New Thread: Gourami sick or is there hope?

[Gillphill83]

My dwarf rainbow gourami is also looking odd, has been for a few days so i have been doing my best to revive him and sometimes i think he's looking ok, but today ive noticed he's almost laying on his side when doing this resting on the bottom that he's been doing for a week.

My water is fine, zero ammonia, zero nitrite, nitrate peaks but settles with a water change, which i do weekly, 30% last weekend, 60% weekend before that.

I had 4 male guppies recently die from fin rot, which i wasnt aware of until the 3rd guppy died, as the first 2 just disapeared over night with no trace! i started treating the tank with myxazin 5 day treatment on sunday, removing the carbon from the filter first. However the last two guppies didnt even last the night. I was distraught! Now its the 5th day and the gourami isnt looking enthusiastic.

Has my gourami got another bacterial disease? his gils dont move at all neither does his mouth move much. His Bro is becoming agressive towards him, i think he's trying to motivate him as they havent been aggresive before.
he's like a statue in the plants or gravel then snaps out of it, swims fast to the surface to gulp air, not eating much if at all, and then goes back to his statue position. Now his statue position is almost laying down.
Any ideas of what to do?

i really hate to see these guys suffer and feel so guilty because i dont know what to do, ive not had the guts to put them to sleep when they have got ill but maybe its time i put the water in the freezer and get ready to put Reg (Gourami) to rest.

I want to make sure his bro Ron survives, so id appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I can think of two things but someone else most likely has a better idea. Doing an immediate water change to remove some of the meds. I have heard/read that some labyrinth fish don't respond well to some meds. (I found this out when doing research on pimafix and melifix. They are both a NO NO.) I had two dwarf gourami males in my 70g and one was so scared of the other he would sit in the plants hiding all day. He eventually so stressed he got ich and died in one day.

 

[Gillphill83]

Thanks, I do wonder if his bro was being aggressive when I wasn't watching. He's a lot bigger and seems to be thriving, although since the other one got sick he's started acting scared when I go near the tank.

I can't do the water change as quickly as I'd like, I fear it's going to be too late for the little fella.

 

[absolutangel04]

Sorry about your sick fish and the loss of your guppies. Dg are known to be a bit overbred, so sometimes you just get bad stock. I agree with Mumma about the meds perhaps negatively affecting the dg. Meds have side effects for fish just like they do for people and it is more pronounced in some fish than in others. Just a guess. You could have a different issue however.
As a note, I am guessing your other dg senses a weakness and is using the opportunity to rule that the tank, not encourage the sick dg.
BTW, what size is that tank?

 

[Gillphill83]

The tank is 60L.

The dg is pictured in my profile pic and there is a photo uploaded of what he looks like now! Very different in comparison!

He survived the night which I'm surprised about, I'll try to get the water changed tonight and replace the carbon in the filter to remove the meds, see if it makes a difference to him.

Thanks for all your help so far!

 

[absolutangel04]

The tank is 60L.

The dg is pictured in my profile pic and there is a photo uploaded of what he looks like now! Very different in comparison!

He survived the night which I'm surprised about, I'll try to get the water changed tonight and replace the carbon in the filter to remove the meds, see if it makes a difference to him.

Thanks for all your help so far!

No prob. I am going to say though that 2 dg (especially 2 males) in a 15 US gallon tank is unlikely to work in the long run. It can work, but I wouldn't count on it. Of course, fish are individuals, so just because I don't think it will work does not mean it won't, but I really do not recommend it. Keep a close eye on them for signs of bullying. Good luck.

 

[Gillphill83]

Today my sick gourami was showing signs of recovery. Done the water change and put back the carbon bits in the filter, hopefully that will rid the tank of the meds. Bad news is whilst doing the change I discovered 3 of my 6 harlequins dead. This must have happened since Thursday. Very surprising as they showed no signs of illness before.

What's even more surprising is the 20+ guppy fry!! my last male guppy that recently died must have had a good time in his last days, perhaps what finally done him in!
I've decided to leave the fry to their own devices, plenty of plants to hide in which is what they seem to be doing. If I lose a few to the other tank mates then so be it, as much as I don't like the idea of them eating babies I think it's more natural selection in the fish world and I certainly can't house 20 guppies!

Going to keep a close eye on the gourami this week hopefully he makes a recovery and no more fish deaths.

Water results : ph8.5 A 0.1 nitrite 0.05(higher than last week) nitrate 0.

 

[Greenphantom]

For future reference when your fish are sick try everything but CHEMICALS for ick raise your temp to 84 to 86 degrees and ad a tablespoon of aquarium salt for every five gallons I have used this procedure many many times through the years and it always works keep your temp high for about two weeks

 

[Gillphill83]

Oh ok thanks for the advice. I certainly will try this method.
My LFS recommended the meds but he certainly didn't let me know of the side effects. They also sell the aquarium salt and he certainly didn't let me know this could be another solution. The meds were to treat the tank for fin rot and my female guppies certainly show no signs of contagion.
Would adding salt and temp increase treat for fin rot, for future reference?

 

[Gillphill83]

Reg the sick gourami

 

[Gillphill83]

Reg from underneath.

 

[Gillphill83]

Reg has gone back to 'nodding off'..