Dwarf Gourami stopped eating

[TipYourNurse]

Hello all,

I'm looking for some advice on my powder blue dwarf gourami. He's stopped eating for at least the past week, is pale and just hangs out at the bottom on the tank or on a leaf of one of the plants. He's very skiddish and when I even open the lid to feed him, he just dives and the other fish eat all the food. So I tried putting him in a carrier container so that he could have a chance at the food and he didn't eat anything there either.

I've had him since August of last year and he's never had any problems. He lives in a 15 gallon tank with two mollies and two cory catfish. It seems like he has a black discoloration around his face. Sometimes around his mouth and gills, sometimes on the top of his head.

This isn't a great photo, but it's all I could get of him with my phone.
imgur: the simple image sharer

Any advice is appreciated, I really wanna pull him through this. Thanks.

 

[KaylNeko]

Look into Dwarf Gourami Disease. One of the first signs is listlessness and loss of appetite.

 

[Hobgob]

You said you put him into a carrier? Do you mean like a floating hatchery? That would probably have stressed him out more and he wouldn't have wanted to eat. Can you answer some of these question
How long has the tank been set up?
How big is the tank?
When was your last water change?
What are the water parameters at?
What type of filtration do you have?
What else is in the tank?
Have you done anything to the tank in the last little while?

 

[TipYourNurse]

How long has the tank been set up?
August of 2011

How big is the tank?
15 gallons

When was your last water change?
2 days ago (~20%)

What are the water parameters at?
Had my water tested at the pet store. All that they said was my ammonia was "borderline" and "everything else looked good".

What type of filtration do you have?
QuietFlow 10 (for 10-20 gallons)

What else is in the tank?
Recently put in a heater @ 76 F

Have you done anything to the tank in the last little while?
No, I haven't changed my routine to my knowledge...

 

[Hobgob]

How long has the tank been set up?
August of 2011

How big is the tank?
15 gallons

When was your last water change?
2 days ago (~20%)

What are the water parameters at?
Had my water tested at the pet store. All that they said was my ammonia was "borderline" and "everything else looked good".

What type of filtration do you have?
QuietFlow 10 (for 10-20 gallons)

What else is in the tank?
Recently put in a heater @ 76 F

Have you done anything to the tank in the last little while?
No, I haven't changed my routine to my knowledge...

If you tank was set up in august you should have no detectable ammo. You don't use ammo chips or anything like that do you? You could raise the temp up a bit. Around 80 and see how that does. Also don't listen to fish stores. Get a test kit for yourself. Don't but the strips either, they are very inaccurate.
What other stock do you have in your tank? Also 15 is to small for a dwarf gourami IMO.

 

[Hobgob]

In a healthy established aquarium there should not be detectable ammonia. How did you take your tank through the nitrogen cycle fish in or fishless?

 

[adadkins1]

I'd say it is just another run of the mill Dwarf Gourami. I have one, and over time I've learned that Dwarf Gourami Disease is, for the most part, a joke. It is really a thing of hysteria, and that is likely not the issue with your fish. I think it is just kinda one of those catch all diseases, where if nobody is sure what it is then they jump right to DGD.

I'd say it is likely just another case of an inbred and weak fish. There have been tons of reports of such a thing happening. You can get a Dwarf Gourami and it be fine for several months, then all at once it loses its appetite and becomes listless. This generally leads to the demise of the fish. It is fairly similar to what some people go through with fancy tail Guppies. They will be fine one day, and randomly dead the next. Most of the large scale breeders that a lot of the LFS get their fish from could care less about genetics (in general). They will do anything they can to increase QUANTITY and don't really focus on QUALITY. There are many different species if fish I could list that are hard to get quality specimens.

Don't feel bad, just try to get him to eat and monitor his conditions. Check out this thread if it is any consolation, all the comments show just how grave the situation with Dwarf Gouramis has become: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f29/dwarf-gourami-profile-151265.html

There are tons of comments from members who experienced the same situation; my brother-in-law's DG died randomly too. It just seems like they have no immune system from all the inbreeding.

I'd also recommend you invest in an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. This way you can test your own water with a highly accurate kit. It can generally be bought on the internet (Amazon.com) for cheaper than retail.

 

[TipYourNurse]

If you tank was set up in august you should have no detectable ammo. You don't use ammo chips or anything like that do you? You could raise the temp up a bit. Around 80 and see how that does. Also don't listen to fish stores. Get a test kit for yourself. Don't but the strips either, they are very inaccurate.
What other stock do you have in your tank? Also 15 is to small for a dwarf gourami IMO.

No, I don't use those. I will try that, thank you. I have 2 mollies and a cory catfish.

I'd say it is just another run of the mill Dwarf Gourami. I have one, and over time I've learned that Dwarf Gourami Disease is, for the most part, a joke. It is really a thing of hysteria, and that is likely not the issue with your fish. I think it is just kinda one of those catch all diseases, where if nobody is sure what it is then they jump right to DGD.

I'd say it is likely just another case of an inbred and weak fish. There have been tons of reports of such a thing happening. You can get a Dwarf Gourami and it be fine for several months, then all at once it loses its appetite and becomes listless. This generally leads to the demise of the fish. It is fairly similar to what some people go through with fancy tail Guppies. They will be fine one day, and randomly dead the next. Most of the large scale breeders that a lot of the LFS get their fish from could care less about genetics (in general). They will do anything they can to increase QUANTITY and don't really focus on QUALITY. There are many different species if fish I could list that are hard to get quality specimens.

Don't feel bad, just try to get him to eat and monitor his conditions. Check out this thread if it is any consolation, all the comments show just how grave the situation with Dwarf Gouramis has become: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f29/dwarf-gourami-profile-151265.html

There are tons of comments from members who experienced the same situation; my brother-in-law's DG died randomly too. It just seems like they have no immune system from all the inbreeding.

I'd also recommend you invest in an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. This way you can test your own water with a highly accurate kit. It can generally be bought on the internet (Amazon.com) for cheaper than retail.

Thanks for the information. That is exactly what happened. He was fine with a great appetite and then suddenly stopped eating and became listless. He did come from a "large-chain" pet store, unfortunately.

 

[adadkins1]

Chain store or mom and pop store is irrelevant, unfortunately. My brother-in-law's came from a pretty nice store that had, had them in for a few weeks. However it finally quit eating and would not come out.

On the bright side, maybe he will bounce back. I always try to stay positive if I can!

 

[Hobgob]

Exactly hopefully he turns around but he needs to have the right conditions in order to get back in health. I'd raise the temp and maybe put some salt in it...