Dwarf Blue Neon Gourami Looks Very Stressed!

[lorin]

Hey guys

One of my Dwarf Blue Neon Gourami's seems to be breathing quite rapidly his mouth is opening and closing rapidly and his gills are constantly opening and closing, but is still swimming about like normal. He also seems to be quite a bit rounder than he used to be. I was advised recently to lower my ph and was sold a nutrafin product which seemed to drop my ph quite rapidly by about 1.5 ph pretty much instantly, which i wasnt too pleased with. Other than that the conditions in the tank havent changed. He was eating up until tonight, usually they are both quite greedy!! The other smaller one seems to be starting to show the same symptoms too, getting a round belly and noticably breathing more than usual but he is eating. I dont actually have an air pump on my tank so i was wondering wether it could be to do with lack of oxygen but niether of them are going up to the surface. I have a vision 260 with a 1000L/ph power head on the filter, so i thought that would be enough water displacement to provide them with enough oxygen. Have also done about a third water change tonight and it also hasnt seemed to have made much difference.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks, Lorin

 

[Johng89]

not sure but havin?g read something simelar in the forum somewhere and it was caused by an ammonia spike
did you dechlorinate the water ?

have you cleaned the filter ? if so did you remeber to rinse teh sponges in Tank water and NOT tap water

do you test your water if so what are your stats

Im sure someone will be along soon with lots more knowledge and advice but knowing these things could be handy

 

[lorin]

Heya and thanks for replying!

Yep have tested the water and everythings perfect everythings zero, have dechlorinated the water using seachem prime which detoxifies ammonia and nitrites and yep i always clean my sponges in tank water. He is actually looking a little better today I think ill see if hell eat some bloodworm this morning. Fingers crossed!

Any additional help would be fantastic!

Thanks, Lorin

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.\
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Why did the lfs tell you to alter ph. Using ph adjusters is a nighmare. You can't do large water changes either.
You can lower ph by adding bogwood or peat to the filter. There no need to use ph adjusters.

is he really bloated.
Are his scales sticking out.
Does he look pale or darker in colour.
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet.
What do he's gills look like. Do they look red and inflamed or pale with excess mucas.
What do you feed the fish.

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!
PH SHOCK LINK
http/groups.msn.com/FishHealth/phshock.msnw

 

[lorin]

Sorry for the late reply! Thankyou so much for the help.

Its a Vision 260 with a variety of community species, (few tetras, couple of bolivian rams, angel fish, gold ram, synodontis multipunctata catfish)

The local LFS advised me to use a ph adjuster as I bought a Dekeyseria Brachyura (L52) from them and within about 24h of putting it in my tank, they tested my water sample and everything was perfect so instead of accepting they were to blame decided to pin it on my ph which was about 9.5 at the time. They said I couldnt have a replacement fish unless I purchased a ph adjuster to lower my ph (as they didnt sell peat) and that if i didnt adjust my ph my replacement was bound to die of the same fate. I was pretty appauled at this having worked in a couple of LFS's before, I would have handled the situation alot differently. I also had to drive about 25 miles to recieve this "information" and I wasnt willing to leave without a replacement. Hehe long story I know and as you can tell im still quite bitter about it! Especially now knowing that ive done harm to all the other fish in my tank !

My little blue neon gourami (Bubble) seems to be feeling alot more himself hes the first one to the food at the minute so im hoping in time hell recover, theres no red in his gills they look perfectly normal and other than the rapid breathing and the roundness of his belly everything else is fine his colour his scales etc, Squeak his partner looks fine too a little bloated still but appears to be breathing normally.

Thankyou again, and yes that is the last time I use any kind of ph adjuster, oh and btw my L52 replacement is doing well

Lorin

 

[WILDER]

Ok. Glad the fish seem to look alot better.
I would do some research and find some safer ways of lowerig ph.
Good Luck.

 

[lorin]

Sorry to bother you guys again, its just that Bubble still doesnt seem to be fully recovered and is still showing the same symptoms even though his roundness has slightly decreased and his breathing, and even though he seems to look as if hes feeling more himself he still looks very highly stressed!

On top of all that the ph in the tank has dropped even further still, I have absolutely no idea why as my ph from the tap is relatively high and I certainly havent made the mistake of putting anymore ph adjusters in! Now in total its dropped from around 9.4 to 7.4 it dropped to about 8 straight after putting the adjuster in but has been steadily declining over the past couple of days by about 0.2 each time.

Just wondering what I can do for the best for my fish? Still makes me sad everytime i look at him to think hes suffering :'(

Any further help would be greatly appreciated, and a big thankyou to those who have helped so far!

Lorin

 

[WILDER]

I would post in tropical discussion about your ph you will get alot more help over there.

I would also list what you have in the tank like bogwood, rocks. substrate.