(Another) Troubled Gourami - Can I do Anything?

[justinhill]

The fish is either a dud or severely stressed out from the move.

Don't add stuff willy nilly because most of the time that makes it worse.

DON'T ADD ANTI-BIOTICS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS.

Did you check the ammonia level in the bag when you got the fish?
If that was high the fish is suffering from stress and ammonia poisoning and will require time to recover, assuming it does.

The best you can do, is keep the tank and filter clean, and contact the company you got them from. Let them know one fish isn't doing well but the other 2 are. Then see how it goes over the next week or so.

Chances are you have 3 male gouramis and that could be an issue too if the other males are bullying this one..

Thanks for your input, Colin.

I must admit it would never have occurred to me to check the water chemistry of the bag they came in.

I had already decided all three were males. The place I ordered from doesn't allow you to specify the sex in the shopping cart but there is an 'instructions' section where I wrote that I wanted one male and two females. This was either ignored or else they couldn't sex them. I don't know if this fish was bullied before it was sold to me, or if it was bullied en route, or if it will be bullied in the future should it survive. However, it has not been bullied since I put it in the tank. In fact, the other two completely ignore it - even swimming past within an inch of it as if it wasn't there.

I'm not sure what good contacting the supplier would do, other than giving me the satisfaction of being pissed at them. The most I could expect would be a refund of the £6.36 the fish cost, which doesn't really help me and certainly doesn't help the fish. I suppose it's possible they might have some useful advice...

I am keeping a close eye on water chemistry, being prudent about feeding, and today is filter cleaning day anyway...

The only change in the gourami's behaviour is that it has managed (either accidentally or by design) to wedge itself into a plant, allowing it to maintain an upright position without effort. I have to look quite closely to check, but I can see its gills moving, and its fins wave occasionally.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Sorry to say but this fish is dieing. Nothing you can do to save it. It is forced to the place probably it is the weakest of the three.
I'd euthanise it

 

[justinhill]

Sorry to say but this fish is dieing. Nothing you can do to save it. It is forced to the place probably it is the weakest of the three.
I'd euthanise it

Point taken.

It may indeed die, any minute now. It may have died while I've been writing this. I would prefer it did not die because I failed to do something I should or could have done.

Regardless of whether it's male or not, bullied or not, weaker than the others or not, it obviously has a major swim bladder problem and has done since it came out of the bag. I don't know if this is due to injury or disease but it has never been able to maintain buoyancy since it's been here. It's not hiding from the other fish; it's being propped up by the plant because it can't swim. That has nothing to do with whether it's been bullied. I recently had a fish die after being literally torn to pieces over the course of 3 days by an aggressive fish. In its last days, it had lost its entire tail fin and most of its dorsal and had lumps out of its side - but it never lost buoyancy or the ability to 'steer' itself around the tank. (That aggressive fish has since been re-homed.)

As I said in a previous post, it may have DGD (in which case I'm wasting my time) but if it has swim bladder infection, constipation, or any of the other reasons for a swim bladder malfunctioning then it's conceivable it may recover, given the chance. Arguably it may be cruel to let it go on suffering. I don't know. In the meantime, I'm hoping someone may have a suggestion to help me give it the best chance of recovering.

As ever, time will tell. I fully expect to report the fish's demise here in the next day or so but I'm not giving up yet.

 

[DoubleDutch]

I've started to join international forums in 2013 / 2014 for one reason and that's the issue with Dwarf Gouramis and the enormous amount of deads for unknown reasons (DGD was unknown here). Within 2 days I pointed towards this issue and have read hundreds and hundreds of cases alike since (All around the world)
Most DG's arrive dieing in the LFS (have a close look in the displaytanks now and then) and are still sold to people unaware what they're facing.
DGD is in fact a condition caused by a virus and can show several (different) symptoms (the immunesystem can't cope anymore)
Kidneys / spleen are affected (that's the rrason for the bloating), etc.....
This fish shows several of those and, is clearly dieing and shouldn't have been sold in the first place.

The only to save Dwarf Gouramis is a complete importban mainly from Asia.
But as often the trade doesn't matter for a bit. replacement = profit.

The devistation humans caused to this awesome fish is a terrible shame.

I think you should put it out of its missery.

I am really sorry to have to tell you this.

 

[justinhill]

Most DG's arrive dieing in the LFS (have a close look in the displaytanks now and then) and are still sold to people unaware what they're facing.

I hear you. Ironically the reason I bought these fish online was because my LFS didn't have any - but also because they had previously sold the original owner of the tank a gold gourami insisting it was a pearl gourami. This was the fish that started eating the other fish. They also sold four siamese algae eaters insisting they were barbs, so they clearly know very little about their business.

Part of problem is of course naive new fish keepers (like me) who don't know enough to judge the health or compatibility (or even the identity) of what they're being sold.

I chose rainbow dwarf gourami because I had read that they were less aggressive and more peaceful than other gouramis but I admit I also chose them because I was attracted to their appearance, which is part of the problem I suppose.

 

[DoubleDutch]

I hear you. Ironically the reason I bought these fish online was because my LFS didn't have any - but also because they had previously sold the original owner of the tank a gold gourami insisting it was a pearl gourami. This was the fish that started eating the other fish. They also sold four siamese algae eaters insisting they were barbs, so they clearly know very little about their business.

Part of problem is of course naive new fish keepers (like me) who don't know enough to judge the health or compatibility (or even the identity) of what they're being sold.

I chose rainbow dwarf gourami because I had read that they were less aggressive and more peaceful than other gouramis but I admit I also chose them because I was attracted to their appearance, which is part of the problem I suppose.

BTW : they aren't more peaceful than other gouramis. Multiple males in a "normal sized " tank will have a war untill one is left.
Think that is the extra problem this fish os facing. Not able to defend himself.

 

[justinhill]

BTW : they aren't more peaceful than other gouramis. Multiple males in a "normal sized " tank will have a war untill one is left.

which shows the other problem new fish keepers face - contradictory information across websites and forums. Several 'authoritative' websites (such as fishkeepingworld.com) describe dwarf gouramis as "peaceful and tolerant" and/or "timid"...

 

[DoubleDutch]

which shows the other problem new fish keepers face - contradictory information across websites and forums. Several 'authoritative' websites (such as fishkeepingworld.com) describe dwarf gouramis as "peaceful and tolerant" and/or "timid"...

Towards other fish they are.

But you're right. The misinformation is a big issue nowadays. Everyone can place info on the internet. Back in the days of books (= a pile of printed paper as explanation for the younger members) that was less an issue.