Tank Of Death

[dipzee]

So I'm pretty new to the whole fish thing I've had guppies,goldfish, neons, plattys and Bettas. I did good with all of them except the plattys, Gred and Forge never stood a chance.Ive never had more than a 5 gallon thank though. So here is my question. My tank is 20 gallons, cycled, water is good, I don't over feed my fish; i feed two days then skip one. I had a a blue dwarf gourami suddenly swell up it spent the next two days practical vertical and was breathing funny not gasping just constant then it died. Then I woke up this morning and found my dwarf gourami swollen behind the gills. I changed some water but then I had to go to work. I spent all morning reading about them and couldn't find out what it was. It was dead when I went home for lunch. After reading all day I'm not going to get anymore but I still have 2 left what should I do incase this happens to them.

 

[chicklette]

It sounds to me like you are way overstocked. Specifically what are you water parameters, ammonia, Nitrite, nitrate and ph?

Goldfish are cold water fish and a 20 gallon is just enough room for them and a few other fish.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like bad water quality to me.
How many goldfish they are massive waste producers and need 20 gallons alone for the first one, then 10 gallons for every other goldfish added.
They all so need double the filter of the tank in gallons,
What are your water stats in ammonia,nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Gasping and swollen gills is due to bad water quality.

 

[chicklette]

You meed to do a lot of water changes an get a bigger tank if you intend to keep them all.

 

[TammyLiz]

Guys, I'm not sure she/he said exactly what they had in this tank. They said they have had all those fish.

Welcome to TFF dipzee!

I hope you didn't get scared off! Forums can be overwhelming at first but don't take anything personally. Obviously nobody here knows you.

Post what you have in the tank and what your water quality numbers are and you'll probably get some good advice.

 

[sylvia]

Hey

First of all, post your tank's ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Then list EXACTLY what fish you have in your tank right now.

To me it sounds like you may not have really 'cycled' your tank before adding the gouramies. What exactly did you do to prepaire the tank for fish? Read the links in my signature. They should at least tell you what went wrong even if it's now a little late to do anything about it.

Then focus on doing lots and lots of water changes and don't forget to use a dechlorinator BEFORE adding the water to your tank. Do not wash out the filter.

Dwarf gouramies are incredibly prone to disease so it may even be that you just got very unlikely and you haven't done anything wrong. If that's the case, there is little you can do really except avoid dwarfs in future until you can get them from a different source. If you see any displaying the same (dropsy - ofen bacterial but most probably viral, and so not possible to trea, in dwarf gouramies) symptoms, it would be best to euthanise with clove oil in a bowl of tank water in the hope of preventing further spread.