Quarantine New Fish

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, it's a shame because they are SO pretty, and fairly easy to keep if you can just find a healthy one. But that isn't easy.

 

[FranciscoB]

I am sorry for your loss. I would consider something (below) for future fish acquisitions you may wish to do-

I am curious about this:
"I know the tank was fully cycled as I had tested it for several days prior to adding the fish and each time amon 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40, PH 7.8. "
So the QT tank was running for several days with no fish, and the parameters measured were as above. Two issues: 1) 40ppm of nitrate is fairly high. 2) if the aquarium was cycled but ran several days with no fish, a substantial amount of bacteria may have starved and died, thus not being 'cycled' anymore.
There was no source of ammonia, thus, the bacteria may have starved. That could have been the reason for death of the gourami, and more so if it came in typically already weak shape (store-bought flame gourami). Did you add to the filter an amount of cycled media from an established tank just prior to adding the gourami? Again, something to consider for the future.

 

[Coolysd]

Thanks for the info. I started the fishless cycle on Nov 4th using Mr Tim's Ammonia. I added a sponge filter and some gravel from my 75g. On Dec 6th is when it tested amon 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 80, PH 7.2, Temp 82°. I got the DG on Dec 15th. From 12/6 to 12/15 I continued to feed and test it to keep the cycle going (as advised by some folks on this forum) because it was going to be a week or so before I was able to stock it. I knew the nitrates was pushing it but I wasn't able to do a partial wc right then so I added some Prime. The next day 12/16 I did a small wc and tested amon 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, PH 7.4 Temp 79°. On 12/17 & 12/18 nitrates did creep back to 40 so I added Prime. The next morning is when I saw that he had passed.