Sick paradise gourami

[JiminyCricket]

Hi, need some help, I've just noticed one of my paradise gourami looks pretty rough!

It's been sat on the bottom of the tank for a few hours, and when it does try to swim it wobbles side to side! Has a pretty swollen tummy too, I'm unsure of the sex but could it be eggs? Or dropsy? I can't see any raised scales or though it's hard to tell!

Any ideas? Tried to upload picture but it won't let me!

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Hi.

Pictures are definitely going to be needed. The website is tricky with uploading pics. Most pics, even from a phone, are too large and need to be resized before the website will let you use them.

If you have an iPhone, email the pictures to yourself, and it will let you change their size.

I don't know much about Android, but I think you can change the quality/size of photos somewhere in the settings.

You could also try transferring the photos to a computer and editing their size from there.

As for the gourami, I don't know. Laying on the bottom of the tank, wobbling from side to side when swimming, swollen belly, that doesn't sound good. It might be dropsy, but those symptoms also could mean a swim bladder issue from over feeding. Unfortunately, without pictures I'm just taking shots in the dark.

 

[JiminyCricket]

Thank you, I'm on android. Will try to work it out....! They get fed flakes and pleco pellets once a day, sometimes every other day, so don't think it's over eating! I'll keep working on photos.

 

[JiminyCricket]

Hoping this works!
Also to add, water parameters are spot on, temp is around 25° (although thermometer is only a stick on) and a 25% water change is done weekly.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Definitely seeing the round belly like you said. If it were dropsy, the fish's scales would be pine-coning, meaning the scales would be sticking out from the body like a pine cone. I don't see that.

Even though you feed once every day or every other day, it still could be over eating. Or the fish might just be constipated, and thus bloating a little more with each feeding. How much are you feeding when you feed?

I would start off by fasting the fish for two days. You could try separating this fish for a few days, but I say don't bother and just don't feed the tank at all for two days. Don't worry about your other fish starving. They won't. Fish can go for nearly 2 weeks before starving, and in the wild they go for days at a time in between feedings. I know they look hungry. I know they act hungry. That's just what they do. If you do want to feed something, skip the first day at least, and then on the 2nd day you can feed some thawed, shelled pea (same kind of pea humans eat), and it will act as a laxative.

After the fish goes poo a couple times it should thin out a bit. If you can fast it for several days, that would be ideal, feeding only laxatives like peas or daphnia every second day. The swim bladder should hopefully fix itself after the bloat is taken care of.

If you don't see improvement in a few days, then it might be something else altogether.

 

[JiminyCricket]

Thanks. I cant see the scales pine coning either which made me think the same about dropsy, but it doesn't look happy!

On another note, any idea on how to sex paradise gourami? I have 4 and can't work it out!

 

[IHaveADogToo]

It's all in the dorsal (back) fin. Bascially, males have thinner bodies and their dorsal fins come to a point, and females have rounder bodies and their dorsal fins are rounded. These differences are most apparent in adults. Juveniles can be pretty difficult to sex as their fins haven't grown in completely yet.

Also, males are generally taller by about an inch when full grown. And males have brighter, flashier colors, where the females are a bit more blandly colored.

 

[JiminyCricket]

Cool thank you! Fish is still looking pretty bad this morning, although I wasn't expecting it to last the night!
Hopefully it'll recover.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish in the picture with the swollen belly is a male and it is not the best quality. The top of the body (between the head and start of dorsal fin) is sunken in. The other fish in the pic has the same genetic defect but nowhere near as bad. The fish also has a clamped tail and that indicates the fish is not happy.

If the fish suddenly swelled up overnight, then you might be better off putting it down. Internal problems in fish are hard to treat and when the fish balloons up overnight, it is just about always fatal. It is usually caused by a bacterial or protozoan infection causing organ damage or failure.

If the fish developed the swollen belly over a month or so it is probably a tumor and again there is no real cure.

The easiest way to euthanize a fish is to put it in a small container of tank water (about 1 litre). Have an airstone bubbling away gently in the container. Add 1 drop of clove oil (available from health food shop or some supermarkets) and wait 30 seconds. then add another drop, wait 30 seconds, etc. Continue adding 1 drop at a time until the fish rolls onto its side and stops moving. The fish is not dead but it is unconscious. Remove the airstone, put a lid on the container and put in the freezer until it is frozen solid. Then bury in garden.

 

[JiminyCricket]

The fish in the picture with the swollen belly is a male and it is not the best quality. The top of the body (between the head and start of dorsal fin) is sunken in. The other fish in the pic has the same genetic defect but nowhere near as bad. The fish also has a clamped tail and that indicates the fish is not happy.

If the fish suddenly swelled up overnight, then you might be better off putting it down. Internal problems in fish are hard to treat and when the fish balloons up overnight, it is just about always fatal. It is usually caused by a bacterial or protozoan infection causing organ damage or failure.

If the fish developed the swollen belly over a month or so it is probably a tumor and again there is no real cure.

The easiest way to euthanize a fish is to put it in a small container of tank water (about 1 litre). Have an airstone bubbling away gently in the container. Add 1 drop of clove oil (available from health food shop or some supermarkets) and wait 30 seconds. then add another drop, wait 30 seconds, etc. Continue adding 1 drop at a time until the fish rolls onto its side and stops moving. The fish is not dead but it is unconscious. Remove the airstone, put a lid on the container and put in the freezer until it is frozen solid. Then bury in garden.

Thanks for the reply, had No idea about the quality of the fish, I got them from a garden centre which I hadn't used before!

Here's the fish now, I put him in the nesting box, he couldn't balance in the tank but doing better now he's in here.
Tummy is now back to normal. He looked a little plump a few days ago but thought he was just getting fat and then ballooned up quite quickly!

 

[Colin_T]

He might have been bashed by the other male and decided he had had enough. He also might have had wind, or constipation.

I would keep them separate from now on because they are territorial and males will fight. And the big male on the right of the picture would be able to kill the smaller one in the container.

They can live in cold or warm water so if you don't have another tropical tank, just put him in an unheated tank with some plants and a small filter.

---------------------------
The quality of the fish is just the fish being brought in from Asia. Some breeders keep nice good quality fish while other breeders sell anything they produce.

 

[JiminyCricket]

Thanks for all your help guys, will keep an eye on him from now, thanks again.

 

[JiminyCricket]

He died while I was out
Just hope the other 3 will be ok!

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Terrible news.

 

[Colin_T]

sorry to hear that