Dwarf Gourami Emergency

[Fishfriend23]

Hello,

I am reaching out to the forum because I am unsure of how to proceed with an issue with my Dwarf Gourami. I am relatively new to keeping an aquarium (4-5 months) and about 2 months ago I added a Dwarf Gourami to my community tank. About 48 hours ago I found him laying on his side at the bottom of the tank. I thought he had passed but saw that he is still moving his mouth and moves once in a while.

He will move a couple inches throughout the day but I have no idea what to do. I keep the lights off and haven’t put food in the tank to try and give him peace because I don’t want to startle him or make it worse. Any help on steps to take would be greatly appreciated.

Further information: I had the water parameters tested at my local fish store yesterday and everything was good. I am worried that he might have been overfed or experiencing a swim bladder issue. He likes to eat catfish pellets after finishing flakes but I did not know of a way to keep him from eating them.

55 gallon tank: 14 neon tetras, 10 zebra danios, 6 cherry barbs, and 5 Corydoras.

Thank you and I look forward to any help or advice.

 

[outofwater]

Hi, so every other fish is ok, right?
Any physical signs of damage, nipped/ragged fins, etc; and have you been feeding the same food all this time? Maybe post a picture of the fish and your whole tank?

 

[Fishfriend23]

Hi, so every other fish is ok, right?
Any physical signs of damage, nipped/ragged fins, etc; and have you been feeding the same food all this time? Maybe post a picture of the fish and your whole tank?

Yes everyone else is completely fine. I don’t see any signs of damage on his body or fins or anyone else’s. I will feed the tank 6 days a week a couple pinches of tropical fish flakes and 3-4 catfish pellets (4 only because the other fish are relentless in trying to steal them from the corys). I will attach pictures with the post. Thank you.

 

[outofwater]

Nice tank. Are those live plants? Dwarfs are usually shy and territorial, so he'd be trying to establish an area for himself around anything that provides cover. Only things that comes to mind are: that somehow he hurt himself (assuming it's only laying on one side), overeating, which hopefully would solve itself in another couple of days or so, or indeed swimbladder, which might be helped by continuing the fasting and raising the temperature to 78 or 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) for a few days, depending on what's causing it.

Do you have a quarantine tank where you can move him to?

 

[Fishfriend23]

Nice tank. Are those live plants? Dwarfs are usually shy and territorial, so he'd be trying to establish an area for himself around anything that provides cover. Only things that comes to mind are: that somehow he hurt himself (assuming it's only laying on one side), overeating, which hopefully would solve itself in another couple of days or so, or indeed swimbladder, which might be helped by continuing the fasting and raising the temperature to 78 or 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) for a few days, depending on what's causing it.

Do you have a quarantine tank where you can move him to?

Thank you! And no they aren’t live but that is something I would like to get into in the future. But yeah he has moved positions a couple times since the initial post actually and I have witnessed him try to swim a couple different times but it doesn’t last long and he falls back down. I will raise the temp as you suggested (I usually have it set at 76) and hopefully he makes a recovery soon. Unfortunately I do not have a quarantine tank but another concern I had was him not getting oxygen since he obtains it at the surface. I have just been scared to touch him because I don’t want to make it worse. He is usually so energetic and playful.

Thank you for the help I really appreciate it!

 

[outofwater]

He doesn't "need" to come up for air per se. Like bettas it has that ability and perhaps the act of coming up for air is "built in" but it doesn't depend on it to survive, it's more of a "back up" system used by these fish in the wild, where water conditions might lead to low oxygen. I think you're right about avoiding startling him, as much as possible.
hopefully a couple more days of fasting and raising the temperature helps. Barring any other symptoms, and the input of other more experienced members here, if the condition doesn't improve you might have very limited options, sorry to say. Best wishes.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I don't think it can survive long at this condition.
A fish that is lying down at the bottom of the tank is usually at terminal/last stage of its life.

Is the fish breathing very fast?

The fish is sick and can infect other fish if it's having disease(parasites or bacteria).

It's best to remove it and put it in a small bucket where you can sterilize the bucket with hot water later after it die.

 

[Fishmanic]

Dwarf Gouramis often come down with Dwarf Gourami disease. I never had luck keeping Dwarf Gouramis..they always succumbed to DGD. Perhaps your Gourami has the disease.

 

[1L19]

I had a honey gourami in my last tank who could only swim upside down and mainly stayed at the bottom. I quarantined her in a 10 gallon tank and fed her by sprinkling food past her mouth and damned if she didn't eat it. 2 months she stayed alive in that state. Maybe I should have let her go but I didn't. I think it was a problem, as someone else mentioned, with her swim bladder.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I had a honey gourami in my last tank who could only swim upside down and mainly stayed at the bottom. I quarantined her in a 10 gallon tank and fed her by sprinkling food past her mouth and damned if she didn't eat it. 2 months she stayed alive in that state. Maybe I should have let her go but I didn't. I think it was a problem, as someone else mentioned, with her swim bladder.

If it still can swim after 2 months, then most likely doesn't carry any disease that can infect other fish(IMO).
Probably it's only a swim bladder problem of some physical defects/abnormalities.

But if it doesn't eat for too long, it will also die.

How to Treat Swim Bladder Disease in Aquarium Fish

Swim bladder disease can cause fish to inappropriately float or sink. Learn about the causes of swim bladder disease in fish and how to treat and prevent it.

www.thesprucepets.com

 

[DoubleDutch]

Please put him out of his missery.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Please put him out of his missery.

The bent spine is not a good sign, along with being on its side at the bottom. Not sure what it is about Gourami in recent years but they seem incredibly susceptible to short lifespans and ill health. Probably overbreeding/interbreeding to get the best and brightest colourations has not helped.

I would net the fish and euthanise it with clove oil/water mix in a cup.

As an FYI your aquarium is very bare, I would advise more planting (real or artificial, doesn't matter) and more hiding places for the fish. It will make them feel safer and more secure and cut any potential aggressive behaviours as they mature.