Vaillants Chocolate Gourami Unexplained Deaths

[Creature Seeker]

Hello, I'm a very careful fishkeeper as I like to keep delicate fish but since Janauary I've had a series of fish death that I can't understand.

I find one dead gourami each month with no symptoms, signs or ill effects. My beloved mormyrid also died in February with no signs whatsoever.

The gouramis do fight a little as they like to be in pairs and don't like it when 'a third wheel' tries to join in but its never seems that viscious that it could cause a death.

The water conditions are all perfect with a ph between 6.5 - 7.

They have a very varied diet of flakes, frozen bloodworms, frozen tropical mix, floating pellets, sinking pellets, floating sticks and small bits of cucumber once a week.

I never treat the tank with medications due to mormyrids being in compatible and I'm very conscience of any fumes getting into the tank.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

If no signs of flicking and rubbing or excess mucas, dosn't sound like a parasite.
What does it look like when your fish go to the toilet.
Do any fish look thin or bloated.
Do any fish look pale or darker in colour.
Do any fish act listless or lethagic.
Do any fish have trouble getting off the bottom of the tank or top.
Check the anus of the fish to see if its enlarged or red and inflamed.
Are all fish still eating well.

 

[Creature Seeker]

Gourami's very rarely flick.

My Mormyrid went very thin the week before he died and went off his food and in his final hours started spining as he swam. Normally he was always keen on his food and fed out of my hand every time.

Gourami's always eat plenty and are a nice size. It's always seems to see the larger ones that die.

I shall try and study their toilet habits anjd report back.

Thank you

 

[WILDER]

So he only lost weight due to not eating.
Spinning can be swim bladder, the fish is dying, or brain damage to bacteria or internal parasites.

 

[Creature Seeker]

Thank you for replying Wilder.

Since opening this topic I have found more strange behavoiur within my tank.

My shoal of clown rasboras have become very listless, and also keep chasing each other. The most aggressive one has grown much larger than the others, with a much fuller body. He is also darker and has a distinctive cloudy dot in the centre of each eye. There is another rasbora who is much smaller also with less distinctive cloudy dots in each eye.

I'm wondering if I have some kind of internal bacteria problem that is slowly taking out my fish

 

[Creature Seeker]

Anyone seen these kind of symptoms before?

 

[WILDER]

Do the dots look like whitespot.
Any white specs behind the lens of the eye.

 

[Creature Seeker]

I'm pretty sure it's not whitespot. There is only one spot on each eye and it's more of a cataract than a grain.

On this website Here I found the symptoms under point 'D' and it list the problem as 'Gram Negative bacterial infection'

Could it be this? What is this? Is it treatable?

Thank you for replying
Sam

 

[WILDER]

If you can issolate try a bacterial med.
Any swelling to the eyes.

Anti internal bacteria med by interpet.

 

[Creature Seeker]

No swelling in the eye, the only other symptoms the fish has is being very dark in colour and more aggressive.

I shall isolate him and the other rabora with the eye symptom and treat them.

Will treating with internal bacteria meds kill the filter?

Could this be what has been killing my gouramis and other fish (over the last 6 months had about 6 deaths)

Is internal bacteria contageous?

Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

No it won't harm the filter.
Bacterial infections can pass onto other fish If the bacteria leaks from the fish or into tank water. Or they peck at a dead body,.