Ill Dwarf Gourami

[nf0772]

My Flame Dwarf Gourami seems to be exhibiting some strange behavior, and I'm afraid that he won't last much longer.

As I looked at my tank last night, I noticed that he was stuck in one of the plants. After helping him out of this situation, I noticed that the little guy seemed to hover around the bottom of the tank. Soon, he was resting on his side, and he seemed to be gasping. I brought him to the surface, and this seemed to perk him up a bit. After a while, however, he hid in a crevice between a rock and another plant. I didn't really know what to do, so I decided to isolate him. I haven't noticed anything abnormal about his fins, scales, or gills; he seems to have lost some of his coloration, however. His appetite is decreased as well.

In addition to this Flame Dwarf Gourami, I also have another Flame Dwarf Gourami, two Neon Blue Dwarf Gouramis, two Thick-Lipped Dwarf Gouramis, and three Rosy Barbs in my 29-gallon tank. All water parameters seem to be within normal limits - Nitrate: 0 ppm, Nitrite: 0 ppm, pH: 6.8, Temp.: 78 F. My filtration system is an Aqueon QuietFlow 20 125GPH. I set this tank up about a week ago, and I haven't performed a water change. I've introduced nothing new to the tank itself. I'm currently feeding TetraColor Tropical Crisps twice a day.

I purchased all of my fish from Petco on Jan. 9. After doing a bit of research, I discovered that many Dwarf Gouramis bred in captivity and sold at pet stores are susceptible to Dwarf Gourami iridovirus. Some symptoms of this illness were similar to those of my own dwarf gourami, and many were not. I'm afraid that if this is, in fact, DGIV, all of my dwarf gouramis will soon become ill.

This is my first tank, so I'm relatively new to the aquarium hobby. Any advice would be extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. I feel as though I've done all that I can do for the little guy. I feel so horrible to see him suffering like this.

I've included a photo on this post as well. Again, I appreciate any and all advice.

 

[dkpate]

Well, from the pic, I would say his coloring is pretty good. Mine always got dark around their faces when they were sick, especially the flames.

I did lose one to the DG disease, no warning.

The last one developed lesions on his back and had dropsy. I had him for a year, and the stress of our move caused the parasites or whatever it was to show up.

Also, you have too many male DG's in one tank, IMO. They might be getting aggressive with eachother now that they are getting older, I learned that the hard way.

Since you just set the tank up, it probably hasn't gone through the nitrogen cycle, and you are going to want to read up on that. You should get yourself a liquid test kit, and do a water change of at least 25% every day until you know what the water parameters are.

Try the clean water for a while, and see if they perk up. I would also think about taking back all but 2 of the DG's.

 

[nf0772]

Thanks for the advice. I've isolated the ill gourami in another tank. He's still active, but he seems to be swimming around in circles constantly. I feel horrible seeing him in this condition. As for the other gourami, I'll probably end up taking a few back. I was unaware that they would become aggressive with age. Although I have a new tank, the water parameters seem to be pretty stable at the moment. I performed a 20-30% water change this afternoon. Nitrates and nitrites are still at 0. The alkalinity is on the low side, but the pH has remained stable at around 6.8. I'll continue to monitor the little guy for now, but I'm afraid I've done as much as I can at this point. Thanks again for your help.

 

[mommytron]

his head looks dark to me. mine looked the same way right before he kicked the bucket unfortunately dwarf gourami's just don't last very long.

also, your tank is not cycled. read up on the nitrogen cycle (there are a bunch of helpful threads in the getting started section of this forum) and purchase a liquid test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

+1 on getting rid of most your DG's, they will most likely beat each other up.

also, i would only feed once a day to every other day. ESPECIALLY with an uncycled tank, uneaten food can rot and cause spikes in the ammonia, which you don't want.

 

[nf0772]

Thanks for your help. I'm afraid he's not going to last too much longer. Like I said before, he's now exhibiting some strange swimming behavior; he will occasionally swim in a corkscrew-like pattern until he ultimately tires and settles at the bottom of the tank. I know there probably isn't much else I can do, but I can't help feeling like I could've done something more or researched a bit before setting up my aquarium and purchasing these fish.

I will definitely do some more research concerning the nitrogen cycle. Hopefully I can become better prepared for my next set-up. Again, I appreciate your taking the time to provide me with some advice and helpful information.

 

[nf0772]

Update

As I expected, my ill dwarf gourami didn't make it. After isolating him from the other fish in my 29-gal. tank, his health slowly continued to decline. He refused to eat and would barely move at all. When he did attempt to swim, the little guy continued to spin in circles until he ultimately tired and drifted back to the bottom of the tank.

I appreciate everyone's help with this unfortunate situation. I felt like I did everything I could, and I can't help but feel like I should have done something more. It's tough to see a fish suffer, but I now know that early isolation is beneficial for not only the ill fish, but also for the healthy tankmates.

Thanks again!