Gourami With Bowel Problems!

[angelfish1234]

We added two powder blue gouramis to our tank about 2 months ago. One of them passed away and the other one has been having some serious bowel problems. It has long, fairly thick normal coloured feces that is constantly hanging out of him. Randomly he will have 3 inches of poo, 20 minutes later it will be gone, and the next time you look, he has another 3 inch long stringy poo. I have been looking on forums to see what's wrong with it, but it only mentions white feces, which is not the case. We have 2 angel fish, some tetras, and some others in the tank who are just fine so I don't think it's anything to do with the food or state of water and our tank is big enough for all of the fish. Does anyone know what could be wrong with my poor fishy? He's disturbing to look at and I feel sorry for him!!

 

[Athena]

Are you sure he's not overeating? I mean, the poo has to come from somewhere, made up of something...

Next time you feed your fish, watch to see how much he is gobbling up - if he is eating everything in sight then that would explain the extra long poopsies!

What do you feed him on?

Just one other thought - it's definitely poops and not a worm going in and out, is it?

Athena

 

[sylvia]

Provided it isn't a worm (as per the above post), he sounds fine. You should only be concerned if he also looks bloated or has that stringy white poo you mentioned. Fish do not have long digestive tracts and dwarf gouramies will readily nibble on plants and algae all the time.