awomack

I have had a male dwarf gourami for about 2 1/2 months now, he was actually the first fish in our tank. He has been doing well and was getting along with our red tail shark which I hear is rather unusual. Anyway, a few weeks ago we added a glofish, some other tiny fish I cant remember the name of and a red rainbow. They were all a little aggressive toward each other at first but settled down after a few days and all looked fine. Normally my gourami is very excited about breakfast, he rushes to the top of the tank when he sees me coming and makes smacking noises on the top of the water he is eating so franticaly, however I noticed that for the last 2-3 days he has started not eating. He comes to the top of the water and then just looks at the food, every once in a while he will take an almost microscopic piece like he is trying to eat. I have read that parasites are a problem in gouramis but I wonder where he would have gotten them, I would assume that they would have come from the new fish that we put in but they are all acting fine. Also, how do you know for sure that you have them? The other day my husband saw something very unusual in our tank, is looked like a swimming hair about a quarter of an inch long, it was deffinately not a piece of fuzz or anything like that, it had very distinct movement, but I would think that something like parasites would not be easily seen by the naked eye. I have heard about things that you can add to the tank to get rid of parasites, but I hate to medicate my fish or add anything unneccessary if I dont have to. If anyone has any information that could be helpful I would be very grateful, we love our fish and would hate to see anything happen to them and I dont want him to be suffering.

Thank You

ThisGuy

There has been some sort of viral infection going around with gourami's i don't know what it is all i know is when mine got sic, i did some research on the site and a lot of people have been having theirs pass as well. Same thing they just stop eating and then they pass. I was just reading one post today that they were saying that its been happening to betta's as well.

Angelika

My gourami did that and I tried everything to save him... I was so upset when he passed away, there just didnt seem any reason either, my water was good, my other fish were fine, and he didnt have any obvious signs of parasites, sickness or disease, he wasnt bloated.... he just did all the same things yours is doing.....and then one day went to fishy heaven....

sirdarksol

First of all, welcome to Fishlore!

To answer your questions in an unspecific order:
The most common worm-like thing that lives in freshwater aquaria are called planeria. They're harmless, though they are an indicator that there's too much food in the tank (usually from overfeeding, though there are a few other ways). This may not be what it is, but it would be my first guess.

If you do medicate the tank, do not use Melafix or Bettafix. These are bad for gourami.

What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH, temp) in the tank? How many glofish, how many of the other little fish?

Does the gourami have clear or white, stringy poo? If so, this would be a sign of parasitic infection.
Does the gourami, or any of the other fish, appear to have anything attached to them? This again would be a sign of parasites.

It is possible that your gourami has been infected with iridovirus. It's a nasty, nasty virus that seems to infect gourami and bettas really easily. The first symptom is that they lose their appetite. They then become sluggish and eventually seize and die.

Whatever the problem is, make sure the water quality is pristine (do a small extra water change every day, if you can), feed them the highest quality food (OmegaOne is a good choice), use VitaChem and GarlicGuard (or just garlic juice) if you can get your hands on them, and keep a close eye out for changes.

Alessa

I hope it is not iridovirus, it is a disease that attacks gouramis and to which I lost two. they were exactly like yours and one day they stopped eating and just passed away...

Barbrella

Hard to say exactly what's wrong with your DG. My two just died and acted the same as yours.

You can read about the Iridovirus in this link, and see if it sounds familiar:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u....php?blogid=66

Did you quarantine your new fish before adding them to the gourami's tank?

And just as a comment, glofish and rainbow fish are schoolers who shouldn't be kept alone.