Fat Gourami? Or should i be more worried?

[Fiferjanis]

S/he seems happy, active, ravenous, and appears to be growing in length as well as width, but you can see his fat little belly. The balloon mollies also seem to be fatter in the gut, and my platties seem to have gotten larger. Should I just cut back on the amount of food I give them? Or do you think I should worry? All seem happy, hungry and active except for it being a sausage-fest. (Need some chicks in the frat house!)

I've only had my 75 gallon up and running for a few weeks - haven't lost any occupants yet... But they've been giving more chase than usual. If I were to guess, they're all settling in nicely, eating plenty, and the tank is stabilizing so they want to mate... But there aren't any girls around. Thoughts?

[Andrew McFadden]

Cut them back on food and try giving them peas for a couple days.and see if that helps. What food are you feeding?

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by Andrew McFadden

Cut them back on food and try giving them peas for a couple days.and see if that helps. What food are you feeding?

Um... Everything. Flake, shrimp pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, frozen algae-shrimp, frozen bloodworms, veggie flakes, algae wafers.... Not all at once. I usually do a flake first thing in the morning, last at night, with a small algae wafer or shrimp pellets (something for the loach on the bottom). The frozen stuff I give when I get home from work because that's when I have time to sit and watch them eat it. I try to keep it to one thing at a time - it all gets eaten (and quickly). I tried the peas, but I guess I didn't do it right. They seemed interested initially, but then ignored them... Probably because they were frozen and still had a shell... Gotta try that differently.... still learning.

[HUKIT]

Is the fish equally swollen on both sides?

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by HUKIT

Is the fish equally swollen on both sides?

Seems to be. I squished some peas for them, but the gourami was the only one who was interested... That fish eats EVERYTHING.

[HUKIT]

Originally Posted by Fiferjanis

Seems to be. I squished some peas for them, but the gourami was the only one who was interested... That fish eats EVERYTHING.

That's good news, I just anted to make sure it wasn't a blockage. I would skip the peas personally and simply just fast the fish for 3 days to clear out the digestive track.

[thursyanna]

I had a giant gourami that looked just like that and a friend of mine thought hit had dropsy. The bad part was, he didn't make it. You might google dropsy and see if it looks like your fish's symtoms.

[Fiferjanis]

Yeah, don't think it's dropsy - he doesn't act ill, no pineconing - he looks robust from the side, but not bulbous or weird. He's pooping, so I'm just feeding lightly once a day for now. (Also getting an ammonia spike, so trying to deal with that.)

[LandLocked]

Is that a male Gourami? The dorsal looks round like I seen when trying to sex mine.

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by LandLocked

Is that a male Gourami? The dorsal looks round like I seen when trying to sex mine.

Dunno... I was thinking it was female because dorsal fin is roundish. I looked at some gouramis at the store today and was able to spot pointier dorsals on the dwarf gouramis at least...

[LandLocked]

Originally Posted by Fiferjanis

Dunno... I was thinking it was female because dorsal fin is roundish. I looked at some gouramis at the store today and was able to spot pointier dorsals on the dwarf gouramis at least...

Me too, I was hoping someone that actually knows would come tell us. I see a clear difference in 2 opaline gourami I have, is it youth/adult or male/female.

[spiketooth]

I have two gouramis and they are straight pigs. There is nothing they will not eat, just dont feed then for one day and see if there bellies go down. Also look at there poop, if its white then you might have a issue

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by spiketooth

I have two gouramis and they are straight pigs. There is nothing they will not eat, just dont feed then for one day and see if there bellies go down. Also look at there poop, if its white then you might have a issue

Nope... Black poopies. I think she's just a glutton and I've been overfeeding... Dealing with an ammonia spike now...

[spiketooth]

Originally Posted by Fiferjanis

Dealing with an ammonia spike now...

Good, for your ammo spike i am sure you are doing water changes

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by spiketooth

Good, for your ammo spike i am sure you are doing water changes

50% today, as the 25%s haven't been making much of a dent. Guess the tank is finally cycling for real. One butterball balloon Molly has been moved to the QT tank for his own safety as he kept getting stuck to the filter... He's been resting upside down, so I don't think he's long for this world, but I'm hoping he'll pull through...

[Imsyu]

i have two pairs of honey dwarf gouramis and they eat 24/7 i swear every time i look at them they are pooping lol constantly munching on all my plants -_- xD

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by spiketooth

I have two gouramis and they are straight pigs. There is nothing they will not eat, just dont feed then for one day and see if there bellies go down. Also look at there poop, if its white then you might have a issue

Hmm... Pooping a super-poop now... White, with black clinging at points... Is this normal fish-poop? Or a worm?

[spiketooth]

Originally Posted by Fiferjanis

Hmm... Pooping a super-poop now... White, with black clinging at points... Is this normal fish-poop? Or a worm?

His poop is longer then him, haha. If he was overfeed then that is normal

[Fiferjanis]

Originally Posted by spiketooth

His poop is longer then him, haha. If he was overfeed then that is normal

Ok! Yeah, it broke off and he's pooping some more. I didn't feed him for the past few days, and have just been feeding him a small amount of veggie flakes (today) now that the ammonia is down. (Doing water changes like a champ!). Everybody was kung-poo-fighting!