kra-z-fishmumm

I just got the Marble Gourami,,, had him a Q tank for a few days, then acclimated him to the community tank a couple days ago. He swam around, liked the plants (fake) that floated at the top to hide in, was eating fine, and then I find him dead this morning Couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him. He was floating at the top on his side. What went wrong? Thanks

susitna-flower

What are the water test results?

kra-z-fishmumm

Nitrates 10
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
No one else is looking remotely ill (oh please let that continue,,,knock on wood), water looks great, need to get in there and do some algae cleaning, but that's it. Took a real close look at him an with not having to much experience with gouramis, I couldn't see anything. I only had the one, but he wasn't nipped at or stressed that I could tell. Swam with the old female molly. I would love to get some gouramis, but not if they are not going to make it. My pH is high 8.0, but so is the lfs, I asked, they said there's ran 7.8-8.0 regularly, and they only use treated water for fish that need lower pH. They said they have certain tanks they use a different water source for?! and treat them so the pH is much lower. Every time I go fooling with the pH, my fish die. Any ideas would be great.

Shawnie

sorry for the loss of your gourami I have 3 dwarfs and our ph is 7.8 so pretty close to yours...I dont think it was your ph....but one can never tell

Tavel

the only thing that comes to mind is a surface film that prevented the gourami from breathing air in the main tank.

Make sure you're not over-feeding the fish, that could lead to a film as oils are a natural byproduct of decomposition. Also ensure adequate surface agitation.

other than that...no idea.

capekate

Did you add some kind of PH buffer?

kra-z-fishmumm

No, everytime I try to do something to lower the pH, I loose some fish. Is there a different way, other that pH Down, and all those other chemicals, that would lower my pH? Do Gourami's need low pH? He was soooo pretty and friendly. Also, my brother has a 55g tank, stand, filter, etc... he wants to give me and I wanted to do different fish than what I have in my current 55g (swords, molly, guppy,danios),but I don't know what would handle my high pH. Ugh

capekate

Yep, the worst thing to do is try to raise or lower your 'normal" PH of your water, as you already know. with a PH of 8.0 I would look for fish that tolerate a higher PH than say ones that need a more acidic and soft water.
If you find a fish you like, you can research it online or in a book and see what PH they prefer. From there you can tell if it will keep in your water. If it lists a fish, say a GBR that prefers acidic water and very low PH of oh say 6.0-6.5, then I would stay away from that species. But some that say their normal range is say.. 7.6-8.0, or says that they prefer a more alkaline,hard water, then you would have a much better chance with those.
There are fish that I would love to keep in my low PH water, but I know that I cannot. A.Cichlids is one that I really wish I could keep, but they prefer a much higher PH, like yours. So I go with what Ph requirements are of the fish, before I would be using chemical buffers. But thats just me, some folks use them..
It does limit you on what fish you can keep... but I personally think its the best way to go for the health of the fish.

kra-z-fishmumm

Thanks for your input CapeKate! I too prefer no chemicals,,never turns out good for me! Will see who works for my pH. Again, thanks.