PetiteTank

Hello! I wonder if anyone can shed some light for me. I have a little tank (29 gal) with 9 dwarf gouramis, a shark, a clown loach and a "janitor'. The water is fine, everything that is supposed to be zero is zero, pH is stuck at 7.0 but that's normal where I am. I started this new tank over a month ago and has been stocking it over the last 4 weeks. I'm having a bit of a difficulty with a couple of my gouramis. Their gill movement is a faster than normal. Not to the extreme but it's noticeable enough for me. They are currently isolated in a 10 gal tank with anti-fungus medication as per my fish guy's suggestion. They have been in isolation for about 24 hrs now and I'm not seeing any improvement. Does anyone have any suggestion? This is the first time in a long while that I've ventured outside of livebearers and I kind of feel like a fish slightly out of water.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!

everything is not supose to be 0...you are suppose to have nitrates under 20....sounds like an uncycled tank ....gouramis are labyrinth fish which means their breathing organ, doesnt handle meds well at all....I would get some prime and do daily water changes of at least 30% every day...using the prime to detox ammonia/nitrites... you are getting 0 readings because the product cycle that you are using, will not self sustain itself and wont ever allow the tank to cycle properly...stop using everything except prime and daily changes without any other meds or "waste controls/plant controls" and im not even sure what those are.... .....also, that many gouramis in one tank is going to be a war zone once they are feeling better...for each 20 gals its best to have one , two max gouramis are they dont play well with some of their own kind....what is a janitor? and the shark and loach are not compatable in the smaller tank either loaches like more of their own and the shark is very bottom territorial... I hope things look up soon for you!!

Tony G.

Welcome to Fishlore!
I have read on your aquarium info that you do not know about the nitrogen cycle.
Here is a link that will help you with it.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
What are your aquarium parameters? it might help us identify why your gouramis are having the rapid gill movements.
This is very little informatoin, as i dont want to scare you off with tons of info
enjoy the site!

Time

Welcome to fishlore! Tony beat me to the nitrogen cycle. Welcome!

Tony G.

jwokmuba2

looks like they got ya covered, welcome to the forum,

PetiteTank

So far, the shark and loach are buddies. The clown loach is pretty social save from when I've got the light on then he'll go on hiding.

I just tested my tank. Here are my readings:

Ammonia - 0
PH - 7.0
nitrate - 0
Nitrate - 0
Temp - 74 to 76

I recently had an ammonia spike that dropped then came nitrate and nitrite but water seem to be "fine" now.

As for the Plant Gro its just to help my plants. they tend to die on me w/o that lol.
And the "Janitor", I don't know what it's called so I call it as such, anyway it's a fish that feeds on algae.

Shawnie

the heavy breathing is from the ammonia...the tank isnt cycled and the product cycle will not allow it to cycle properly ....what test kit are you using? id still see if you can find the product called prime to help the tank and fish while the tank cycles with daily water changes..and id get the gouramis out of the medicine tank ....or do complete water change and run carbon to get the meds out....they are not sick where meds are needed as heavy breathing is a sign of the ammonia issue you had........fungus would show up on their bodies ...can you get a pic of janitor? so we can help find out what he is?

PetiteTank

And thanks for the welcome, by the way.

Time

Lets assign jobs when there is a new member. Everyone answers everypost here because we are addicted.

Tony G.

i agree! lol

PetiteTank

I'm using API. I'm actually not familiar with Prime. I've only seen API and Master.I think I'll just put the carbon back on as they may get even [more stressed out. I just moved them there last night. Hang on for the pic. He's in hiding.

Thanks for the help.

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore
We're glad you're here. I know it seems like everyone is giving you bad news, but the info they've posted is very good and will help you and your fish.
I don't know if anyone mentioned this but your cute little clown loach can grow up to a foot.
I wish fish stores at least had pics of the adult size fish. It would help us make better choices.

Best of luck with your tank

PetiteTank

I've actually found out that they can grow up to 18 inches. I've got a feeling I'll be getting a bigger tank before then

And no worries, I'm not getting intimidated just yet. yet.

Carbon's back in. I really need that luck. I hate flushing my fishes

Shawnie

I dont mean to intimidate or hope I didnt come off that way..I agree we all started as you did and it sometimes comes off that way.....but it wasnt meant to

again tho ive only recommended what I feel was best for all your fish babies so they wont have to be flushed....good luck with them all

PetiteTank

no worries, I'm a newbie lacking a lot of knowledge at the moment not to mention experience and don't I know it! I know how to bow down to yoda lol!

Lucy

PetiteTank

by the way, nice avatar. my bro and I tried to do that with our cat but it did not turn out to well

Lucy

LOL, thanks! Setting up the tank that day was pretty tricky.

PetiteTank

I can imagine. It would have been fun to just dump a buket of water in there... wait! that's kind of cruel

Lucy

PetiteTank

I don't want to jinx myself but they're becoming a bit more active.

Scott H

Hi PetiteTank welcome to FishLore

ATKINSON

Thats good to hear!!

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore! You've gotten great advice above!

PetiteTank

BREAKING NEWS! I now know what's causing my problems: HEATING. It turns out my heater was not working properly. And I realized last night that the heater for my hospital tank was not working at all. Now I know what to do... lol such a stupid mistake

acestriker

Welcome to fishlore... sorry to hear about your Gourami.... hopefully all goes well...



ace

PetiteTank

Thanks, Ace. It's all good. They have improved quite a bit overnight and seems like they're doing fine now.

shellbell4ever

Welcome to Fishlore It's a great place to be

dragonshark

welcome to fish lore