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I noticed that twice now within the last 3 months someone has had the same problem with their dwarf Gouramis as I am having. Mufasa (our Red Fire Dwarf Gourami) has become very lethargic, does not come out of his hiding place, does not eat, and occasionally come up for a breath of air. He had the looooong hair-like string of white poop several times, and has developed like a lump or distention on the right side of his body. Does anyone have a clue what this might be? I looked at charts (the one ATM recommended with pictures doesn't want to work), and I just can't seem to figure it out. Is it constipation? Parasites? Or Dwarf gourami iridovirus? Anyone with any clues? He is not doing well and needs some sort of help.

BTW, ammonia is at 0, nitrite at 0, nitrate basically 0 since I did a 50% water change. pH at 7.3, temp at 80 degrees. Did I forget anything?

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chickadee

Well I don't really know exactly what it is but there is one thing you can try to do that MIGHT help and won't hurt a bit if you do it.

You can try to feed the fish a bit of frozen and thawed peas. You fast the fish which he is taking care of for you and then fix one frozen pea by putting it in the microwave on a saucer (no water) for 30 seconds. Skin the outer skin off the pea and take a chunk of pea half the size of the fish's eye and cut in 3 pieces and offer them to the fish. If he is constipated, this should be a help. The symptoms you are talking about could be signs of constipation and probably indicate the fish is eating too much. If it continues, the fish can get swimbladder disorder and will start to be unable to swim correctly and will shimmy in the water.

This is the first course of treatment and as I said will not hurt anything but will probably have to be repeated several times to clear the fish's system.

Please let us know how he is doing.

Rose

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Thank you for your quick reply. I have tried the pea trick, but unfortunetely he is not interested in eating anything. He definetely prefers to stay secluded, but he likes the light on in the tank. When I shut the light off on his side of the tank, he slowly makes it to the other side. Do you think I should try the Epsom salt bath? I thought I read that helps with constipation. He is not getting any better. He progressively ate less and less until he stopped eating completely. I'm starting to lose hope. His face is very blue and he is coming up for air as if he is oxygen deprived. He looks like he is suffocating.

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