Determined

Hopefully some of you can help me with this problem. I have a male (what I think is a male) dwarf blue gourami in my tank that looks like it is bloated. He seems sluggish and is "breathing" through his mouth rapidly. Are these symptoms of a common problem? what should I do to help him out? Could it be a pregnant female? Do female gouramis even have the same coloring as male gouramis?

I didn't have time this morning before work to do a water change, but I plan to when I get home. But that is all I know to do for him. Hopefully he makes it through the day for me get get home.

As always, thank you to everyone, in advance, for your help.

Butterfly

A large (50%) water change is always a first good thing to do if your fish are acting sick.
Does he look like he has swallowed a marble? He may be constipated. don't feed him for a day(they can go as long as a week without feeding) then see if he will eat a bit of green pea.
What is your tank maintenance schedule(water testing, water changes, substrate vacuum, media rinse)
Carol

COBettaCouple

i'd agree with buttefly and if you had a pic of him that you could post, it woule help verify. also what are the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates currently in the tank.

female gourami tend to be dull in color than the males.

Determined

I will try to snap a pic of him when I get home tonight. it does look like he has swallowed a marble.

I am checking the water every three days still as this tank is relatively new (3 months) and hasn't completely cycled yet. I can't remember the exact numbers of my last test, but i do know that I had small amounts of nitrates and about 20 PPM nitrates last time I tested. I do 30%-50% water changes every 7-10 days (the last water change was on Monday). when I do this, I am vacuuming the gravel each time. Only doing half the tank at a time, of course.

Thanks for the advice. I would hate to lose this guy as he was one of the original fish in the tank when I started it.

Determined

Sad news. got home from work today and he was dead. Performed the water change as planned, and now I guess I'm looking to fill his void. Any ideas? Right now, I have one male dwarf gourami and four cory cats in a 20gal. tank. I would like to get something different because I don't really want to press my luck getting another male DG. those two got along fine, but I can't say for certain that the next one will like the existing (or vice versa).

If possible, I would like to get another "feature" fish. Keep in mind, also, that I would like to finish the tank off with an African Dwarf Frog once the water is stable.

Butterfly

So sorry to hear you lost him
Carol

Determined

Yeah, it was sad. Just wish that I could have done something for him.

COBettaCouple

i'm sorry to hear that you lost him.. i'm not sure what feature fish you'd want, but I'd look at a fish that would be ok by itself and about 4" or so, adult size.