2 questions

[danstroud1]

hi. i have 2 questions that are completely unrelated to eachother.

1. do fish get old and frail like humans? i have had a honey gourami for years over the last few weeks he's got really skinny and lays on the bottom mostly only coming up occasionally for air (which seems a struggle)

2. my powerhead Aquarium Fish Tank Powerhead 1600 L/H - All Pond Solutions was too strong so i put a sponge in the intake to slow the flow down. is this ok or would it put pressure on the impeller?

thanks

[aquabeast]

maybe hes just getting old and just losing it.. im not sure about the powerhead thing as im in the same boat.

[ShadoeFox]

Fish do get old, yes, though you might try to do other things to help your fish just in case its something else, though it sounds like he had a good run.

Don't know about the impeller, though I know people do it on filters sometimes.

[aquabeast]

depends on how small the tank is and how strong the powerhead is ive been told.. some are flow adjustable.. gouramis do live for a few years, but something could be wrong with him like a disease or something like that..

[bruinsbro1997]

Honey gouramis live for about five to eight years on average, don't know if your's was already old when you bought him from the LFS or it has a possible disease. More info would be appreciated.
I don't know about question two, but I know that some filters are designed so that the intake and power can be varied.