riskbreaker76

for a quick background, see my previous thread:
Blue Paradise Gourami too aggressive?

So after establishing himself as the king of the tank and always eating heartily, he just drops dead a few days ago. there were absolutely no symptoms that i could tell. i found him dead sunday morning. the only thing i did notice was that he did not eat on saturday and he was lazier than usual. i was used to him always swimming around and exploring. i got him on aug 1st. i had my water tested that day and ammonia and nitrites read 0. i actually had my water tested again the day he died and they were still the same. the guy did notice that my pH was rather low. it was hovering around the 6-6.2 mark. i knew it was that low because of the large driftwood i have in the tank...i figured that was the cause. but since my other fish have had no issue w/ the ph, i didnt think that would be the reason. so my question is, would that be a reason to slowly kill a fish? i thought most of these fish could handle ph as low as 6...atleast that's what i see in the fish profiles. again, my other fish are fine and seem to be thriving. i guess he got what he deserved (killing one of my platys upon arrival) but i still wonder what caused it. thanks!

fish_newbie

Sorry for your lost. Domesticated fish is more adaptive to a wider pH,stable pH can't kill a fish, unless its acidic or basic enough to burn the fish, also pH swings or acclimated can cause stress/shock that also lead to death. In your case it doesn't seems to be a problem, if anything that would cause a fish to die slowly could be internal parasite, have you seen white stringy poop? Has you add any new things into the tank the tank recently that could've been contaminated with something? (fish,plants, decor). IMO are the only real possibilities but once in a while you would just have a fish death that you simply can't explain, when those times come, I just say to myself "He died of age and he had a good long life".

Shawnie

oh no!!! im sorry for the loss if at all possible, id get an API liquid master test kit to be 100% sure its not a water issue...most LFS use test strips (easy and cheaper) and they are not reliable and usually give false readings...if you have your own kit, you can always know where the tank stands exactly and never have to rely on others ...once you have a proper kit, do a test to make sure its not ammonia or nitrites......good luck!

peacemaker92

Sorry about your loss. I never like it when any of my fish die without reason or no symptoms. It's terrible because it's so unsuspecting. Hope you find the cause of his death soon. Good luck!

riskbreaker76

thanks for the replies.

my LFS uses the API liquid master kit and i watch them do the test. so i know it was right. i actually have a kit at home but it isnt the API kit so i went to the LFS.

i didnt add any new decorations or anything to the tank. in the 3 weeks i had him, i did 2 25% water changes/gravel cleanings. that was it. didnt notice any discolored poop either. he pooped alot though if that says anything.

oh well, i did replace him w/ a nice pearl gourami. atleast this gourami is more peaceful and doesnt attack any of my other fish. so yeah the death is unexplained but i will chalk it up to fish karma...

eiginh

Sorry for the loss, I lost two sparkling gourami's and a few ghost shrimp as well. I think the summer heat killed them. Anyway 1 point added again for Karma.