my dwarf gourami died

[subliminalanarchy]

Okay so I have had my aquarium set up for about 1 month and last night my first fish died. My water conditions have been nearly perfect and the temp. is about 78 degrees.

What happened is that my gourami got really bloated where his chest would be and he didn't have an appetite that morning. By the end of the day he wasn't swimming much at all and when he did he was running into the rocks and stuff. Very sad.

I'm wondering if anyone knows what could have been the problem and if it would be okay to get another dwarf gourami?

Thanks
-Ian

 

[dkpate]

I got 4 DG's at once, and within 3 days, one died from bloating that I could not take care of. Another one died from being pestered by the mean one. My DG's bloat REALLY easily because they try to eat everything I put in there....lol. Every Thursday I feed them boiled, de-shelled peas, which is a natural laxative for fish, and it helps A LOT with their bloating. If you get another one, I would try the pea trick and see if that helps.

 

[mfdrookie516]

did you cycle the tank before you added fish? from the sounds of it, being only set up for a month, doesnt sound like it

 

[subliminalanarchy]

Thanks for the advice dkpate I'll definitely try it. You might be right he could have overeaten. Sometimes it takes the neons a little while before they notice the food at the top.

Oh and ya I did cycle my tank. I took a bunch of gravel and stuff from the established tanks at my work (Petsmart) so the tank cycled really fast. I did fishless cycling.

Thanks for the responses and I'll be sure to try the pea trick.

 

[dkpate]

To help with the overeating by Gimli (he's one of my dwarf's and he's a meanie lol) I got some Hikari Micro pellets, and it takes him longer to eat them so the Rasboras have a chance to get some too. Works out pretty good!
Good luck!
Also, get a bag of frozen peas, put a couple in a coffee cup of water, put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Take them out and run cold water over them to cool them off. Then squeeze them so the soft inside pops out into a spoon. (I use a spoon cause it's easy to pack from tank to tank). Then just mush them up with your fingers, and then scoop a little on your finger and just put your finger in the water, it will fall off by itself.

 

[subliminalanarchy]

Gimli? You didn't happen to name your fish after the Lord of the Rings did you? If so that's awesome!

And thanks for the cooking advice. haha

 

[dkpate]

Yes, it's after LOTR haha! I guess you could say I am a closet nerd lol! My other ones name is Willow after the movie from the 80's.