Help -poorly Male Dwarf Gourami

[Blue Bubble]

Hi

I bought 2 dwarf gouramis about 3 weeks ago, (a bit of a rescue mission from a closing down garden centre) my female is doing well, but the male one, who is red, has gone very thin over the last week and has lost his colour.

I have moved him out of my tank and into a bucket with a heater and an artificial plant for coverage, because at feeding time, he was missing out, I was trying to feed him more, but they were too quick and so I was over feeding them.

My feeling from reading up it is some kind of internal parasite or bacteria, so I treated the tank with Interpet, Anti Internal Bacteria treatment, but then moved him but used some of my tank water and clean water in the bucket. So in a few days I need to do another treatment which I was just going to do in the bucket, is that right? I have never had a fish in a bucket before and want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

Should I put an airstone in the bucket too?

How often should I do water changes in the bucket?

I have a small spare filter running in my big tank, should I move this to the bucket too?

I am feeding him a bit of food every few hours, which he is mostly eating, I did notice sometimes it goes in and then comes out again? He seems to be going to the toilet okay from the bits that I can see at the bottom of the bucket. He is moving round the bucket slowly, he is not resting at the bottom and when he sees food he swims to come and get it.

Could he recover from this, or am I on a losing battle?

Water stats great and no other fish affected.

Thank you for reading this and for your help.

Elaine

 

[Colin_T]

Dwarf gouramis are prone to internal bacterial infections and often die from them. The fish losing weight over a short period of time (1 week) is a classic sign of an internal problem and not likely to be lack of food.

If you treated the main tank with an anti-bacterial medication then you might have wiped out your good filter bacteria. Keep an eye on water quality in the main tank and if you get an ammonia reading, do a partial water change each day until the problem stops. Also reduce feeding in the main tank if that happens.

Keeping a fish in a bucket is pretty simple. You don't need a filter but an airstone gently bubbling away will help keep the fish happy. You can change the water in the bucket each day and that will keep the water clean and prevent ammonia problems.
Don't feed the fish in the bucket too much as they don't need a lot of food and any uneaten food will cause water quality issues.

Some fish recover from internal problems but others don't. Keep the water clean and medicate him. Then see how he does. If you change the water each day you should re-treat the bucket each day after you have put the new water in. If possible give the bucket a wipe out with a sponge or rag before refilling it. This will remove any bacteria that have settled on the bottom and allow the medication to work more effectively.

 

[Blue Bubble]

Dwarf gouramis are prone to internal bacterial infections and often die from them. The fish losing weight over a short period of time (1 week) is a classic sign of an internal problem and not likely to be lack of food.

If you treated the main tank with an anti-bacterial medication then you might have wiped out your good filter bacteria. Keep an eye on water quality in the main tank and if you get an ammonia reading, do a partial water change each day until the problem stops. Also reduce feeding in the main tank if that happens.

Keeping a fish in a bucket is pretty simple. You don't need a filter but an airstone gently bubbling away will help keep the fish happy. You can change the water in the bucket each day and that will keep the water clean and prevent ammonia problems.
Don't feed the fish in the bucket too much as they don't need a lot of food and any uneaten food will cause water quality issues.

Some fish recover from internal problems but others don't. Keep the water clean and medicate him. Then see how he does. If you change the water each day you should re-treat the bucket each day after you have put the new water in. If possible give the bucket a wipe out with a sponge or rag before refilling it. This will remove any bacteria that have settled on the bottom and allow the medication to work more effectively.

Thank you for your quick response, it said on the box that it was harmless to filter??? hadn't thought of it affecting it, so thank you for that, will keep an eye on it. I thought I would need to build him with more food as he is so thin, (we did that with a cat once lol) so I should just feed him once a day like usual?

Elaine

 

[Colin_T]

Unlike mammals that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means the food they eat goes straight into muscle growth and swimming around.

Feeding the fish once a day should be sufficient to keep it healthy and help it gain weight. If you are really concerned then feed it twice daily, but make sure you remove any uneaten food after feeding.

Many medications affect the filter bacteria to some degree. But monitor it and see what happens

 

[Blue Bubble]

Hello

Mr Dwarf Gourami, is still going strong in his bucket and seems to be regaining his colour in the bottom part of his body, just wondered at what stage I would put him back in my tank to rejoin Mrs Dwarf Gourami and the others?

Many thanks

Elaine

 

[Colin_T]

give him a couple of weeks in the bucket if possible. That should give him plenty of time to recover and when he is completely healthy and disease free, he can go back to his mrs

 

[Blue Bubble]

give him a couple of weeks in the bucket if possible. That should give him plenty of time to recover and when he is completely healthy and disease free, he can go back to his mrs

Ok, thank you Colin for your help, she might have run off with a zebra danio by then though , haha

 

[pippoodle]

give him a couple of weeks in the bucket if possible. That should give him plenty of time to recover and when he is completely healthy and disease free, he can go back to his mrs

Ok, thank you Colin for your help, she might have run off with a zebra danio by then though , haha

she might be full of eggs by the time the male goes back in then you can have some babies --- and be a nanny lol
Glad to hear he's getting better and getting hes colour back , definately dont put him back til he is tip top

good luck hun

Sarah x

 

[Blue Bubble]

I had my old small tank so I set that up for him, and had a spare filter running in my big tank, so he is not in the bucket anymore. He has been in the new tank for nearly a week I think, but he still isn't get back to normal, he is swimming round a bit and feeding well, but he looks so thin still, see through. He seems to have gone a bit grey on the top of his head too?

Not sure what else to do for him?

Hi Sarah - she is getting plump, but not sure if she had babies if my other fish would eat them?


Elaine

 

[Blue Bubble]

Thank you for your help with my fish, unfortunately, he died today, after he seemed to be doing so much better, he was a fighter and lasted an extra month.

Elaine xxx