Lethargic Gourami

Colin_T said:

Hi RedSarah.

Normally if there is an issue with the same fish, and it has occurred within a short time to a previous post about that fish, we recommend continuing the old post so the previous information is already there. However, you only have 2 threads so your other one was easy enough to find.

The fish has a sunken in area at the top of its head. This was not in the photos on your previous thread and could be an issue.

The gills that look a bit darker than they should be. This could be from chemicals in the water or just pale gill covers on the fish. However, the fish does look much paler than in your previous post and that could be from the new light or stress, probably stress.

The fish could be suffering from old age.

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If you're adding plant fertilisers to the tank, you should monitor the levels in the water before adding more. Iron test kits are available from some pet shops and can be used as a guide.

If there is still fertiliser in the water and you add another full dose, you can overdose the tank and poison the fish. The best way to use plant fertilisers in aquariums is to do a huge water change (75-90%) each week before adding another dose of fertiliser. The big water change will dilute any remaining fertiliser and then you can add a full dose. This helps prevent overdosing.

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Do you have any floating plants in the tank?

Gouramis and Bettas are surface dwelling fishes that naturally live under the surface. They hide among the floating plants and pick up insects that land on the water.

If you don't have any floating plants, the fish will stress out and hide at the bottom, which is what it looks like in one of the pictures. If you increased the light recently, that would also stress the fish.

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I would add some Water Sprite plants to the tank. It is a floating plant that grows rapidly on the surface and can also be planted in the substrate. I would grow it on the surface and it will reduce the light and make the fish feel more secure.

You can confine the water sprite or any floating plant by taking a length of airline (or plastic hose) and joining the ends together with a plastic airline connector to form a loop. Put an airline suction cup on the glass away from the filter and tie a piece of string to the loop and the suction cup. The loop should float and you can put the plants in the loop to confine them. The string will allow the loop to move up and down then you do water changes.

I would also stop adding plant fertilisers for a couple of weeks and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This will reduce any nutrients, chemicals and disease organisms in the water and should help the fish.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

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How old is the fish food?
If it is flake food and the container has been open for more than 2 months, get rid of it and buy some new food. You want to use up the dry flake and pellet fish foods within 1 month. If you can't get small containers, then get a new container of food and take a small amount out and put it in a separate container. Put the remaining food into a zip lock bag and get all the air out of it. Seal the bag up and put it in a couple more zip lock bags. Get all the air out and seal them up. Put the bag of food in the freezer or in a dark, cool dry place. Use up the small amount of food and then take some more from the bag that is sealed up.

You should feed the fish 3-5 times a day for a few weeks. The extra feedings will help the fish to build up some reserves and might help.

If you don't use frozen food you can try some. Raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp is an ideal food for conditioning fish. You should use cooked prawn because you have live shrimp in the tank and cooked prawn won't have diseases.

You can buy a small packet of river prawn from a fishing store or supermarket and keep them in the freezer. Take out 1 prawn and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body), and throw these bits away. Use a pr of scissors to cut the remaining prawn into small bits. Offer 1 or 2 pieces at a time and feed the fish until it is full. Then remove uneaten food.

You can buy frozen brineshrimp, daphnia, bloodworms and marine mix (prawn, fish, squid) or marine green mix (prawn, fish squid and veges) from pet shops. You keep the food in the freezer and take out 1 block and cut it into little bits and offer a few bits at a time. Feed fish until it is full then remove uneaten food.

You can add the juice from orange and purple fruits to the fish food. Apricots, orange squash, pumpkin, orange and purple carrots, and blueberries can all be used. The orange and purple foods/ juice have anti-oxidants in and can help boost the fish's immune system. You simply soak the food in the juice for a minute and then feed the fish.

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