[Erloas]

I've got a dwarf gourami that isn't looking very good.
He has turned a bit darker, and on the back of his gill area and around the bottom and top fin it has turned almost black.

He has been like this for a week or two. I've had him for about 2 months and before that he was doing well. He is eating a little bit, but not much, and has been mostly sitting on the bottom.

As of a couple days ago my ammonia and nitrites were at 0, my nitrates at about <5ppm, GH 11, KH 8-9 and temperature about 76-78. It is a 55g tank with some diftwood, a few live plants and some fake plants and decorations.

Generally all the other fish are looking good. I've got a pristella tetra that is hanging near the bottom under a plant, but nothing looks wrong with him, he started doing that when I added a few more for them to school with, but the new ones I added were a bit bigger. There is also a neon rainbow that is a little paler then the others and isn't hanging around with the school as much, but otherwise looks fine. The rainbow was added about a week or two ago with a couple others and they are acting fine. Not sure if that is a social issue with those fish or not, they aren't acting sick as far as I can tell.
There are 7 amano shrimp, 4 peppered corys, 9 total neon rainbows, 7 of the tetras, 6 zebra danios, 3 nerite snails, and the gourami.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I suspect the issue may stem from the fact that the majority of the dwarf gourami currently in the hobby are mass-produced and injected with hormones to make them color up more quickly for sale. It's a practice that is horrible for their health.

 

[Gourami_jay10]

ive seen this sort of behavior before in fish developing dropsy ... i hope he recovers, if not there are ways of stopping pain.

 

[smp]

I tried keeping them a few times, but every time they lasted no longer than 2-3 months. I went with a pair of "kissers". A WHOLE lot BIGGER, but at least they live. Good luck with yours.

 

[webgirl74]

Looks like dropsy to me as well and your fish is displaying common symptoms of the infection. It is very hard to treat, and unless you have a small quarantine tank, is expensive to treat as well. Sorry to say, but most of the time, the fish does not recover. Try doing some decent sized water changes to improve the water quality. I know adding salt to the water of fish who have bloat will sometimes alleviate the symptoms, but not sure if it applies to dropsy as well.

 

[jaidexl]

Myxobacteriosis can also cause discoloration, gill damage, loss of appetite, and bottom hovering. It's a common bacterial infection caused by Flexibacter and Cytophaga. In any case, I would move this fish to QT. Sounds like there's a good chance the other fish are exhibiting social behavior, not uncommon to have a schooling runt that is pale and antisocial, but you are taking a big risk leaving the gourami in if this is a bacterial infection. Use Kanaplex if you decide to medicate.

 

[Erloas]

I will look at picking up a 10g quarantine tank today.

Is there anything specific I can look for or test to figure out exactly what the problem is to try and treat for it.

As for the other fish, anything specific to look for to see if it is social issues or something else. Is there a time period to expect this to change if it is a social issue? Is it the sort of thing that will last a week or a month or more?

 

[jaidexl]

Unless you have a microscope and a fish vet, then your basic water tests and visual signs are all you have to go on. Dropsy for instance is usually due to kidney failure, and a person doesn't see the problem till the fish looks like a pinecone and it's way too late (most of the time, I have fixed one fish like that with a week of Kana). If you keep him in QT and feed him antibiotic food and he eats, keep the water pristine, good temp etc, then that's your best bet for success. Also make sure there's some plants or decor to help him feel secure in the new surroundings, and scoop him in a cup gently for transfer rather than chasing him around with a net. There doesn't need to be a light on the QT, just ambient room light so you can see is fine but don't make the fish feel like it's on stage.

As for the social issue, it's normal, a pecking order will settle in soon. Just be patient and make sure your school numbers are big enough but not too big for the tank. Some fish will continually push away the weakest and they seem to drop off one by one, but pristellas aren't that aggressive in my experience. Don't know about raindbows. Just try to get the runts some food while the others are gorging on the other side of the tank, make sure they're eating and keep an eye on them to see if they start to look sick or refuse to eat.

 

[Erloas]

Well I've got the stuff for the QT tank. The LFS didn't have Kanaplex, I think the only SeaChem medicines they had was metronidazole. I ended up picking up AP Amplicillin gel-tek stuff. Says its anti-bacterial including flexibacter and a few other things, so I hope that works. My only other choice would be to order something online and the week+ it would take to get here.

This medicine says they eat it, I didn't see any other anti-bacterial foods.

 

[jaidexl]

Seems to be a good way to administer antibiotics, if they eat it. Haven't heard of amicillin till now, it's broad spectrum so that's a good thing. Hope it works out for you.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Well I've got the stuff for the QT tank. The LFS didn't have Kanaplex, I think the only SeaChem medicines they had was metronidazole. I ended up picking up AP Amplicillin gel-tek stuff. Says its anti-bacterial including flexibacter and a few other things, so I hope that works. My only other choice would be to order something online and the week+ it would take to get here.

This medicine says they eat it, I didn't see any other anti-bacterial foods.

They eat it as in you need to soak their food in it?

 

[Erloas]

The directions seem to imply that it is a gel that floats that they will eat like anything else. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try it and see. It says to not feed them anything else for a day before and then only feed them that.

 

[Erloas]

Well I've had a quarantine tank set up for a while now and the gourami in it. I also decided to move the one dwarf neon rainbow fish because it didn't look entirely right.

I upped the temperature to 78-80 because the gourami is listed as liking it a bit warmer. His color seems to have gotten a bit better and he is eating a bit, but he is still mostly sitting on the bottom and not very active.

The reason I put the rainbow in there is because it has a dark spot on the back part of her body on one side, and it seems to be breathing quickly, the gills are moving faster then all the other fish. It was the only one doing that in the main tank. The area right between gills and the body looks a little weird too, hard so explain why, it just does. Sort of seems a little shrunken compared to the rest of the fish and seems to have a bit of red right on the edge.
It has been hovering mid-tank since I moved it, no clamped fins, but it isn't moving around much at all. It is still eating though it doesn't seem to like eating the medicine.

The medicine forms little drops on the water, but it seems to dissipate pretty quickly in warm water (quicker then it did when I tested it outside the tank). Neither of the fish even seemed to think it was food. So I started putting a drop on the crisp flakes I have and then dropping them in and they seem to be eating them, though the rainbow tends to take a bite and spit it back out.

 

[Erloas]

Well here are some updated pictures.

The gourami's colors have gotten better and he is moving around and eating more, but the bulge on his side doesn't seem to have changed much. It was in the earlier pictures too, just not as clear.

The rainbow... well it was hard to get a good picture. Not sure what the dark spot on its side is, but is only on one side. If it were a person I would think it was a bruise, but it hasn't really changed. It doesn't seem to be acting unusual, not quite as active as the others in the main tank, but otherwise fairly similar. The red from the gills seems more visible, but I can't really tell if thats from something wrong or just because it is breathing a lot faster then the other fish. It was breathing faster in the main tank and it has still been doing that the whole time in the QT. No clamped fins, moving around in the middle of the tank, eating some.