HELP !!!!!! BLOATED UP BELLY!

[Jer-]

Please Help

One of my friends Dwarf Gourami is bloated up!
Just then i went to see his fish tank and the dwarf gourami is looking terrible. Its belly is bloated up so much, must be the size of a small marble. his colors are still there and he is swimming normally, only a tiny bit lazier than usual. Its mouth is red but there are no signs of fungus or anything on it. its just red. maybe later fungus will start to attack its mouth?

Wot causes fish to bloat up like that? my friend definately didnt overfeed his fish too much as other fish are jus fine. his water is at a pH of 7.5 and hardness 13. Other parameters couldnt be tested cos neither me or him has the other testing kits. But the water shud be ok cos he has been successful with keeping more delicate fish in the same tank such as agassizii dwarf cichlids.

Wot to do? PLease help.

Thanks

 

[black angel]

if the gourami hasnt pooed recently it could be constipated. what does he feed them? maybe some live food might help such as daphnia or bloodworm.
the red mouth doesnt sound good so could be a bacterial problem, any chance of a pic of the fish?
what are the tank mates and his cleaning routine? doing some extra water changes may help with water quality too. if he doesnt have tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate then he can take some of the water to a pet store and get it tested there.

just to be clear, is it a male or female?

 

[Jer-]

he feeds his fish bloodworms and very very seldomly flake food.

its a male.
ok i will get him to go test out his water.

his tank mates are kissing gouramis, agassizii dwarf cichild, rams, corys. plec. he doesnt know if the fish has pooped recently.

he changes the water once every week.

he does not hav a digicam and i dont hav one either!!!!! we will try to borrow one from other friends tho.

Is there anything we shud do first to help the fish befor deciding whether it is bacteria?

 

[black angel]

what size tank and filtration used?
in the meantime do a 50% water change today and do 30% for the next four days and see if that helps any.most bacterial problems are caused by the water not being clean so until the water is checked do the water changes

 

[Jer-]

his tank is a 15 gal. I suggested he buy that tank cos he was new to aquariums and 15 gal is not too small. filter is an "Aquael type One Fan", Polish aquarium manufacturer i think. its an inernal filter and its recommended for tanks of 60-100 L. and since 15 gal is roughly 60 L then yea, it shud be good.

Thx for the help. I read up info on constipation and it said too much high nutrient food can cause constipation? such as bloodworms?

I also told him to try feeding the fish boiled pea "meat". is that all we can do about the constipation?

Thanks alot

 

[black angel]

Yeah peas are good for relieving constipation in fish but only give him a small bit each day or squash a couple of boiled peas and feed that to all the fish for 3 days to see if it makes any difference. as for too many bloodworms then yes that can happen if fed a lot so try to feed flake every day and give bloodworm and other freezedried foods as a treat maybe twice a week.
when cleaning out the tank try to use a gravel vac to clean the gravel as well.