fionah

I have a blue dwarf gourami that has started either floating on the surface sideways or lying at the bottom of the tank sideways. His poo is also long white and stringy. At feeding time he swims and eats normally.

I have a community tank and there are no problems with any of the other fish.

Could the fish be constipated or have swim bladder?

Tony G.

Hello Fionah.
I am not sure if you are aware of Iridovirus. It is a disease that only sprouts in DG's. There is a thread going around. It sounds kinda like this.
Dwarf Guorami, Bettas and Iridovirus
What are your water parameters for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
DO you know about the nitrogen cycle?
if not, here is a link:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
Have you introduced any new fish lately? What are you feeding them?
White stringy poo is a sign opf internal parasites. is there a way you could post a picture of it?

joy1125

I agree, the stringy poop sounds like internal parasites. I suggest buying some Jungle AntiParasite Medicated food, it's sold at most pet stores. The fish is eating, and that's a good sign, it's also good because he'll readily take the medicated food, which is the best way to get the medicine into the fish.

Shawnie

Im sorry your lil guy is sick
if you can fill in your aquarium info under my settings, it would help us help you allot more...depending on what he eats, the white stringy poo could be normal..so dont assume its parasites yet..and definitely do not medicate a labyrinth fish prior to knowing exactly whats wrong...hows the ammonia, nitrites, and ntirates in the tank? what test kit are you using to test with ? what size tank and whats in there with him? how long has the tank been up and running? did you change the filter recently ? whats the temp in the tank? ruling out the simple things before the more difficult ones, is best....then you can go from there.....I hope he feels better!

Lucy

I'm sorry you DG isn't going well.
I wouldn't put the fear of it being Iridovirus unless he's showing other symptoms besides stringy white poo.

As Shawnie said, knowing the readings would be helpful before jumping to medicate and what their poo looks like would depend on what they eat.
However, I would suspect internal parasites also.

fionah

Hi, here are my water parameters:
ammonia 0, nitrate 0-5.0, nitrite 0, pH 7.6, temp 25.5. I use the API Master Test Kit. These results are always consistent, and I also took some water in to the LFS a few months ago who confirmed the same.

Temp is around 25.5 celsius.

The tank is about 18 months old and is fully cycled. I use an external filter and the media has not been changed recently.

Tank mates include corydoras, neon tetras, honey gouramis, shrimps, snails.

They are fed a mixture of flakes and TetraPrima.

aquarist48

Hello Fionah. So hate to hear your Gourami isn't quiet up to par. Try feeding some thawed, frozen peas. Boil them just a minute, cool them off, slice them in half and remove the skin. Cut them into smaller pieces about the size of one of the Gourami's eyes. (a fishes stomach is about the size of one of their eyes) If he is having constipation problems maybe this will help as peas act as a laxative. It might take a time or two feeding the peas before he realizes it's food. Fast him a day and try again.
Best wishes.
Ken

jdhef

If it were me, I would try getting him to eat the mediacted food that Joy recommended above. If he does not have internal parasites the food will not harm him, and if he does have parasites, the fish has a much, much better chance of surviving if he will eat the medicated food.

The problem with parasites is that medicated food is much more effective than medicating the water, but if you don't catch it early enough, the fish will stop eating and you are forced to try medicating the water.