Help

[Honeybun]

We have four red gouramis and over the past couple of days I have noticed one of them seems to be 'bloated'. That's the only way I can describe it to be honest!
Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Thanks in advance!

Mel xx

 

[Honeybun]

Please can anyone help??? Have I got a poorly fish?

 

[sylvia]

You need to give us more than 19 minutes to reply! lol

Anyway - it's probably dropsy. Do the scales stick out a bit - like a 'pinecone'? Dropsy is a symptom of organ failure and consequent accumulation of fluids. At this stage, the fish can rarely recover. Is it still eating?

If your fish doesn't actually have dropsy, it could be constipated - in which case fasting for a day might fix the problem. However, with a dwarf gourami like yours, dropsy is more likely. He probably has an internal bacterial infection and your other gouramies may have it too. Do you have any antibiotics to hand? It's a good idea to start the treatment now. Even if this one dies, continue the treatment for as long as it suggests on the bottle for the sake of the remaining gouramies.

 

[Honeybun]

Thanks. I was panicking a bit

I have been searching since I posted and fdound something about dropsy and looked at the scales, they are sticking out!!!!!

The only meds I have are Protozin, that's no good is it!!!!

I am just doing another water test and so far ammonia and nitrite are spot on. Going to do nitrate now! We only bought these last week! Second lot of fish from the same place that have had something wrong with them!!!!

 

[Honeybun]

Nitrate looks to be somewhere between 20 and 40 on the colour card. It's hard to tell!

 

[Rhiannon]

My new red honey dwarf got bloated and the next day he was dead.

I hope you can cure yours.

Goodluck.

Rhiannon

 

[Biulu]

I am just doing another water test and so far ammonia and nitrite are spot on. Going to do nitrate now! We only bought these last week! Second lot of fish from the same place that have had something wrong with them!!!!

It looks like it is about time to change your dealer! Is there another one around that might be better? I choose mine based on cleanliness, neatness of the shop and the service and advice they are giving me.

 

[Honeybun]

My new red honey dwarf got bloated and the next day he was dead.

I hope you can cure yours.

Goodluck.

Rhiannon

Oh I am sorry.Ours has been like it for a couple of days now, he is still swimming about well though!!! Doesn't seem to be lethargic at all.

 

[sylvia]

So I take it he's still eating?

I'm not sure where you live but, if you're in the UK, interpet's anti internal bacteria med. works occasionaly for this. Otherwise, you need some kind of antibiotic - most meds. tell you what they treat on the bottle. You need something that'll deal with internal bacterial infections.

Diseases like this are extremely common amongst dwarf gouramies. They are especialy prone to diseases brought on by stress so an uncycled tank or introduction to a new envinmonent without proper acclimatisation or overcrowding can lead to problems. Your tank is obviously cycled but you may have introduced the new fish too abruptly. Also, with 4 males in the tank, you need at least a 30-40 gallon to avoid overcrowding.

 

[Honeybun]

Thank you all for your help!!! I will get some antibiotics and hopefully that will help!!! I don't know if we have four males to be honest, I am not sure how to sex them, I will find a thread on it hopefully!!!! He/she seems to be still going strong, swimming about, haven't seen him eat tho, but he does forage at the bottom!!!!

 

[sylvia]

They are almost certainly male... I assumed this was the case because you referred to them as 'red' gouramies. If they are red, they are male. Females are a duller silver-brown - with, at best, a few faint colored stripes.

 

[Honeybun]

They are more orange to be honest and have white tails. In the shop they were referred to as Red Robin Gouramis!!!! Does that help any in identification?

 

[sylvia]

Do you mean like this:
http/www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish/125.jpg
http/www.fishpondinfo.com/honey2.jpg
If so, those are honey gouramies (Colisa chuna/sota) - not dwarf gouramies. Any chance you could post some pics?
'Red robin' doesn't help, unfortunately, because LFSs label these fish rather 'randomly' There are no standardised names per se and a lot of mis-identification occurs.

I can't think of any dwarf gourami morphs (as in the actual 'dwarf gourami' - Colisa lalia) with clear tails.

Just so you get the idea of how bad the confusion is...
http/www.weblio.jp/img/OtsukaNettaigyoIm...oneyGourami.jpg This pic is called 'redhoneygourami' and came up when I searched google images for 'honey gourami' but the fish isn't a honey at all - it's a thick-lipped. lol

 

[Honeybun]

Yes, they are the ones!!!!! Why on earth do LFS give them different flippin names

Obviously to confuse the likes of me!!!!!!!

EDIT: Just looked at the 3rd link and they look so similar don't they? I do think they are the same as the top link tho!!!

 

[Honeybun]

Found pic calling them red robin gourami!!!

http/www.fishyfriendsaquatics.co.uk/id26.html