Sick dwarf gourami

[Austinhorseguy]

I have 2 male dwarf gouramis in a community tank, got them only a week ago. Today the smaller one has become lethargic and is staying at top corner of aquarium breathing outside air mostly. His buddy comes over frequently and nudges him to make him swim more below the surface which he does. I see no signs of injury. He's been like this for 4 hours and not getting better or worse. Aquarium is 40 gallons. All water tests are perfect and change in temperature..about 80^. All other fish are perfectly normal and are not harrassing the sick one. Suggestions?

 

[Austinhorseguy]

I have 2 male dwarf gouramis in a community tank, got them only a week ago. Today the smaller one has become lethargic and is staying at top corner of aquarium breathing outside air mostly. His buddy comes over frequently and nudges him to make him swim more below the surface which he does. I see no signs of injury. He's been like this for 4 hours and not getting better or worse. Aquarium is 40 gallons. All water tests are perfect and change in temperature..about 80^. All other fish are perfectly normal and are not harrassing the sick one. Suggestions?

Update
I'm afraid he didnt make it. His buddy was with him the whole time nudging him to make him swim. The ONLY other fish in my tank that showed concern was my african leaf (no he wasnt into eating him). You guys don't understand that an ambush preditor like a leaf will change behavior based upon his food. Mine doesnt eat other fish.

 

[itiwhetu]

Do you have floating plant in your tank. Maybe post a photo of your tank and the fish

 

[Austinhorseguy]

Do you have floating plant in your tank. Maybe post a photo of your tank and the fish

Yes, frogbit Can that be a problem?

 

[Austinhorseguy]

Yes, frogbit Can that be a problem?

The fish died last. night. All others arw fine but would like to know any information yoy might have about fkoating plants

 

[alistairw]

The fish could have had Dwarf Gourami Disease. Unfortunately no cure for it. Here is a link for more info.

Dwarf Gourami Disease: Everything You Need To Know Here

The the dwarf gourami disease only infects the dwarf gourami fish and has no known cure, but there are a few things you can do which I will go through today.

helpusfish.com

Its been a long time since I’ve thought about DGD as I have lost a couple of fish to it and have not bought any since 2013. If I remember rightly, it’s how they are bred, maybe inbreeding that weakens them. It’s a putty as they are great looking fish!

I am sure someone else can offer a better explanation, but that’s what it sounds like to me.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Male DG's don't have "buddies". At a certain stage there will be a dominant one and try to kill the other one.

What you're describing isn't "friendly" but showing dominancy in my opinion.

 

[Austinhorseguy]

The fish could have had Dwarf Gourami Disease. Unfortunately no cure for it. Here is a link for more info.

Dwarf Gourami Disease: Everything You Need To Know Here

The the dwarf gourami disease only infects the dwarf gourami fish and has no known cure, but there are a few things you can do which I will go through today.

helpusfish.com

Its been a long time since I’ve thought about DGD as I have lost a couple of fish to it and have not bought any since 2013. If I remember rightly, it’s how they are bred, maybe inbreeding that weakens them. It’s a putty as they are great looking fish!

I am sure someone else can offer a better explanation, but that’s what it sounds like to me.

Thanks so much for the info. I think these are great fish and now I know what to look out for.
Much aporeciated
Gary

 

[alistairw]

Thanks so much for the info. I think these are great fish and now I know what to look out for.
Much aporeciated
Gary

No probs. However, I would take note of what DoubleDutch says as that could be a possibility. It is probably worth researching male/female ratio's, as looking back through your information I missed you had 2 males in the tank, and what he says makes sense - it could be a dominance thing. From experience, my first reaction with DG is DG Disease, but they usually take more than a night to die.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

Hopefully it’s not dwarf gourami disease because if so your other one would likely have it too. The only thing that would indicate that though is that it was in fact a dwarf gourami. Other than that not anything to suggest that’s what it was.