Someone Please Help With My Blue Gourami

[PandahBear]

So I have a 20 Gallon tank with Two Blue Gourami's, One Pleco, Two Albino Catfish,One Molly,and Two Bala Sharks (I didn't realize this was too much for a 20 gallon tank,until my boyfriend told me...so I do plan on getting a bigger filter). Well my water has been foggy for the past two weeks...I have just recently done a 50% water change,and I will continue to do 20% water changes until it clears up. For test strips.. I only have the ones that show colors,not numbers..and I do plan on getting a better testing kit soon. My ammonia levels are a bit high..which is why I am doing the daily water changes. But I am hoping this is not the problem with my Gourami...

All of my other fish are fine, except for my female (I am assuming she is female...she does not have the pointed dorsal fin like males do). All she is doing is sitting at the bottom of the tank. She occassionally comes up for air,but then she goes right back down. And it seems like she is having difficulty swimming as well. She did not come up to eat last night,and she is not her usual self...chasing her other Gourami buddy around the tank. She is very bloated....and if I look at her from the top of the tank..I do see her scales pointing outward. I was told she may have Swim Bladder Bloat....

Right now I have her separated in the tank, in a breeding net...closer to the surface so she doesn't have to swim very far to get air. I read online to not feed her for three days,then try to feed her deshelled peas. I've also heard about Epsom salt baths.

I wil try to take a few pictures of her from different angles. Any help is greatly appreciated... I don't want to lose her =(


So here are a few pics:

http/i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b557/PaindahBear/DSCF0458_zpse2b779d4.jpg

http/i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b557/PaindahBear/DSCF0457_zps196aba69.jpg

I don't know if you can see where her scales are pointed out a bit.
If you need me to get a shot of her whole body in a different angle, I will....
 

 

[DreamertK]

Dropsy unfortunately isn't curable.

You can still make her feel comfortable by doing large (90%) water changes.
 
The sharks need too large a tank for normal people to be able to accommodate, as they grow very large and need to be kept in groups of at least 6. Getting a larger filter only increases the movement of the water. The cories also need a group of at least 6 of the same species to be happy - they like making friends. The pleco might outgrow your tank, depending on the species, but if you got it to clean algea you should still feed it algea wafers and peas (they also stop eatting algea as they age, and sometimes become aggressive).
 
How long has your tank had water in it/had the filter going? How long ago did you get the fish? Did you put anything in the tank before you put the fish in?

 

[attibones]

In addition to the above, I would like to add that a molly needs a larger tank. 
 
Test strips are terribly inaccurate. As soon as possible, you'll want to get a test kit (liquid) which tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Many of us use API's freshwater master kit, but others use Salifert (spelling?) particularly for nitrate, which can be a bit tricky. There are, of course, others. Your LFS may test for you, but be sure they don't use the strips and ask them to write the numbers for you.
 
In addition to the questions DreamertK has asked, I would like to ask a few more:
 
Have you lost any fish recently?
What is your usual water change schedule? How much do you change regularly?
What is the temp of the tank?
Have you been changing media in the filter? Sometimes, filter companies and our oh-so-trustworthy LFS will tell us to change out the media every two weeks, but this just removes bacteria before it has a chance to really seed. This bacteria is necessary for the nitrogen cycle to complete. There are links to information about cycling at the top of the page if you don't know what I'm talking about.
What do you use/do to remove chlorine and chloramine from the water? 
 
Dropsy is a secondary problem, usually down to poor water quality. I would increase the volume of your water changes, but it is good that you are doing them daily right now.

 

[PandahBear]

I have not lost any fish at all lately, this just all of a sudden started happening. I knew I should have just stuck with my two Gourami's and left it alone. I had two mollys at the beginning when I first got the tank, but one died. That was months ago. I haven't had any fish die since.
I never really completely changed all of the water,if that's what you mean. I was told it wasn't good to completely change the water because it disrupts Bacterial Growth and can stress the fish out. Feel free to correct me, this is why I am here after all.
The temp of the tank is around 78-76 degrees fahrenheight(Spelling?)
Do you mean the white filter that you can replace? I usually replace that monthly. I kind of went by what the box said when I baught the whole filter itself. I wish I knew that before...
To remove chlorine I use the typical drops from my local pet store before putting the water into the aquarium. It's called Start Right.

Ive had water in this tank for close to 5 months now. The fish I got about the same time ago.
I didn't put anything in the tank besides the Start Right drops to condition the water because of Chlorine.

Should I rehome some of the fish??
I would really rather have my two Gourami's if I have to rehome.
I started out with them and I am very attached ..


So does this mean my girl is going to die?.......

 

 

[DreamertK]

Bacteria will do fine as long as they arn't dried out, but for some fish it does stress them out a little bit. It just sounds like your tank is cycling again with the nigh NH3. When you replace the filter material, you're removing ALL of the good bacteria and forcing the tank to recycle itself again to regrow that bacteria. That whole "replace monthly" BS is just to try to get you to buy more filter material.
 
You should test your tap water and tell us what the numbers from the results come out to be. Even if you're using the strip with the colors, it should still have numbers on the side of it.

 

[attibones]

Sounds like you're continually doing a fish-in cycle. When you change out those white pads, I'm assuming you mean the ones with carbon, you are removing the place where the bacteria are most likely to grow. Bacteria will grow on many surfaces in the tank, but the filters should provide the optimum home for bacterial blooms. Good news is you can start saving some more money by not replacing those pads anymore! 
 
Do you change your water once a week, twice a week, etc? How much at a time do you change? Part of the issue may be related to water change scheduling. It's okay to do a total water change once in a while. I have only really done it when my tank was in danger (illness, accidental medicine overdose, etc) or when I was moving, but a normal water change schedule for a tank with a cycled filter and a regular amount of fish should be about 30% once a week (more or less depending on your nitrate production, stocking, and plants situation).

 

[PandahBear]

Thank you all for your advice and help. Unfortunately, my fish did die....she was bloating to the point where I believe her scales were stretching and she had a bunch of red spots on her.

I did get a new filter today. The one I had before was for 10 - 20 gallons. I bought one that is for 20 - 40 gallons.
I WILL NOT be changing the filter anymore...I had no idea that when you did that...it messes up the bacterial growth which from what I hear is very important when it comes to any fish tank. So no more of that. Only question is, do you ever actually change it?

I usually do water changes once a month..not complete water changes, but 20% water changes. Once every two months I will clean the gravel with one of those cheap vacuums..and they work pretty good actually,for my tank at least.

I actually did that today after I got home from work. I cleaned the gravel a bit, did a 70% water change,and put the new filter in. The new filter I have is supposed to be good at lowering ammonia levels in tanks. So I am hoping with the water change, and the new filter...the ammonia level will go down. I will test the water again tomorrow to see how it's doing. But.. I am happier with this new filter.

My two Bala sharks will be going to an inlaw soon. She has a bigger aquarium....along with my only molly. As my inlaw has other mollies,and my molly is alone.
So it will leave me with my one Gourami, my pleco, and my two albino catfish. I DO plan to get a bigger tank....28 gallon...come January/February. Even then I will not be adding anymore fish to that tank either. I do though,plan to get one more Gourami,as I feel bad that the one I had now...lost her buddy.


Oh..and the test results for my regular water:

Nitrate: 0
Nitrite:0
Hardness: between 25 and 75
Alkalinity: 120
Ph: Between 6.8 and 7.2

Ammonia: I would say between .25 and .5 which on the package says between safe and stress

Any other information helpful info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for the help =)

 

[DreamertK]

Try putting some of that old filter media in the new filter - that way you'll have some of that good bacteria to start a new colony. When the filter says it's good at lowering ammonia, this is because the good bacteria is converting NH3 to NO2 (to NO3). If you dont have any good bacteria now, the NH3 is just going to sit there and burn your fish's gills. That's why WC's are important, and later on they're good for removing NO3 which in high amounts over long periods of time can cause dropsy.
 
Now that you're cycling again, you should keep up doing your WC's (larger the better).
 
You should get some Seachem Prime, or a dechlorinating agent, to put in your new water. Chlorine kills bacteria, so it could take longer to cycle your tank and grow good bacteria, plus it burns the scales of fish. Then you dont have to go to the LFS to get those same drops and can save money on gas. Usually these agents make the NH3 in your tap water safe for your fish. The only "safe" amount of NH3 is 0ppm.
 
If you get that bigger tank, you can go for 4 more albino cories. They get more lonely than gourami do.

 

[PandahBear]

Try putting some of that old filter media in the new filter - that way you'll have some of that good bacteria to start a new colony. When the filter says it's good at lowering ammonia, this is because the good bacteria is converting NH3 to NO2 (to NO3). If you dont have any good bacteria now, the NH3 is just going to sit there and burn your fish's gills. That's why WC's are important, and later on they're good for removing NO3 which in high amounts over long periods of time can cause dropsy.
 
Now that you're cycling again, you should keep up doing your WC's (larger the better).
 
You should get some Seachem Prime, or a dechlorinating agent, to put in your new water. Chlorine kills bacteria, so it could take longer to cycle your tank and grow good bacteria, plus it burns the scales of fish. Then you dont have to go to the LFS to get those same drops and can save money on gas. Usually these agents make the NH3 in your tap water safe for your fish. The only "safe" amount of NH3 is 0ppm.
 
If you get that bigger tank, you can go for 4 more albino cories.

They get more lonely than gourami do.

Thank you so much. I will try to squeeze the old filter in the new filter system I got.

 

[Byron]

I will only add that you should increase your water changes, and here I mean not just now but permanently after everything is settled down.  Regular partial water changes should be once every week at minimum, with the volume perhaps depending upon the specifics of the aquarium, but the more water you change (up to a point) the better.  I do 50% of my tanks every week, sometimes it ends up being 60%.  But after doing this for 20 years I have no doubt whatsoever that it is extremely beneficial.  No filter can match what a water change achieves.  Your fish will thank you.

 
Byron.