fish is dieing

[solo498]

I have a grommie ( spelling ?) that has for several days been laying on the bottom of the tank gasping. It does prop its self on the rocks or the side of the tank. If I try to catch it with the net it does swim away quickly. It appears to quickly lose its ability to know how to stay upright in the water and spirals back to the bottom. We have checked ammonia ( 0 ppm),, nitrite (0.12 ppm) ,, ph ( 7.0) and DO ( 5ppm) all seem to be fine.
We can see nothing on the fish and the eyes are clear .. we would welcome any ideas. EVERYONE is yelling at us to do something for the poor fish ...

 

[dskidmore]

Nitrite should be 0, has anything died in the tank recently, or been spilled in the tank?
What are your Nitrates?
Do you have a QT?
What other fish are in the tank?
How long has the tank been set up?
How large is your tank?
How long have you had this Gouramis?
Do you know what kind of Gouramis he is? (Chart)
What is your feeding schedule?
What do you feed him?

Unfortunately this sounds like dropsey. Dropsey is a poorly understood disease with a low cure rate. If it's not dropsey, it may just be constipation, see if he will eat a cooked and peeled pea. (Use fresh or frozen peas, canned may contain additives that are not good for him.)

Tips for dropsey:
If he's not the only fish in the tank, set up a QT for him and treat him there. Some forms of dropsey are contagious, and you don't want your other fish comming down with it.
Gouramis are air breathers, lower the water level as much as you can so he can make it to the surface when he wants to.
Get an antibiotic treatment from your local fish store. The packages should have diagnosis charts on the back to help you pick out the right one.
Be prepared to do lots of water changes. Even if the QT was cycled before you started, the antibiotic will likely kill your benificial bacteria and cause your ammonia or nitrite to spike.