Sick Gourami, and a concern about an african rope fish...

captaincaveman9

captaincaveman9

Innocent and Pure!
Oct 2, 2006
1,222
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Dallas, TX
Real Name
Steve
OK I have 2 different aquariums that have two issues. THe more dire is, I have a gold gourami, and he is in a 20 gal tank water 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and nitrate 5ppm Ph is 7.2, temp is 76 (f), and the tank is 20g. My gold gourami (after being in the tank a week) looks very pale, almost white. And, he is only facing head up, and wont swim any other way. His gills look fine (nice healthy dark pink). Nothing has changed in the aquarium, except I added some java moss. What can I do for him?

The second, I have an african rope fish, he can't escape from the tank, but today he swam in the filter. Earlier I saw him swim in it then back out, now he's just hanging out in the filter. Should I be concerned?
 
oh they are in two different aquariums
 
anyone? any clues?
 
No clues but....

I was wondering how your gourami is doing? Mine is really pale and hanging out at the bottom, not eating. Just started doing that yesterday and I don't like the looks of her. In the past month, I have had two male cherry barbs go into hiding and die, and one female cherry barb that started swimming straight up for a couple of days and died. No signs of disease, water has been tested by me and the LFS and is wonderful, have NO CLUE!

Water
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
8 nitrates
8.0 ph (normal for albuq)
 
The gold Gourami didn't make it. the water was great 0 ammonia, 0 mitrite, and almost 0 nitrate (heavily planted aquarium). Temp was good 78 and pH is 7.2 . I actually broke out the microbiology books and my old microscope, and couldn't find anything. Since he was the only one to die, I assume he was stressed. No other fish in the aquarium have had trouble. I did have a small Ich outbreak in the aquarium, but I quickly got that under control with temp and meds. However, that was two weeks after the Gold Gourami died.

For your Gourami, did you recently do a major water change? How was the temp? Is the aquarium near a window or register? Are there plants for the Gourami to hide in? Are there any other fish pestering it? My thinking for your fish is it's stressed by something, and I might be wrong but the Nitrates look a little high. I'm sure there are more people on the forum with info that can help. But, I know they are going to ask very similar questions. I really hope your fish ends up better off than mine.
 
It's ok, I'd rather get no input if people don't know anything, than needless things to try that might hurt the fish even more. I know people on this forum will do what they can to answer questions when there is a problem.
 
More info

I'm so sorry about your gourami, I was really hoping it was better!

I did a 30% water change 9 days ago, and added about 2.5 gallons on Saturday to bring water level up a bit. The temp is at 80F. The tank is not near a window or right under a register. I turned off the tank lights to lower stress levels. I do have plastic plants in there and she is hiding in them. I see her often get in there and go to the bottom and not move (resting?) for a while. If she spots me looking at her, she'll move to the plants in the other corner.

Your idea of her being stressed was exactly what the LFS said, too. He suggested a small water change now (off the top and not disturbing the fish much) and one on Wednesday with the added salt and double dosing Aqua Plus. I have to leave town on Thursday for UCLA where my oldest boy is having more facial reconstruction after a bad car accident almost 7 years ago and won't be home until Mar. 2nd. My husband will be home taking care of the two younger children and won't mess around with the tank while I'm gone. (I'll do well to get him to throw in a 1/2 cube of Lifeline on Friday). BTW, I'm feeding Lifeline on Fridays and flake food on Mondays. What would happen if the gourami ate too much of the frozen food? She was a little piggy last Friday and now isn't feeling well.

Would the cherry barbs be bugging her? I don't think the rasboras are bothering her. On Sunday we had friends over with two young girls and the resulting noise and stuff from them playing with my two children. I know they left the fish tank alone, though, because my friend and sat at the table right near the tank and talked the whole time!

Any thoughts and hints would be greatly appreciated. I'm so glad you checked your post. Thanks so much!
 
One thing you might try, keep the lights off in the aquarium. also some treats like some frozen bloodworms might help. That might help your gourami acclimate better. I have Cherry Barbs with a Paradise Gourami, and they don't bother eachother at all. Until you leave I would check to make sure he's still going up for air, and even though the colors might be faded, look like he's swimming normal when he does swim. I would just do as little as you need to to the aquarium for now and see how he does. If you didn't thaw the frozen food a little and he ate a ton, that might make him a little sick because of the temperatures. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. The talking next to the aquarium shouldn't matter to much unless there was a lot of sudden movements ant the talking was loud.

I'm sorry to hear about you son, I'll say a few prayers for him :)
 
Thank you.

Thank you for your prayers, we really appreciate them. It is scary for my son (and all of us) because he just wants to look like a regular guy (he's 24 y/o) and was hurt so badly he'll never look the same. He really doesn't look terrible, there are not a lot of visible scars, it's just his right eye and cheek area that is disfigured and he has double vision from the eye not being level with the other.

I do thaw the frozen food before putting it in, but she may have eaten too much anyway. She didn't eat at all this morning, so maybe that's it. I hope she gets better. I'll continue to keep the lights out and disturb as little as possible.

Thanks again .... so sweet of you.
 
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