Gouramis very weak!!!! Help!!!!

[shelbidavis]

My gourami I think is dying, I just got him today. And he is staying at the surface barely moving only takin in air sometimes. Breaking heavy. What do I do all my other fish are great. I don't want this little one to die.


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[Masha]

I'm sorry to hear that, poor little thing.

How big is your tank?
How long has it been set up?
What other fish do you have?
Can you test the water, and if so, do you know what the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels are?
How did you add him to the tank? Sometimes fish need careful acclimatisation and the shock of the change into a new tank can be a severe stress if it's done too quickly

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[shelbidavis]

The tank is a month old. Liquid ammonia test kit said zero ammonia. I have test stripes for the rest of the stuff, which said all safe for nitrite and everything else. Nitrate was like 1 it was barely anything. I realize now someone told me test strips aren't accurate. He is swimming in a 46 gallon with two other Gouramis. No they have not picked on each other. Other Gouramis are great. Red tail shark and tetras are also in there. Yes I know tetras was a bad idea. And angel are too. I know. I'll fix it, but what should I do about the weak fish that's about to die right now... I need to help him stay at the surface without tiring him out


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[shelbidavis]

Oh and I let him float in the bag for like 30 minutes before I let him in the tank to get the temperature right.


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[Masha]

If the water parameters are good, which seems to be the case, and there is not a lack of oxygen (or your other fish would also be gasping) It's possible it's the shock of being transferred quickly from his bag water to the tank water.

I don't think there's much you can do now except keep him very quiet, switch off the lights, and give him a chance to recover. I hope he will.

Next time, while you float the bag, try letting a very small amount of tank water into the bag, a sip at a time, at 10 minute intervals, and removing a bit of bag water too, very small amounts, making sure none of the bag water goes into the tank. After enough time has passed, and you have completely and very gradually replaced the water in the bag with tank water, release him gently.

Matching temperature is important, but it is not always enough.

I don't know if this is what is wrong with him, but it seems the most likely reason.

Good luck, I hope he gets better

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[shelbidavis]

Thanks so much, ya I can't think of anything thing else that's wrong with him too. If my water is bad, wouldn't my other fish be like this too? They were great with no bad signs. I've been checking in on the fish every hour tonight and he's still with his face toward the surface gasping and sipping air at the top of the tank thanks for the info, wish I could do something for him


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[New_b0401]

It's not necessarily because you're water is bad its just different from what he's use to a lot can make water different ph the hardness different minerals a lot of things contribute not that they're bad but just think about people changing air types I like in . Midwest humid heavy thick air my brother lives in the rocky mountain's takes me a couple days to not be stopping and catching my breath if I do anything lol let alone if I was stressed.

Do you have any stress coat tou could add to the water?

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[Ricky 1]

letting small amounts of your tank water in as Masha said would have helped, always keep the bag with the original water in , was he ok in the bag?

 

[shelbidavis]

No but I'll go pick up some stress stuff for him. Any brand you guys recommend? I'm surprised he survived the night. He's still at the surface by the heater stating at the surface doing nothing. And when I got him, he seem fine in the bad. He wasn't swimming he was just in one place the whole time


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[New_b0401]

I use API stress coat

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[Laird-and-Dad]

Also, a lot of fish have strange behaviors within the first couple days of adding them into the tank. One of my platys took a couple weeks to recover from that stress. I would definitely recommend API stress coat. It works great.

 

[Caliban07]

Yes unfortunately the journey that the fish has to take to reach your tank is a very stressful one. From farm water to bag water to wholesale water to LFS water then to your water. That's a lot of changes to their environment in such a short space of time. Sometimes the fish are just too weak by the time they reach our tanks.

Like has already been stated. Acclimating with the lights off by adding your water slowly to the bag water would have helped. The fish is and has been using lots of energy to keep the balance of salts and minerals internal and external to the fish equal and must be very tired.

My angel fish did the same the first few days I had him. You should see him now!

Other things to consider is reducing flow rate or increasing/decrease temp a bit slowly depending on where yours is set. If the flow is too strong and he is weak then it won't be doing him any favours.

Hopefully he will be ok.

Good luck.


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[Coursair]

There are two threads about same fish. There are two other DG males in the tank and not enough plants to hide in.


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[shelbidavis]

I feel like I have a lot of plants. Maybe not enough real ones yet, I have one real plant but like 6 different fake ones in it. And thanks guys I will keep an eye on him and the others


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[Coursair]

A pic of your tank would help. Only pic I saw looked quite bare.


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[Eggheadfish]

Just a thought on acclimation
When I go through the process, I open the store bag into a five gallon bucket, and slowly add existing tank water, keeping the bucket covered with a towel in between. After a while, I net the fish and release directly in the tank with the lights off. I find floating bags stresses the skittish fish in my tank and this way no store water gets in to mine while giving the fish some time to adjust with as little stress as possible. I take a lot of time for mine because my water is naturally harder than the lfs and they keep their tanks really warm for some reason. If the bag didn't have enough water to give the fish swimming space in the bucket I also start with some dechlorinated water too before adding tank water. Slow and steady. Also, moving around some decor can be helpful if territories need to be established. Hope it works out!