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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Dwarf Gourami
I read that stickied thread about the Dwarf Gouramis, and I've currently got a Dwarf Gourami that is probably going to die. He seemed just fine this morning. The water is ideal as well. I checked on them about two hours later and he was stuck to the filter, so I quickly unplugged it. The current isn't bad, and all my other fish including a fry are fine with it. So there was a sign that something wasn't right, even before he got stuck to the filter. He sort of dazedly swam around the tank then would float to the top, then spin down to the floor and move along with the current then float to the top as if he were going to die then repeat the spinning. It seems as if he's having a really hard time swimming. All the other fish are really healthy. I'm afraid to move him but I know I should for the sake of the other fish's health.
I know it may also be the filter that did this to him, but there was obviously something wrong that made him weak towards the current before he got stuck. He'll probably die, but I want to know just what these symptoms are a sign of? :< He was only in the tank for about 2 months. | 
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'm sorry your gourami is not feeling well. When you say the water is ideal, what are the exact parameters? Knowing your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate can help us determine what is going on. | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Nitrite is 0, along with ammonia. Nitrates are 10 PPM | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hm, so it's not the water. I'm no expert at diagnosing fish diseases, and hopefully someone more experienced will come along soon, but if he's having trouble swimming and floating to the surface, it may be his swim bladder. How is he right now? | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| He's passed away now. He didn't make it through the night. I used to have a hospital tank but unfortunately it fell from my garage shelf and shattered. What luck I have. Usually when fish have swim bladder problems they don't die within the day, do they? He also didn't seem to be breathing much, you'd maybe see his mouth/gills move every minute or so. He either floated on the surface, sat on the bottom, or let himself be tossed around with the current (which even a platy fry can avoid being tossed around by) so it's not a strong current.
I'm sad that he's gone but I really would like to diagnose him. | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| maybe iridovirus, as you said your gourami passed away very quickly and was acting lethargic.... | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
|  I'm sorry you lost your gourami, losing fish is always hard. None of my fish have ever had swim bladder problems, so I don't know how quickly it can kill. One thing I just thought of-- did you use any medicine in the tank recently? If you used Melafix or Pimafix, that may have killed him. It contains an ingredient that messes with the labyrinth organ in gouramis, bettas, and other anabantids. | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| No I didn't use those. I looked into the stickied thread about iridovirus but it didn't show any symptoms? So I couldn't tell. I should probably look into that more | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| infected things act lethargic, appear to be blind and die within 48 hrs.
there is no known cure | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| It also seemed as if he had a swim bladder problem though, had random bursts of energy and then would settle down somewhere and be seemingly dead but then would move slightly. | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| maybe both at once
i shudder at the idea | |
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February 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| i'm sorry you lost your gourami
it sounds like swim bladder disorder was definitely involved, but i doubt that that was the only thing.....i'm sorry i cant be of more help | |
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