Blue Gourami Turning Pale White! *help*

[David Radloff]

Hey everyone,

My Blue Gourami has slowly has been showing some very strange signs in the last week or so. First I noticed that his fins were starting to turn red. Then a few days later he started to turn very pale. And now he is staying put at the very top of the tank with his dorsal fin poking out of the water. ( You can see an image of all this attached.) Usually, he just chills within the leaves on my java fern.

The tank size is 40 gallons with a strong flow canister filter. Fish are fed twice a day. Heat is set to 26°C or 78.8°F. Light is on for 8 hours a day. I do 25% water changes about once every week and a half. The tank has many plants that are all growing well also.

Other Fish in the tank: Angel Fish, Clown Loach, Rummy Nose Tetras, Black Phantom Tetras, and Bristlenose Plecos.

Does anyone know what might be wrong with the Blue Gourami? If so, then please reach out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,
David Radloff

 

[FreshyFresh]

David it's difficult to say. He definitely does not look good. Why are you feeding twice daily? That's a lot for adult fish. It's good that you are doing regular water changes, but adding that much food into the tank in combination with only a 25% water change every ~10 days has likely lead to a water quality problem.

Keep an eye on those ingredients lists on the foods you feed as well. You want the first 3-4 ingredients to be whole plant and protein products. Not grains and fillers. Gourami tend to get bloated and blocked up when fed poor quality foods.

 

[fishorama]

I agree with Freshy, you likely have poor water quality from overfeeding & not often or large enough water changes. I see signs lots of tail damage & clamped fins...Those can be signs of bad water or red fins can mean bacterail infection. Try changing water every other day 30-50% & think about an antibiotic treatment soon. You need to address this now! Don't wait