swordtail6

It would be really great if someone could help me out with the problem in my tank please.
I got about 5 gourami's few weeks back and before getting them, i got the water tested in the local pet store and they said it looked pretty good. The gourami's seemed fine in the night when i fed them and they pretty much ate food well. In the morning when i woke up, i found one dead and the others still looked good so i thought it maybe a bad fish. But when i returned from office in the evening, the other five were dead too

I went to the pet store along with water to get it tested and it looked fine then too. The i thought maybe the blood fin tetra in my tank picked on them and they died due to stress, because they did this with few guppies i had before. So day before yesterday i returned back the bloodfins and the tank just had 4 pristella tetras, and again after water test i got 4 gourami's yesterday. They looked fine in the night, ate well, but again in the morning found one of them dead but the other three looked fine and ate some pellets i gave them in the morning. But in a few hours, one of them started behaving very funny, it is rapidly breathing, opening its mouht big as if it is having difficulty in breathing....its moving to the surface breathing again again and then falling back on the bottom of the tank. I don't think it will make it and i really dont know what to do. Could someone please help me out with thsi problem as no one could tell me why this is happening

Its really sad to see this happening and that too for the second time again...i don't want to lose any more fish..please someone help me out. I had done a water change before getting them and had also got it tested to ensure everything was fine, but still this is happening....please help !!

Do let me know in case i need to provide more information.
It is a 20 gallon tank, i have 4 pristella tetras in it from before and they seem to be doing fine, so i don't know if it is a problem with water. Please help !!!

matt6765

you should put your fish into isolation before puting them into your tank

aquarist48

Hello. Hate to hear about your fish loss. It sounds like your fish are suffering from ammonia poisoning. I suggest having your own test kit (API is a great kit). Here is some information concerning the nitrogen cycle that is crucial to fish keeping. Best of luck. If you have more questions by all means ask


http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

swordtail6

my tank is about 4 months old now and i get the water tested almost every two weeks and the pet store guys say that it looks good. They test it using the liquid kit and not strips, which i got from the other posts that they are more reliable. Moreover my other 4 tetra's seem to be doing good and even the bloodfins i returned were doing pretty good and were very active. The problem seems to be only with the new gourami's. If it was ammonia problem, will it affect the other fishes in the tank too?
I am really very puzzled as to what is causing this problem...please help

Lego2Theos

I totally agree. My local LFS told me lots of time my water was fine in the beginnig and it wasn't. They used the test strips and they are totally unrealable IMO. Get you own API test kit. Then you will see for yourself what your water is. I learned the hard way not to trust LFS testing.

Jenn

aquarist48

Did the fish store tell you exactly what the readings are? If so that would be a great help. Too, when you have time if you could fill out your aquarium information profile, it would really help others to help you as well

Butterfly

Five gouramis in a 20g tank maybe a few too many. They will pick on each other if crowded. There have been a lot of unhealthy gouramis in the trade lately.
It is really best to quarantine(isolate) new fish before adding to an established tank. You really need your own testing kit.
Most LFS will tell you your water is fine just to sell more fish.
Also adding that many at one time can cause an ammonia spike in even an established tank.

swordtail6

The gourami which was breathing heavily just died. Its not breathing any more now
I am just praying that the other two stay okay. I feel so helpless
I will get the test kit in today and will post the readings. I have my own pH testing kit and it gives me a ph somewhere betwen 7-7.2. In the LFS they tested the water in front of me and showed me on the color board to compare and for nitrates and ammonia, it was coming out to be the lowest level (don't know what that reading is).

My tank is 20 gallons.
It has 4 pristella tetra's, one female guppy and now just 2 gouramis.
I have put an areator in the tank, it also has a thermometer and a filter too.
I am a bit new to fish keeping so please let me know what other information I can provide for people to help me out.

aquarist48

If it does turn out to be ammonia poisoning then some daily water changes are going to be needed. Along with the API Master Test Kit I recommend some Prime or Amquel +. Both of the conditioners will detoxify ammonia for a 24 hour period until it's time for another water change. Even though you add one of these chemicals you will still get readings of ammonia until the tank is cycled. However, it is actually ammonium (and not ammonia) which is not toxic because of the added chemical .

Shawnie

oh no! im sorry also for your losses its just awful when it happens and we dont know why..getting your own kit will be a super deal as it lets you know exactly where you aren and you wont ever have to rely on others for that ...ALOT of LFS tell you things are fine to sell you more fish and such.or they tell you its bad and sell you product you dont need....each fish is effected differently by the cycle process so dont assume because some are alive and some arent, that its not ammonia.....I also agree with that many gourami's in such a small tank, wont work...so that lets us know something about the LFS who sold you 5 gouramis for that size tank, isnt reliable.....deffinately post the readings and we can help you go from there....most of us have had the same advice you got from stores so dont be feeling its your fault....goodluck!