Gourami problem!

[colin_finlay]

Hello I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 male gourami's, recently after 2 months of being in my tank one has decided to lay on his side and breath rather rapidly....he has been doing this for 2.5 days now! I thought he was just dying but he hasnt passed on yet....anything I can do??!?!?

 

[WILDER]

Can you post test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, once they lay on their side at the bottom of the tank heavy breathing means they are dying, sadly their isn't anything to do only if it is really suffering to put the fish out of it's misery.

 

[sylvia]

once they lay on their side at the bottom of the tank heavy breathing means they are dying

Not necessarily though often the case...

Test your water as soon as you can and get back to us.

Do you have a spare tank around? I would move the fish to a quarantine/hospital/isolation tank with fresh de-chlorinated tap water all at the same temperature as the main tank (also make sure pH is the same).

Most illnesses are caused by poor water quality. Even if this isn't the case, moving him will prevent the spread of disease. You may want to add a little salt but not too much (half-dose). Moving him at this late stage may stress him and cause death but it is better to try to save him than leave him to die.

Are there no other unusual syptoms?

Dwarf gouramies unfortunately have quite weak immune systems due to inbreeding so watch your other gourami doesn't also catch it.

If you move the gourami but see no change over the next couple of days (change the water regularly or you'll get a toxic ammonia build up which you realy don't want right now), you should euthanise the fish in question. The best method is to use clove oil that works as an anaesthetic and is humane.

 

[colin_finlay]

unfortunitly I dont have a water testing kit....I am leaving to the fish store in a few minutes do they sell kits I can check this with?

and lets say my water is bad what should i buy to make it better? like of the ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph?

 

[WILDER]

Lets get the test results then we can tell you more, salt and melafix are always handy to have in, test kits you will need ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, if you can't afford them all at once get your water tested at the lfs and tell him to write the results down.