URGENT help needed- Honey Dwarf Gourami not eating

Fish2020 said:

Hi friends. I am new to this forum. I am new and novice to the world of fish keeping as well. Any advice and help would be very much appreciated.

I need urgent help/advice on my only honey dwarf gourami. She is very quiet, inactive and have not eaten for 3 days now.

I have a new 10 gallon tank running for about 3.5 weeks now. I do a weekly water change of about 30%. Have the heater at about 75F and a filtration system on.

I have total 3 fishes in tank- 2 Glo danios and 1 honey dwarf gourami(mostly male). All 3 fishes have been there in the tank since the beginning.

Gourami has been doing great up until now. Problem suddenly started about 3 days ago when she didn’t eat at all. I also noticed that she stopped exploring the tank. She used to pluck food and stuff from the accessories and plants before. All of that have stopped now. Now she comes to the surface to breathe and go right back down to her hiding spot.

I have been keeping the water conditions good, got the water tested at a pet store couple times. It came out good both times.

I thought that one of the danios might be increasing her stress level as she chases other fish in the tank around her but that’s been the case since day 1(3.5 weeks ago) so why would it start affecting gourami now?

Please HELP. I am worried for the gourami. She has been our favorite fish for her personality. How do I save her and get her to eat?

Thanks a lot!!

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Goldfishgirl35 said:

Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? - Not really, however I had kept the tank ready and running (with filter and heater) 3 days prior to adding the fishes.

If you can give more information, we can help solve the issue.

Tank size: 10 Gallons
tank age: 4 weeks
pH: I dont have the specifics but the pet store staff checked the water sample and said that water sample was good and suitable for tropical fishes.
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 75F-76 F


Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): - Not eating at all, Quiet, sitting on one hiding spot (inside a decor where you can hardly see her)

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Weekly water change - ~30% water change (keeps the new water temp same as whats in tank and add chlorine treatment solution)

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Completed 7 days treatment (4 days ago, prior to last water change this weekend) for any bacterial infection using Melafix

Tank inhabitants: - 2 Glo Danios and 1 Honey Dwarf Gourami

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None. However I switched the decor and plants of the tank this weekend on fish store's recommendation.

Exposure to chemicals: None, just used Melafix up until few days ago.

Digital photo (include if possible): Already available on my original post

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essjay said:

Have you been testing the water for ammonia and nitrite?

Fish excrete ammonia, which is toxic to them. In an established tank, there are bacteria which eat this ammonia and turn it into nitrite which is also toxic. A second type of bacteria turn this nitrite into nitrate.
A brand new tank has none of these bacteria so they need to grow, and it takes several weeks for this to happen. At first the ammonia will build up in the tank and harm the fish; it is the job of the fish keeper to test for ammonia every and do a water change every time there is a reading above zero. After a couple of weeks, the ammonia eaters will start to grow and nitrite will start being made. As with ammonia, the fish keeper needs to test for nitrite every day and do a water change whenever there is a reading above zero.

As you did not do a fishless cycle (which is where the bacteria are grown before fish are added) it is likely that there is ammonia in the tank water and this is poisoning the fish. You need to get a test kit as soon as possible. Liquid reagent test kits are more reliable than strips (which don't usually contain ammonia testers).
Until you get a test kit, you need to change at least half the water every day.

Things you can do to help:
Get some Dr Tim's One & Only Nitrifying Bacteria or Tetra Safe Start. These contain the bacteria you need.
Get some live plants. These take up ammonia as fertiliser and don't turn it into nitrite. Floating plants are particularly good for this - water sprite, or Amazon frogbit, or water lettuce, or salvinia. Fast growing stem plants such as anacharis or hornwort allowed to float are also good.





PS - looking at your photos, I think your gourami is a stressed male. At the tail end, the body is organge rather than yellow, and the throat is paler, which is where a mature male develops his black throat when he is not stressed.

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itiwhetu said:

I would have thought 75 degrees was a little cool for these guys.

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essjay said:

Are the scales sticking out? It may be the photo showing something that's not really there, but the underside below the gills looks as though the scales might be sticking out. You can see the fish in the flesh so you can see whether they are or not.

One thing you could try is live or frozen food. Fish will often eat those even if they ignore flakes/pellets.

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essjay said:

I've not come across anyone saying honeys can catch dwarf gourami disease, as they are a different species. (Honeys are Trichogaster chuna while dwarfs are T. lalius). But that doesn't mean they can't catch it.

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