prairielilly

I bought a honey gourami today. He is teensy tiny and simply adorable. In the LFS he was grey-white with a bit of yellow tinge to his fins; he's been here now for about four hours and he's already coloured up lemon yellow with red tinge to his fins! He's swimming about, not eating yet (but hasn't been here long), seems great. He's by himself in a 5g.

I had a dwarf gourami recently who (I believe) had camallanus worms. He had a near-continuous string of red poo attached to him, and thin red hairlike worms protruding from his vent. I was unable to cure him of these worms with any conventional or unconventional meds.

My new honey gourami has had a string of red poo attached to him pretty much constantly since I brought him home. I can't see any evidence of worms, and I haven't had him long enough to know if he's showing any other signs of anything wrong. As stated above, otherwise everything appears fine. So is there any situation where a string of poo attached to the fish is NORMAL, because having recently had a pretty bad experience I don't want to overreact but the only time I've seen this is when it was associated with those awful worms. Is this anything I should be concerned about? or is he just, say, constipated?

Amanda

My fish always have a little trail of poo going out behind them. They seem to be .... well fed.

prairielilly

once bitten...twice as paranoid? do NOT want to ever go through that again. Poor little guy. Funny the gourami was the only fish I ever saw that with (but he also ate everything in sight whether it was for him or not)

Thx

grump

Hi there could be that it was fed well at LFS and with the colour could it be what it was fed makes it that colour... You know if a kid eats a lot of stuff of one colour what come out will look that colour LOL... Just a shot in the dark... Hope this helped ease your mind Rob

MaddieLynn

Puffin (black molly) is healthy and seems to be ALWAYS pooping! It's normal colored though... so I can't help you with that part.

prairielilly

I have no idea what he was fed in the store...he was in a 20g with about 10 other honeys...he even pooed in the bag when I was acclimating him, he must've been a touch stressed...I guess the fact that he's coloured up already and isn't hiding all the time should put me at ease too...ah. Just really, really want it to work this time, no problems, no diseases! He is just SO cute, I can't believe I didn't buy one of these little guys before!

Amanda

awww....can't wait to see pics!

prairielilly

that's neat...I couldn't wait to take some

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agabr123

great pics! he's such a cutie!

KyWildFish

I got some horrid Aqueon food thats tinted red. All the poo I vacuum and see is bright red and it stains filters and everything. I wouldn't worry too much unless you start to see worms.

My dwarf Gourami swims around with a trail hanging almost constantly too. They must just be that way.

Amanda

He's gorgeous!

hkirchen

I have one that looks just like him except he has a little more red on his fins! He should color up though as he gets acclimated!

Congrats, he is gorgeous!

ray_sj

That's such a cute and cool-looking gourami! I've not seen these at my LFS. Are they typically that yellow? I've seen some pictures where they look more brownish.

prairielilly

These pics were taken when I'd had him for four hours. In the store he was grey-white with a bit of yellowish tint on his fins, really not much to look at. In the pics he looks pale yellow, but when I look at him at home he's really almost lemony yellow. I think he's just darling!

prairielilly

Well...I'm a little concerned again.

I haven't seen this fish poop at ALL since he came home (nearly two weeks ago now) and he's a pretty finicky eater - he gobbles down freeze dried shrimp but whenever I give him flakes he takes it in, then spits it out. He's pretty skinny too - a little smaller than he was when he came. He definitely has an appetite, just seems to prefer spitting food out to swallowing it. I've tried sinking wafers, floating pellets and three kinds of flakes - no go. I won't give him bloodworms as he's itty bitty and the worms are too big for his mouth. I did try crumbling the flakes up smaller and I think that way some actually got inside him but couldn't be sure, he was interested in them though, he comes up to the surface when I come to the tank. I can't be feeding him just dried shrimp if he's going in a community tank, as the other fish will be getting other food and/or gobbling it all up (I'm rethinking adding him to the 20g, I'm liking the idea, but the 7 black neon tetras in there atm are pretty voracious eaters). He's happy it seems - spunky, swimming around all day, no indications of parasitism/infection/any other troublems, so I would prefer to NOT medicate him, but I thought he might have internal parasites after all (or...just a really, really small mouth and a preference for soft tiny foods). Thoughts?

Lucy

First I saw your pics, very pretty fish.

I've had my DG for a while. I've never seen him poop. For that matter, I rarely see any of my fish 'go'.

As long as he's eating and acting ok, as with any fish, just keep your eye on him.

prairielilly

Thanks I agree, he's a beautiful fish.

Originally the problem was he had a string of poo attached to him. Now I never see him 'go'. I figure he's not pooing (or I'm not seeing him poo) bc he's not eating.

Thx but actually the problem is he DOESN'T eat anything except brine shrimp - he mouths his food then spits it out. I'm blaming this for him getting skinnier and not pooing.

haedra

He is very cute!

And I don't mean to hijack you, but since we're basically talking about "poo" I thought this might be an interesting story to share.

So this would have been one of those moments where I probably would have had the best picture of Aragorn ever.

One day, I decided I wanted a good flaring shot of Aragorn, complete with beard. *Note* for the record, his belly was looking pretty full. Like it was time for a "private moment" for him. But I didn't think anything of it at the time.

So what do I do, I grab the mirror, planning to let him show who's boss then back it away slowly so he's the victor, and feels successful in defending his environment. I set it there; then grabbed the camera. But what do you know? The moment I get an opportunity for a great shot (he's at the front, and not moving as much) he is so excited that at that very moment he POOPS ALL OVER THE TANK in one fell swoop. Yes. Poop everywhere. Hanging off his belly, brown floaty bits in the water. So my beautiful flaring shot with full beard shows a big blob of poop under him and brown pieces surrounding him. It was so forceful I was afraid he had exploded.

Ironic, huh? And no... I didn't keep the pic. Yuck! But for the record... this is also the only time I've witnessed him poop. And he managed to do it with a "big bang."

hkirchen

Prairielily, I had a string of parasitic infections awhile back, and one of the first things I noticed was no pooping, and no eating. The very first thing I noticed was a lot of poop, then stringy white poop, then no pooping, then no eating, then lethargic, then staying near the top, then passing.

My tank had 0/0/10 the whole time I had this going on. Only one fish at a time was acting this way, and I would have a week of nothing, and then another fish would start. I did not realize it was parasites until I posted here. I treated with Jungle parasite and I saved the last guppy I had left at the time.

I don't say that you have this issue, but I wanted to give you the symptom rundown that I had in case it progresses.

Hope this helps, and I hope it is nothing, but I would caution you to not add him to your community tank until he shows normal behavior. This way you will not have the heartache of potentially losing more fish!

prairielilly

haedra...ewww There has been poop in his tank when I clean it (never white or stringy), I just never see him poop, and with my dwarf that recently passed he ALWAYS had some attached to him. I've never seen my betta poo either though.

hkirchen - thanks for that. Not what I'm seeing in little honey gourami, which is great.

Last night I decided to try something - I held the flakes in my fingers and put them under the surface instead of sprinkling them at the top. This way they got wet and started to sink. Well they disappeared pretty darn quick - he went after them like a crazy fish! so I guess he doesn't like dry flakes? This morning his belly's nice and round, his colour's up and he's perky and happy. I'll be fattening him up in the near future Problem solved!

hkirchen

Awesome!

CHoffman

Good deal. Sometimes fish can be sooo picky..It's almost like they are spoiled ..lol.

small_fry

i love this little guy!! is he a dwarf?? he seems small?? i ask because im looking to get one but dont know what kind i want yet... im very interested in this little guy though cute as a button!!

Lucy

Hi small_fry.
Please check the dates before replying to a post.
This one is months old.