# Help - Dwarf gourami sick :(



## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

Hi everyone, hopefully you can help my dwarf gourami! 

Last night I found him laying on his side on a branch of my wood. He was breathing fairly heavily but not excessively. He seemed ok the day before. I caught him and put him in a hospital tank to keep an eye on him. 

He seems very lethargic, off his food, is just propping himself up against the side of the tank at the bottom and generally looking very sorry for himself! Colour wise he seems normal, his fins aren't clamped at all. No signs of ich and isn't bloated. 

All the other fish in the main tank seem to be fine at the moment. 

Tank specs etc
125l kept at 24 to 26 deg, has been set up for around 5 months with no recent additions or changes. 

I don't normally test but in this case;
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = around 30ppm ish 
Kh and gh are fairly high, couldn't say exactly but that is normal for my tap water. 

I'm not sure if he'll still be going by the time I get home from work but do you have any suggestions what he may have or if I should buy anything to treat him with. 

I hate to see them suffering  

Thanks in advance. 

Adam. 

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## MARKCOUSINS (30 Jan 2013)

How long have you had the fish,is he the only Dwarf Gourami in the tank?Cheers mark


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## linkinruss (30 Jan 2013)

How about Bartash's Methylene Blue 30 minute dip help?


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## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

Thanks for you comments and that video link. Great video, ill definitely give that a go. 

Do you think 30 mins is enough or should I go for the 2 week/new fish approach? 

I've had the fish pretty much from the start, perhaps 4 months. I have 2, the other seems fine. 

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## MARKCOUSINS (30 Jan 2013)

Guessing the other is a female?


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## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

Its not actually, I got two pairs but both females died not too long after getting them due to me being impatient and adding too many fish at once and over loading the filter! 

The two remaining males have been fine since though until yesterday. 

Does it make much difference both being males? 

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## MARKCOUSINS (30 Jan 2013)

Was wondering maybe bullying could be possible maybe someone with more knowledge of Dwarf Gourami behaviour could come in and clear this possible up.If he is not taking food try some live food if you can get your hands on any or even frozen might be worth a go,get him eating would be a help.Cheers mark


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## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

Oh ok yeah maybe someone may know if I've got a problem having 2 males and no females. 

I've not noticed much bullying to date, if anything its the 'bully' that's not well, they have fairly separate territories of tall plants they can hide in at either end of the tank. They usually only chase each other to stop the other stealing some uprooted hair grass they've managed to collect! 



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## linkinruss (30 Jan 2013)

How about setting up a hospital tank and then placing one of the two in to it?
Monitor the health of both and see if it clears up.
Ify ou haven't added fish for a while, perhaps introducing a female might be better as well.


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## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

I've already got the sick one in a hospital tank, un treated with anything at the mo, will try the 30 min dip as suggested above. 

If he recovers I will definitely consider adding a female. Would 1 do or should I add more? Is there a recommended m/f ratio? 

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## AndrewH (30 Jan 2013)

My gouramis have always been boisterous to the females.

best ratio Ive found is one male (in whole tank) to 2 or 3 females.
I have got 2 males in one tank, but they are both the same size and neither one has the upper hand so they compete, but lack any weaponry to do real damage.

last months PFK had a good article about D.Gouramis - might be worth a look?


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## Nat N (30 Jan 2013)

Hi all,
First of all - I am not a supporter of treating fish without a clear idea of what you are treating the fish for. It is like treating a human for a heart disease when they have cancer. This will only stress them even more - adding to their misery... From the symptoms you describe, I can only guess that your Gourami has succombed to a type of Myxobacteriosis. This is not surprising with Dwarf Gouramis - they are extensively overbread and weak (all this to produce "nice colours"!). If this is the case, there is nothing really you can do, unfortunately. If he were my fish, I would keep him in a quarantine tank with extra clean water (e.g. small - about 15% water changes EVERY DAY) and see if he pulls through. That is keeping an eye on the quarantine tank water parameters - MUST be impeccable! Do not try to offer food for a few days - if he does not eat, the food will just pollute the water.
Dwarf Gouramis, unfortunately, are often a short lived fish if you buy they from an average retailer (although you may get lucky and buy a good specimen)... The best you can do for him now - is to provide calm and comfortable invironment and see if he recovers... No fault of yours - just heavily inbread fish, unfortunately, dominate mass market - that's all...
Going forward, Dwarf Gouramis are quite nasty to their females. So, a ratio of 1 male per 2 females is good - it will spread abuse a little bit.


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## awood85 (30 Jan 2013)

Cheers guys I've already tried a quick dip but ill continue to keep him in the hospital tank doing frequent small water changes and will just hope for the best. 

Cheers for all your inputs! 

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## dw1305 (31 Jan 2013)

Nat N said:


> From the symptoms you describe, I can only guess that your Gourami has succombed to a type of Myxobacteriosis. This is not surprising


That would be my thought as well, they are horrible unhealthy things. How about _Trichopsis pumilus_ as a replacement? There are plenty about at the moment, cheap to buy and they are much more interesting. Difficult to sex however, so you need to buy 5 and wait for them to pair.

cheers Darrel


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## awood85 (6 Feb 2013)

Hi all, 

Just a quick update, it turns out he had a fairly large piece of moss lodged in the back of his mouth. 

I was watching him with some food as he has not eaten in quite a few days now and noticed when a piece of flake sank straight into his mouth that he spat it back out again. At this moment I saw something in his mouth and thought he'd munched on a shrimp or something and got it stuck. 

Using my gentlest tweezering I managed to get it to find a big chunk of moss. 

He now seems much happier, not 100% yet but now swims about properly and looks a lot better. I've not seen him eating yet but I'm sure that'll come. 

Thanks for all the advice. Cheers

Adam

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