Help, my Dwarf Red Gourami is about to die

[Tenko]

My dwarf red gourami has spent a couple of days appearing to gasp as he swims about normally. He always opens and closes his mouth, but recently he appears to be forcing it, if you know what I mean.

I just went to feed them and he was laying on his side. He swam quickly to the surface for some air, like Gourami's do anyway, then back down to the bottom again. He seems very agitated when he moves, but when not moving just lays around.

I did water tests the other day when I thought he didn't look right, they were
ph - 7.4
gh - 240 mg/l
kh - 170 mg/l
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
Ammonia - 0
All other fish in the tank seem okay, although I'm not sure if the female dwarf gourami is mouthing more than normal. I'm about to go watch for a while.

Can anybody help? I had a similar thing with a guppy here.

 

[Tenko]

Just checked, the female appears to be swimming around happily but I think her mouthing is a bit more forced too.

The gourami in question was laying on the bottom again, his tank mates were lurking around hungrily. During one of his quick trips to the top I caught him in a breeding trap for his own safety.

He's looking like he's about to depart though.

Haven't got a clue what's causing this.

 

[Tenko]

Update

I'm moving him to the small tank and will keep him there in the breeding trap. It seemed to work for the other guppy mentioned in the link, perhaps it will help this guy, although I don't hold out much hope, he is in a lot worse state.

 

[Alia]

You're certain your nitrates are zero? My nitrites are always 0, but even in my tapwater there are nitrates. What are you testing them with? I ask because I've had gourami react poorly to high nitrates in a tank, even lost one. Is he very pale? How long have you had him, and if not long, where did he come from?

 

[Tenko]

I use Nutrafin to test nitrate. The tank is planted and to be honest I've never had high nitrate readings but have assumed the plants have soaked it all up. The highest it's been is about 8 mg/l, but for a long time it's been 0 whenever I test.

He doesn't seem to be showing any external signs of illness at all. Just laying on his side in the breeding trap, flapping his little fins and gasping.

I've had him since mid February.

 

[downunder newbie]

I have the same problem with my dwarf gourami, for a few weeks now he has been rather inactive, over the weekend he has taken to lying on the bottom of the tank looking dead, when i go to scoop him out he swims off to a different spot to do the same I am getting a kit to test the nitrates, but till then i'm not sure whats causing it, and I don't think he'll make it

 

[Alia]

Well, I'm at a loss. If your nitrates really are low, and it sounds as if they are, and the tank is mature, and there are no outward signs of illness, I'm not sure what it could be. But I have had mysterious deaths in my tank before, and one of them was a dwarf (or red honey) gourami.

One of the really experienced fishkeepers on this forum said somewhere that he never recommends people getting dwarf gouramis because the bulk of them in the trade are mass produced in Asia (like bettas and neons and probably others) and live in antibiotic water until they are shipped, so they tend not to be long-lived once they leave the pet store. That is what I have read, and perhaps that is why both of you are having a problem. It is the only guess I have, at this point. Sry.

 

[susanb]

My fish inclusing red honeys did that and I put a bubble wall in and that fixed the problem. We thought they might not be getting enough air so just tried it as a last resort. Also I'd get the PH to 7 as they are so sensitive to it and the signs you describe are PH issues. Also did you check the phosphates ?
Sue

 

[Alia]

You can try getting more air in the water and testing phosphates, but I would be careful about trying to change the pH of the tankwater. That can get complicated.

 

[downunder newbie]

An update, I arrived home from work this afternoon to find he had passed on

I have plenty of air being circulated through the water, so i don't think its low oxygen, tho the LFS didnt have the test kit in yet, so i cant test for nitrates

I hope you have better luck with yours Tenko.

 

[BIGMAC]

Aww im really sorry to hear about your fish,i would keep a close eye on the rest of your fish and deffinatly test your water before considering adding more fish.How big is your tank and what other fish do you have in there?

 

[Tenko]

It's the 180 from my sig. It has an airstone running 4 hours a day, has a lot of plants and a co2 fermentation cannister. I have put him in the small tank in a breeding trap last night though.

When I got up this morning he was exactly the same, laying on his side flapping his fins, although he wasn't gasping as much. This could be because the cause of his illness isn't present in the small tank, or that he's on his way out and hasn't got much energy left.

I haven't tested the phosphates, don't have a kit for that. I could invest in one though.

The local ph is about 8.2, too high although I make sure that all the fish I buy are used to the local conditions. I have since added a lot of wood and have peat granuals in fluval 204 filter, which has lowered the ph to 7.4 over time.

When I get home I will do a very large water change in the big tank, perhaps 50%, and will keep doing this once a week.

 

[Shaggy]

Hi, I'm new to the site, but I just recently had a similar problem with a Dwarf Flame Gourami. We bought 2m and 2f from Wal-Mart of all places and got a 10 us gal. starter kit. We also got 5 small Tiger Barbs. The guy gave me some Stresscoat Dual Action (I think is the name) solution and said that would increase the biofilter activation and that the fish would be ok with the water treatment we bought in like 2 hrs. So we did everything right and after the two filters ran for about 2 1/2-3 hrs. we netted them in. That was Friday. Sunday one of the Females was acting real lazy and at times wouldn't even use her fins to stay balanced. She finally died Monday and we took her back for an exchange. So far this one is doing good with everything. My water was kinda hard when I tested it and the pH was at 7.2, but everything else was normal. Kinda weird isn't it?

 

[Alia]

We bought 2m and 2f from Wal-Mart . . . and got a 10 us gal. starter kit. We also got 5 small Tiger Barbs. The guy . . . said . . . that the fish would be ok with the water treatment .. . after the two filters ran for about 2 1/2-3 hrs. we netted them in. That was Friday. . . one of the Females . . . died Monday . .. water was kinda hard when I tested it and the pH was at 7.2, but everything else was normal. Kinda weird isn't it?

Shaggy, your situation is very different from Tenkos, in fact, and I don't find it at all weird. He has a planted mature tank with normal readings and fish in distress. You have a brand new tank that has never cycled. Your readings are fairly meaningless at this point, as your tank has not had a chance to develop the bacteria that would work to neutralize the ammonia and nitrites that the waste from seven fish create. If you keep testing, I'm sure you will see ammonia and nitrite spikes. Unfortunately, your fish may all die in the process.

I'm not blaming you -- it's the "guy" at Wal-mart who should never have told you that you could take fish and a tank kit all home in one day and have yourself an instant aquarium. The only way you can ever do that without stressing or killing the fish is if you have mature tanks at home you can use to "seed" your new tank with nitrifying bacteria from. The bacteria exist on the filter media, gravel, and in the water of these mature tanks.

Please go immediately to the pinned thread about cycling a new tank and learn what the wal-mart guy should have told you. Good luck with your fish. Do lots of water changes and be sure to use a conditioner (to remove chlorine and chloramine) with all of the new water you add. Stresscoat may help somewhat, but there really is no substitute for cycling.

Downunder newbie, sorry to hear that your gourami did not make it.

 

[Tenko]

Got up this morning and he was missing from the breeding trap. He'd managed to leap out of it, through the tiny gap between it and the hood, and was laying on the bottom next to some wood.

I put him back into the trap, but he is still laying on his side gasping, and swims eratically now and then to the surface for a gulp of air. Seems very unusual to me, he's been like this for some time now.

I feel it's a bit cruel to leave him suffering until he recovers or dies, as he doesn't seem to be progressing in either direction. How long would you suggest leaving it?