Sick Dwarf Gourami

Hi everyone, I have 4 blue dwarf gouramis (2 powder blue, 2 fire and ice).  I have one fire and ice gourami who looks like his head is getting darker and his scales stand up just a little bit on his head... not sure if this is normal?  Also, I did a 25% water change hoping that would help, but instead I now have 1 of the powder blue gouramis sick... he is propped up on the bottom of the tank and looks like he is gasping for air... I did a water kit test and everything is reading normal... the other fish appear fine and swimming around.  
 
any thoughts??  I even called the aquarium for help and they were unsure, said nothing to do but wait...

Hi
 
In order to be able to help you better can you please answer these questions.
 
How long have you had the tank?
Is it cycled?
How many gallons is your tank?
Does it have a filter?
Does it have a heater?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
How often did you perform a water change?
What percentage of water did you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
What additives do you use?
 
What are your water parameters?.
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH):

Good morning,
 
If its scales are standing up it could be dropsy which is a really bad thing, google it and see if the pictures are the same as your fish, if not then phewww, see Nick's reply above and take it from there.

dwarf gourami's are plagued by a virus currently called Dwarf Gourami Disease. This virus has no cure at present and it's highly infectious meaning that if one fish is infected at the fish store then all of the gourami's are at risk. The virus only affects the dwarf variety. Standard gourami's are unaffected.
 
The gourami that is layed in the corner sounds like it may be suffering from the disease. The gourami with the scale problem could also be suffering from it. I'm not 100% familiar with all the symptoms of this disease though so hopefully someone who is familiar with the disease will be along soon to list all the symptoms 

Though it sounds like DGD could it be they've beem fighting as well ?

Sorry to hear about your poorly fish
 
Could you post the actual numbers from your tests, please.
 
Also, how big is the tank, how long has it been running, exactly what fish do you have? Is the tank planted?

Hi everyone, thanks for the help, 
 
I've had the fish for about 2 months, and recently moved them from a 70gal tank at a school)  to a 20 gal tank (at home).  there are only 4 fish in the tank. The new tank has been cycled & running for about 2 weeks.  I used aquavitro seed to estabish the aquarium biofilter. 
The tank has a filter- Pengquin 150 marineland, and a heater set at 78.  There is also an air filter & I do a weekly water change of 25-30%, where I also vacuum the gravel etc.. When doing the water changes I also add water conditioner to remove the chlorines and chloramines. I did just do daily water changes before adding the fish- to help with levels and cycles.  I also just did a 40% change when I saw they one wasn't doing great... 
Nitrate- 20
Nitrite - 0
pH- 7.0
carbonate hardness- 80
general hardness- 60
This was a 1 sample store test kit- I have done one each day for the past 3 days... - reading the same levels.
Any thoughts? 
i'll try and post a picture as well from my phone...

Okay, hopefully these pictures show.  The tank has artificial plants- quite a few to provide coverage for these little guys.  The rocks in the tank came from the aquarium store as well- so everything is supposed to be safe... 
 

 


the one with the darker head doesn't look like he's pine-coned from above- just looks slightly raised around head and a bit bloated? The poor other guy is hanging in but no other signs of coming around yet... doesn't appear to be eating anything.. I tried a wafer- thats what is in the pic.
 
I've heard about adding epson salts to tank, but haven't- any thoughts?
 
Also, in case its bacterial- I have started adding the melafix... but haven't seen any signs of white stringy poo or anything else.. and they haven't been fighting. They have been hovering together around the bottom; I know they do not like big changes of noise, or heavy water flow...
 
I'm hoping for the best here, first time having dwarf gouramis.
 
I'm open to trying anything to help them out... 
 
Thanks again...

well, the one that was sick and gasping passed... no ick or white spots... so not sure what happened to him.
 
I'll check the water again tomorrow and do a water change?

Sorry to hear one has passed, although it is what I expected to read given what you had described. 
 
Never add epsom salt to your tank. It can mess up your ph. You can use epsom salt for internal bacterial problems but for this you'll need to add the salt to a seperate vessel with some water, mix well and then add some food to your net and dip it in the salt water mix then feed the food to the fish. This can be used for constipation too. 

ok great, thanks! I'll keep trying. 

Well, the other guy is not doing well either.  I put him in a hospital tank but nothing seems to be working... his one eye is starting to pop out from the fluid..not sure what else to do...he doesn't seem to want to eat the medicated food... 
I think he'll pass soon...
 
If the last two go, I can't see myself getting any more dwarf gouramis... its pretty heart breaking to watch the get sick and not have a chance of recovery.
 
Any suggestions at this point?

I wish there was something we could do but I'm now 100% certain your dealing with the effects of dwarf gourami disease

awe, okay thanks Akasha72, 
 
Its good to at least know.

I'm so sorry ... I feel so bad for you. I had a read about DGD online after your original post and it would appear that the fish can be carriers but may not show the actual signs. This means the two remaining gourami that you have may be carrying the disease but may not die from it. All you can do is keep the water clean and hope for the best. I wouldn't add anymore gourami now because if you do manage to get one without the disease if you have a carrier already in the tank it could pass it to a healthy specimen.