Sick Pearl Gourami

[awolman]

Hi,

I have a couple of pearl gouramis - the male gourami seems to be in top condition and is showing a lot of color.Unfortunately the male can be a bit aggressive with the female.

The female has lost a lot of its colour, has some bloating in the stomach area, is a bit lacsidasical, and has a bit of redness at the point where her fins meet her body.

ph is about 7.4. Ammonia and nitrite levels are both at about .25 - This seems to have increased over the past week (w/ addition of 4 siamese flying foxes to the tank). Tank is a nearly three months old. I was doing weekly water changes 20%, will probably do increase to daily for a while.


Any ideas as to what could be the problem with my gourami could be? Is this purely a symptom of the higher ammonia levels.

Thanks,
Alan.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi awolman

How bloated is your gourami? The diagnosis and treatment will depend on how you answer this question. If it is bloated to the point of having it's scales stick out away from her body, with a "pine cone" look, she has dropsy and the prognosis is not good.

If you might only be seeing the female's normal shape, which is much more rounded in the belly area than the male's, then your fish has a bacterial infection which is causing the redness and other symptoms. I suspect this is the case.

Bacterial infections happen when a fish becomes stressed due to overstocking, temperature fluctuations, high nitrites, uneaten food, low oxygen content in the water, aggressive tankmates or infrequent or inadequate water changes, etc.

As a result of this stress, a fish's natural immune system is weakened and it becomes infected.

Frequent water changes to keep your chemical parameters in balance is a good start. If you have MelaFix, you might try that. It's a mild antibacterial which, along with water changes, could cure your gourami. If it doesn't show any improvement in a day or two, I would suggest moving up to a stronger medication.

Kanamycin is a good antibiotic, which will not destroy your beneficial bacteria. It is also a medicine used to treat dropsy, if you think your fish may have that. If you cannot get this in your area, ask at your lfs for a good anti bacterial medication.

Good luck and I hope your fish gets well soon.