Saltwater & Reef

KnightRid · 01-10-2007, 06:31 PM

new video - included in my last posts edit also, please read for how i have her right now.

video taken down as she has passed

Well I am back with a 55 gallon freshwater tank that I have had TONS of probelms with in the last couple weeks!

First I thought my 2 clown loaches had ick, but the treatment did not work and they ended up dying

then my pink kissing fish ( gourami ) got a white mold on his eyes, which I actually cured - it was my fault since i discontinued filtration while treating for ick! I jsut had 2 airstones in the tank, and it made the water get NASTY!! I used Nitra-Zorb ( awesome stuff! ) and replaced the carbon filter with the ammonia filter media for now, and all seems to be getting back into shape. Oh my red eye tetras seemed to have ick also, but they were cured shortly after the loaches died.

Ok now for the problem..my blue gourami is standing vertical - head up, tail down in the tank. he can eat fine, he can even swim fine, but he jsut kind of hovers vertically. I read the other responsed that people had the same problems, but my tank has plenty of air, water conditions are almost back to normal ( 1 more day with nitra-zorb before I test ), he eats fine, he does not have any signs of injury. Only thing I have noticed today seemed to be 3 white spots on his one fin. I have treated for ich, melafix, and pimafix for the full periods, now he seems to be getting sick!!!

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I will be able to give water conditions tomorrow, but thy should be PH-7-7.2, Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate - 20-40.

Other fish in the tank - pink kissing fish, 5 red eye tetras, common loach, 1 big snail, quite afew of those pesky little ones ( hence the clown loaches were bought

), a betta, and the blue gourami.

I have had the 2 gouramis for at least 3 years now!!! moved from a small 20 gallon to this 55 gallon and they did great. I hate to lose him now, like i lost the other blue one a while ago ( red stipes on fins, treated with pimafix and melafix, didnt help, now I think I needed other medicine ...sigh )

Thank You
Mike

Devilishturtles · 01-11-2007, 12:39 AM

Sometimes, when fish get stressed (less oxygen, bad water quality) it can affect their swim bladder, which is what keeps them level in the water. There is a chance that is affected. Some water readings will help. 20-40 isn't bad, but lower would be ideal. I'm wondering if frequent water changes here are all that would be needed to cure your gourami...

If you have had him for 3 years though, and you got it when it was not a baby, it could be old as well. Something to keep in the back of your mind.

Is your temperature stable? What are you treating them tank with now, if anything? (sorry, got a little lost in your story

) How does he look now?

lmw80 · 01-11-2007, 08:51 AM

A picture would greatly help. Are you sure the white dots aren't part of her coloring? I am trying to think of my blue gourami and I think there are some white dots.

Have you seen her go to the bathroom? When she swims, does she swim normally or kind of odd and wobbly?

KnightRid · 01-11-2007, 06:19 PM

Ok here are the test readings...

PH - 7.2-7.6 - added 1 tsp phdown since i want it between 7.0 and 7.2 - willcheck again in 24 hours - could this cause the blue gourami to go freaky?
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20-40 - our tap water tests with nitrate in it also, so I NEVER have had an aquarium that tested 0 - 20-40 is normal for here...I was hoping the nitra-zorb would take it to 0...might recharge the nitra-zorb and try it again.

Pictures - well I am going to try again - light bounces off the glass and screws the pic up

any tips for using a digital camera to take pictures of the aquarium?

Going to try some more pics - best out of 100 coming up

Mike

Oh and sorry i tend to ramble about different things -

I can explain in person a LOT better than writing it!!!

Temperature is stable at 75.2F

swimming - when the pink kissing fish chases him, he darts about like normal, but swimming slowly he kind of swims a bit vertical at the same time.

off for pics

thanx for all the help so far!!

couldnt post a new message for 12 hours?? so here is the edit

http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o...htRid/Gourami/

ok there are pics - flash on stand back from aquarium, and zoom in

dont take pics right on top of the aquarium or they get blurry/flashback/etc!! woohoo- I feel smarter now

and my lord my glass is dirty 8O time for some windex on the outside it seems!!

figured the more the merrier

a pic of my whole tank is there, and my betta ( looks rough doesnt he/she

), and of course the blue gourami.

I see in the one pic he/she has a hole in his/her fin - does this go along with the vertical stuff?

Mike

Thank you all again!!

lmw80 · 01-12-2007, 08:53 AM

I looked at the gourami pictures, and she looks healthy to me. The white dots on the fins are part of her coloring. Also, her overall coloring looks really good...it's a lighter blue...when they are sick or stressed their color blue darkens usually.

KnightRid · 01-12-2007, 09:29 AM

Wow, ok...thank you very much!!

So she is just having a phase by standing vertical like that? just seems odd, but i am happy that she looks good

Mike

Devilishturtles · 01-12-2007, 09:49 AM

I agree she looks good. Hard to tell what is causing the verticle-ness. I still assume something is messing with the swim bladder, but it doesn't seem to be tooo bad. Hopefully, it will improve with some more frequent water changes. If she is eating, why not try some anti-bacterial medicated foods just as a precaution. It won't hurt anything and might be able to fix whatever is in there messing with her swim bladder.

Zagz · 01-12-2007, 10:14 PM

I agree her coloring looks fine. You can feed the anti bacterial food as DT suggests, and also feed some frozen peas to rule out constipation. Please do not use windex on the outside of your tank, it can get inside the tank easily, use vinegar.

Also you can't respond to your own posts until someone else does or 12 hours passes, but you can click on edit and add things to your post if need be.

KnightRid · 01-17-2007, 09:06 AM

UPDATE

VIDEO - she is getting REALLLL bad and nothing is helping

I do not want her death on my hands. I have her netted at the top of the tank right now so she does not have to struggle to get to the top.

video taken down as she has passed

PLEASE HELP!!!!

PREVIOUS MESSAGE PARTIALLY BELOW

Thank you so much for ALL the help!!!

Mike

Ok in the span when I first wrote this this morning, she has lost the reddish ball, but the 2 feeler things are still there. She is now also going to the top and gulping air, and almost sinking to the bottom. She also has a red spot on her side that looks like it has mold on it...AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH !!!! i am going to try and find out what it is and see if I can treat her for it now. Just wanted to update you all on her condition since she seems to be slipping downhill REAL fast all of a sudden

water condition is still good - nitrate is still around 20-40 rest are 0 and ph is around 7.0 now. I still have 2 air stones in the tank - 55 gallon, so it should not be low on oxygen, and the other fish are doing perfect.

Nother update - the moldy/fungus stuff is not there anymore and the red spot looks like a bump. She is getting worse with floating to the bottom or even hangin on the filter when she falls...seems like she is losing strength. I called the pet place and the owner said it might be internal parasites to get something by Jungle that is a tablet that fizzes - so I guess it is off to the pet store.

poor thing

UPDATE

VIDEO - she is getting REALLLL bad and nothing is helping

I do not want her death on my hands. I have her netted at the top of the tank right now so she does not have to struggle to get to the top.

video taken down as she has passed