Skinny Gourami

[Briggan]

Hi!
So I’ve noticed this morning that my dwarf flame gourami has become pretty skinny.
His color seems normal but his fins seemed clamped and he stayed close to the bottom of the tank, and he was of course skinny.
Usually he comes right to the glass to see me but this time he was very slow.
I did just turn the light on so it may have been him just waking up, I got up earlier this morning.
He does eat when I feed the whole tank, but the 6 neons I have like to eat his portion. He eats pretty slowly too.
Are there any good solutions to feeding in a community tank like this without separation?
I don’t think it’s a parasite or infection and I have no medications.
Any info would be helpful. I can post a pic later.
Thanks!

 

[KrystaK]

Fin clamping is a sign of stress, so is staying in one small area of the tank - so something is bothering him. Without knowing more (tank size, stock, age and water parameters) I can't really give suggestions on what the stressors could be. My automatic advice in a situation with a stressed fish is do a water change - just in case it's a water parameter issue.

But if you think it's just an issue of food competition try feeding a mixture of floating and sinking foods, if the Gourami is really starving he will chase whatever he can get. If the Neon's are preoccupied with the floating foods he may be able to get what he needs from the sunken foods (assuming there aren't too may bottom feeding fish).

 

[Briggan]

Hi!
Thank you, I currently have no bottom feeders, just fish, but I’m working on it.
I have mini algae pellets for my nerite snail in another tank, would he eat those?
I checked back a little later and he was more energetic but still a bit clamped. I’ll check back when I get home to feed them too.
Thanks!

 

[steelo]

I have 2 sparkling gouramis and they don't like being in light for too long. If you do keep your hood light on, I would get some floating plants to give them shade. Also they like to hide and almost look like they are laying down while they are resting... I thought one of mine had died because he was almost completely vertical resting inside of a log, but as soon as I turned the light on, he jumped out of his cubby hole and was ready to eat. These are quickly becoming my favorite fish because of their quirky behavior. One of them always comes to the front to look at me and will even follow my finger as if to say 'hi' - these fish certainly have personalities.

I have neon tetras and rasboras in the same tank and it seems like the gouramis are too slow to out-compete them. I have noticed that the gouramis like to nibble on the live plants I have. I don't know how much nutrition it gives them but they seem to enjoy taking little bites as a snack. They tend to stay on the bottom, but do come up to the surface pretty quickly during feeding time. Maybe try some food that sinks to the bottom pretty quickly?

 

[Colin_T]

Just feed them more.
eg: feed them normally and let the neons eat. After the neons have eaten put a little bit more in the tank for the gourami. Let the gourami eat and then remove any uneaten food from the tank.

Don't feed fish as soon as you turn the tank light on. Let the fish wake up and spend an hour or more in light before you feed them. If the gourami is healthy it will feed when it's hungry.

---------------------
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

-----------------------
If the gourami is losing weight, it could have intestinal worms or an internal protozoan infection.

Fish with intestinal worms (tapeworm or thread/ round worms) will eat normally but lose weight over time (months). If the fish become heavily infested with intestinal worms the fish can actually become fat and look like a pregnant guppy. Infected fish might do a stringy white poop but not always if they only have a minor case and are fed well.

Internal protozoan infection cause fish to eat a bit but not normally, and lose weight over a week or so. The fish will usually do a stringy white poop and die after a couple of weeks.

-----------------------
You can treat tapeworm with Praziquantel, and thread/ round worms with Levamisole. You treat once a week for 3-4 weeks to kill any adult worms and baby worms that hatch from eggs. You do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48 hours after treatment.

You cannot use the medications together so you normally treat for one type of worm first and then do the other worms after.

Both of these worming medications are safe for all fish and will not harm plants or filter bacteria.

-----------------------
Internal protozoan infections are normally treated with Metronidazole (Flagyl). This is an anti-biotic designed for people and should not be used on fish unless they have a known infection that has not responded to normal fish medications.

-----------------------
I would check your lighting/ feeding regime and feed the fish a bit more or more often throughout the day, and see how they go. If there is still an issue in a week then try deworming the fish.

-----------------------
As for the clamped fins, this can be caused by poor water quality, protozoan or bacterial infections. Check the fish for white dots; rubbing on objects in the tank; cream, white or grey patches on its body or fins. These symptoms can all indicate a protozoan infection.

Posting a picture of the fish will help us rule out possible infections. Set your camera's resolution to its lowest setting, turn the flash on, and take some pictures. Put them on your computer and find a couple that are nice and clear and well focussed, then put them on here.

Check your tank's water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH and post the results (in numbers) here.

 

[Briggan]

Hi!
I turn my tank lights off every night and on in the morning. I don’t have the resources for live plants, also I prefer fake plants for the time being.

I also think these fish have such personalities, they remind me of my bettas! This one loves his broken urn decoration and that’s where he stays when I’m not around (to my knowledge of course ).

For feeding/lighting:
The room has a lamp and windows that stay open (with sheer curtains). The lamp is on almost 24/7 but the tank itself is not in complete light, it gets dark but not pitch black. I turn the lights on in the morning usually after the sun has risen and lightened the room. I feed in the afternoon after school. At night before bed I turn the lights off, and again the lamp is still on (it is in the other side of the room). I feed a good pinch or two of tropical flakes, I also have algae wafers for the snail in another tank I haven’t used in this one. I do not have the space to provide for any live/cultured food. Today I was able to get the gourami to eat more without competition from the neons.

I admit the water is a little low so the filter seems more powerful than it is, not to say it isn’t strong enough. There is some algae growth in the gravel but I clean the tank sides algae-free. Tomorrow I will add more clean water.

I apologize for forgetting the picture, I will try to remember tomorrow.

I have water strip tests (I know they aren’t the most reliable, it’s what I had on hand) so I will test the water before/after tomorrow’s water addition.

Thank you for all the info!