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I have a dwarf gourami which is leaning at about 45 degree angle most of the time. Another of the same species did the same thing, then laid flat on the bottom panting and then died. From the time I noticed the first fish's problem until it died was maybe two weeks or so. Reading on line everyone seemed to say bad water quality was likely the cause. I have been doing frequent partial water changes, and the nitrate and nitrite levels seem to be coming down but this fish is getting worse quickly. A mobile vet I called suspected Ich, but I have seen no white spots. The third fish still appears normal, and the one corydora they share the tank with looks well. I have had an issue with what i thought was fin rot, with these gourami looking increasingly tattered over the last year or so. I treated them with Melafix maybe six months ago. That condition hasn't seemed to worsen or really improve and I don't know if the two problems are realated or not. Any ideas for me? Thank you!Shannon
Optional Information: Type of Animal: dwarf blue gourami Age: 2 years Already Tried: frequent partial water changes
Hello,
Have you done a water quality check?
Can you tell me what the Ammonia, Nititrites and Nitrates are?
What type of test kit are you using? test tubes or strips?
Do you have filtration?
How big is the tank?
Joan
Hi Joan,
I did test the water with test strips-Sentry AQ by Mardel, which I know is not really accurate-trying to match the colors was not easy. I did this two times, a week apart, with the most recent being one week ago now. Interpreting this the best I could, it looked like the Nitrate came down from around 40 the first time to very close to 0 the second time. The Nitrites came down too, from between 1 and 3 to close to 0 as well. This test doesn't test for ammonia.
The filtration is a carbon filter that hangs on the back, a Tetra PF10. It has a little fibrous permanent filter inside of this that you rinse out as well as the carbon packet. I've been reading that these can be more trouble than help, but I'm not sure what the better option is.
The tank is 6.6 gallons- a "bookshelf tank" they call it. We had the three gourami and two corydora catfish in it for about two years. One cory is now in another tank because it was getting so picked on, and one gourami has died, so just three left. I feed them the dry flake food, I have not tried anything else. Also, the fish that already died had what I thought was an injury to its mouth. I was sure that the cat had stuck a paw in the hole in the top and snagged him, as literally a piece of his mouth was missing and I don't think he could eat at all. Now after reading more I wonder if it wasn't a bacterial thing-but no one else shows any signs. Thank you for working on this!
Hello, Swim Bladder Disease affects a fish's swim bladder which is the organ that helps in maintaining a fish's ability to balance and swim in a normal position. When it becomes blocked up or too full of air it stops functioning properly. This can be a result of water quality, over feeding dry foods or a Bacterial infection. Poor water quality can play a major issue contributing to the Swim Bladder problem. The first step to helping is to check your water quality. The Ammonia should be 0, Nitrites 0 and the Nitrates 20 ppm or less.
You should have a chemical test kit to check the levels. This is one that will give you an idea of what works: http://www.thatpetplace.com/ammonia-test-lab-45-tests We can try some first aid to help the fish. First do a 3/4 water change and be sure to add some de-chlorinator or use bottle Spring water for replacement. Next please feed a couple of frozen peas in which the shell has been removed. You will need to be sure you crush the peas for the fish. This helps the stool to pass and will sometimes help to relieve the problem. I also suggest using aquarium salt at 1 teaspoon of the salt per gallon of water. The Salt helps to draw out fluids that can cause swelling in the swim bladder disease. The salt will also help with bacterial infections and help to build a natural slime on the body. These are a couple of links that give you information about swim bladder disease: http://www.netpets.org/fish/reference/freshref/swimbldr.htmlhttp://www.fishfriend.com/articles/the_swim_bladder_disease.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/364175/swim_bladder_disease_in_goldfish_how.html?cat=53
Since the fish is in with other fish it may be wise to set up a hospital tank which will make it easier to treat the fish. There are some other methods of treating swim bladder which has to do with reducing the amount of water in the tank which helps to decompress the swim bladder, but I would only use that as a last resort.
This link will help you locate Fish Vets if the treatment does not help: http://www.koivet.com/a_fishvets.html
Experience: Vet Tech for 30+yrs. Small Animals and Fish