Swim bladder disease?

[glassescat]

My flame dwarf gourami, Marin, who I've had for a year now, has been swimming on her side occasionally. I've also seen her resting face down within the java ferns (I was terrified that she was dead). She's still eager to eat though.

I seriously think she has swim bladder disease. I looked up treatments and one of them said to increase the water temperature to 80 degrees (I just turned up the heater so it might take time). Is there anything else I should do?

I also tested the water, and I do water changes/gravel cleaning every two weeks.

Ammonia-0 ppm
pH- 8.2 (I think this is too high...any ideas to get it down?)
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Nitrate- 5.0 ppm

 

[UnknownUser]

Well if it is swim bladder disease, everything I've read says to feed a cooked deshelled pea and skip a feeding or two. The other possible cause is being egg bound, which I have no experience with.

pH is more important to remain consistent than to be a specific number. If it's always been 8.2 I wouldn't go messing with it.

 

[glassescat]

Well if it is swim bladder disease, everything I've read says to feed a cooked deshelled pea and skip a feeding or two. The other possible cause is being egg bound, which I have no experience with.

pH is more important to remain consistent than to be a specific number. If it's always been 8.2 I wouldn't go messing with it.

Okay, I'll feed her a pea later since I just fed her not too long ago. Though the thing that concerns me about skipping meals is my other fish going hungry. If I try to feed them, I know she will snatch it up too.

 

[UnknownUser]

Okay, I'll feed her a pea later since I just fed her not too long ago. Though the thing that concerns me about skipping meals is my other fish going hungry. If I try to feed them, I know she will snatch it up too.

Ah, don't worry much about that. Most people skip one day of feeding a week to help them regulate their little systems. I've gone 2.5 days without feeding and my fish were still as fat as when I left them for the weekend. They'll be fine

 

[glassescat]

Ah, don't worry much about that. Most people skip one day of feeding a week to help them regulate their little systems. I've gone 2.5 days without feeding and my fish were still as fat as when I left them for the weekend. They'll be fine

Okay, I fed her a pea, but she just kept spitting the pieces back out. Now I'm not sure what to do...

 

[UnknownUser]

Hmm, make sure the pieces are extremely tiny so she can swallow them. If she really won’t eat the pea you can try “blending” it with her flake food to try to make it taste better.

I’ve heard that aquarium salt can help them with buoyancy problems, but I’m not familiar with gouramis so I can’t advise you on whether or not to try salt. Some fish really can’t handle salt.

 

[glassescat]

Hmm, make sure the pieces are extremely tiny so she can swallow them. If she really won’t eat the pea you can try “blending” it with her flake food to try to make it taste better.

I’ve heard that aquarium salt can help them with buoyancy problems, but I’m not familiar with gouramis so I can’t advise you on whether or not to try salt. Some fish really can’t handle salt.

Well there is good news, I did catch her nibbling on a piece of pea that was at the bottom of the tank. So I guess I'll let her eat them at her own pace, then have her fast for a couple of days and see what happens. She's still super energetic so that's a good sign too.