sick gourami

[angelsflying]

My gourami is swimming around on his side,in circles and upside down.He runs into everything in the tank,and does back flips.We have done a partial water change,did a ammonia check with our test strip,it was in the "safe" range.He swims up to the top alot,seems to me like he doesnt have enuff oxygen to me....anyone have any suggestions? It is a 29 gal tank,we have 3 tiger barbs,and 1 black shark,and 2 gold neon gouramis.All our other fish seem fine.Our filter is cleaned every week,along with all tubing,and the filter changed once a month,and replaced. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:c21b6814e5] Welcome to AA, angelsflying! [/center:c21b6814e5]
First a couple of overall tank care tips:
~Get liquid tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The strips are unreliable.
~You are cleaning your filter too much, IMO. How are you cleaning your filter weekly?

Now, for your fish problems:
~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp)?
~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
~How long have you had the fish?
~How long has the tank been set up?
~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlor, new substrate, etc.?

Here are some diagnostic charts to get started:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.aqualink.com/disease/sdisease.html#ich
http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm
http://www.everythingfishy.com/med_info.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health.htm

I do not suspect lack of oxygen, because that should affect the whole tank and all the fish would be at the top of the tank and not moving very much. It could be a swim bladder disorder.

 

[Christmasfish]

Um, you might want to QT the fish too, until you pinpoint if it is a disease or not.
If he is suffering from major damage caused by another fish, he needs rest and less stress anyway. So convalescence can only help. Swimming at high speds sideways in caused by nothing good. I will await the answers as well.

 

[angelsflying]

I have only checked my ammonia levels,which strip said was in the safe area.I will buy the liquid form for better results. As for cleaning my filter and tubing,all I do is rinse all debris from it,and I do that at least once a week.I vac the gravel twice monthly.My tank had been up for almost a year,my gourami was one of the first fish I bought to add,and no,I haven't added anything new to the tank. This morning when I went to look at my lil buddy,he was swimming so fast up and down and in circles,he actually jumped up out the water he was going so fast. And he has no visable signs of injury from other fish. All my other fish are fine and eating and swimming normally.Tank temp is between 76-78 degrees. Thanks for any info.

 

[i3k]

Gouramis are known to breath oxygen at the surface not too long though. I've had gouramis before and they all would come to the surface for a quick second but not too much. If your gourami is at the surface for long periods of time then it can be something wrong with the water. Gouramis are also kind of sensitive to ammonia so be sure to test the water with a liquid ammonia test kit...I've had a Gourami jump out of the aquarium because the ammonia levels were a bit up...I would separate the fish...when my gourami was acting like that dashing and swimming on its side I went ahead and put it in a 10gal bucket and added some salt and stress coat in there and it was better the next day...

 

[rallycat]

I've kept gouramis for about 6 years now, and i3k is right- they love to drift up and breathe fresh air pretty frequently throughout the day. Also, once they get their little hierarchies established, sometimes they get in a tizz if the other fish don't stick to their areas. My pearls flash and zip around the tank at least a couple of times per day, sometimes they look so spastic.
I used to have a problem with a Very territorial gold, but once he was gone all the others kinda fell in line. Separation may be the answer. Hope I helped a bit!