was still active as well and ate when I fed him. I moved him into a different tank two days ago so there was less competition for food.

He was eating yesterday as well. Unfortunately, I was barely at home due to work and only saw him in the evenings. Today, he has very obvious troubles swimming. I moved him into a small container that floats inside the tank, added aquarium salt and increased the temperature to 26 degrees (from 24). Inside the tank he was still upright and sitting inbetween the plants for support, now he is in the little container on his side and not moving at all. This makes me think that it is already too late, but I still want to try help him.

Occassionally, I have seen some stringy poo on both honey gouramis (a male and female, but they usually live in separate tanks), so maybe it is an internal parasite? I wanted to head to my LFS now and see if they have a medication. Any recommendations what I should focus on getting to help him?

I also have a sick-ish galaxy rasbora in the tank. He developed a bulge on his side which popped open a few weeks ago and left a bit of a hole (https://www.fishforums.net/threads/bump-or-pimple-on-cpd.459251/#post-3895454) . No idea what that is either, but he is acting fine and even sparrs with the domiant galaxy, but maybe it is related to the swim bladder problems of my honey?

Thanks everyone in advance!
 
24 is too cold, 25-26 is alright, they are tropical fish. Gouramies and bettas are labirynth fish which means they have an organ called 'labirynth' which helps them take air from water surface. How long did you keep him that cold temperature? He might have get a sick labirynth from the cold temperature, there is no cure.
 
Hi thanks for your reply. I thought the temperature range for honey gouramis was 22 - 28. Seriously fish says 22 - 27. That would put 24 right into the range.

I just got back from the LFS and unfortunately, the med stock is very small. I bought a herbal anti parasite med which can also be used with shrimp in the tank. But maybe someone has other recommendations as I am really just guessing with the meds :(
 
Hi thanks for your reply. I thought the temperature range for honey gouramis was 22 - 28. Seriously fish says 22 - 27. That would put 24 right into the range.

I just got back from the LFS and unfortunately, the med stock is very small. I bought a herbal anti parasite med which can also be used with shrimp in the tank. But maybe someone has other recommendations as I am really just guessing with the meds :(
Ok, temp is good. My bad :/
Whatever wrong is with the little guy, it does not sound like parasites to me. I'm sure @Colin_T will help out.
 
I recently had a similar issue with my HG, i fount our that it wasnā€™t eating and then realised that it hadnā€™t pooped in a while! Turns out it was very backed up, you can try feeding peas, blanched and shelled, but mine wasnā€™t accepting food at all. The solution I found was to bathe it in Epsom salt, there are many recipes on the internet, for 10-15 min baths to aquarium dosing. I found that 10 mins in a bath concentration (15g for 3 litres) followed by just less than 24 hours in a solution of 4g to 15 litres. Hope this helps if it is constipation and it hasnt pooped in a while. Make sure you check on the internet to confirm the dosage, if youā€™re in the uk you can get a 350g bag from boots for Ā£1 just make sure it is pure, 100% Epsom salt, the brand I used was westlab.
 
OP, I made a mistake, sorry. It always can also be just constipation. As stated above you can get some epsom salts and bathe your gourami fir 15 minutes and then feed him de shelled blanched peas. My fish go crazy for it! :D
 
Hi both of you, thank you for your reply.

He was in an aquarium saltbath this morning which did not help. I was then at work and only got back now to find him passed away. I am very surprised that he went so quickly (as I said, swimming normally and eating yesterday) and within a few hours all was over. Very strange. :(

Thank you for the advice on the epson salt, I will get some from the shops tomorrow to have some at hand in case of a similar emergency.

:(
 
Make sure the epsom salt has no perfume added. People use it for relaxing in the bath with epsom salt as it's supposed to help with aching muscles, and humans like something perfumey in their bath water.
 
Sorry to hear that heā€™s gone, I Lost my first one like that, the second thankfully I caught in time, but itā€™s still early days, he still isnā€™t eating much at the moment.

Unfortunately aquarium salt isnā€™t the same as Epsom salt so it wouldnā€™t have any effect on constipation. You can get the one in the picture in most supermarkets too.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 68
Hi everyone,

you might think that I am only imagining things, but the female honey appears to be thicker on her left side now as well. It is not the swimbladder (like in the male) that is thicker but the front where her organs are. I got some epsom salt from the shop (without fragnance or anything added) and she is in her bath right now. She seems quite relaxed and I hope she is only constirpated and giving her a bath is the cure.
Edit: not that you think I am crazy and only imagining things, but she also showed a bit of a change in behavior and spend some time hiding beneath the heater today which is very unusual for her. She is a very responsive fish and the moment I approach the tank, at the front of the glass checking if there is some food for her.

I have tried the shelled peas before and my fish do not eat them. They look at them, but do not bother. I will buy some tomorrow for her to try again but anything else I could get? I guess it should be something that is high in fibre?

Thanks!

I am sorry to hear about your fish, James. :( I hope the other one will make a full recovery.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, I donā€™t know heā€™s still not eating very much at all, he just seems to spit everything back out. With the peas, I crushed them up really small but I think it was only my cories that ate them! Iā€™ve read that HG will eat algae wafers, I used to see mine eating algae from driftwood/leaves.
 
For the peas, try microwaving them for 1 minute, the remove the thick added skin cut them in half and put them in the tank. Some fish refuse to eat off the floor of the tank - which is where the peas will be. I have rarely seen my honey gourami eating off the ground but I haven't tried feeding them peas - they are such cute, curious fish (ours always want to go up the gravel suction hose) that they might be brave enough to eat them. I think they hate to be too far from the surface of the water.
 
Thanks for your advice, Jan and James. I bought frozen peas and poured some boiling water over them. Then I let it sit for a while and squished the content out and gave small pieces to her. She did eat some, but she did not go mad over it. Her behaviour is good today. I did find her hide between some floating plants just now but the moment she saw me, she came over. I do not know what was making her act strange yesterday, maybe the bath helped (although I did not see her poop). Her body looks normal from above now.

The galaxy rasboras and shrimp loved the pea! :)

Honey gouramis are incredible fish, I agree. When I started with fish keeping, I would not have thought to grow so fond of any fish haha. Little fish, big personality. :)

Finger's crossed, James! I hope your honey gourami makes it.
 
Yeah I agree mine is a fantastic centrepiece, mine rivals my pea puffer (in its own tank) for character and curiosity to the outside world. Unfortunately his belly looks bloated once again, I think I will have to try another Epsom bath. Maybe he has finally eaten, maybe itā€™s something else, Iā€™m wondering if he has been eating the pest snails that I seem to have acquired, shell and all! I saw him go at a tiny one that dropped down once!
At the moment he is swimming ok so I will leave him be.
 
......Finger's crossed, James! I hope your honey gourami makes it.

Unfortunately he did not make it, I found him dead this morning. He hadnā€™t eaten for over a week, I will be out to the LFS to try and get a male and pair of females at the weekend, any advice on sexing them would be appreciated. Itā€™s very hard when they are young!
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top