Help!

[Pegs]

I acquired a tank from a friend at work who was unwilling to look after the fish after his father died. There's a pleco, 3 gouramis, what I think is a rainbow shark and 3 Cory's. I had always wanted fish but admittedly had no idea how to look after tropical fish but I figured they had already lived together so it would be fine. I researched as best I could and have had them seeming happy and healthy up until now. One of my 3 gouramis has what I can only describe as patching (see pic) and my other 2 seem a little bit bloated (I think I might just be over feeding them though so I've tried to reduce the amount I give them). None of them are off their food and they all float about quite chill. All the rest of the fish still look fine but I've gone from changing 25% every week to changing 50% every 2 weeks for a temporary period. I still feel kinda clueless on what I'm doing or how to take care of them properly and would really appreciate any help/suggestions.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome and that's a nice looking setup!

How many gallons is the tank? Do you have a means to measure for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM?

Check the ingredient list on the foods you feed. If the first 3 or so are grains and fillers, it's junk. Ideally you want the first 3-4 ingredients to be whole plant and protein products.

Gourami can be sensitive to this and get blocked up and bloated. I'd cut way back on your feeding and up the water changes to a 50% per week at a minimum, then gear them to maintain nitrates such that they don't exceed ~20ppm on water change day.

 

[Pegs]

Thank you! Glad to be here!

It's a 20 gallon tank and I have the little API test strips. I've just done a 50% water change (in the process one of the filters has broken -.- ) and the last time was 2 weeks ago so I will continue on with the 50% weekly.

I've double checked the ingredients and its like fish or fish derivatives, cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin?

Thank you for your help! I feel like I've been struggling along on my own.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Keep us updated!

I usually mail-order my fish foods, but if you can get to a pet store, I'd upgrade what you've been using. Omega one brand is an easily available off the shelf brand. Petsmart's National Geographic brand usually has good ingredient lists too. There's a bunch of good brands out there. Keep in mind, for adult fish, you also don't need to feed them daily. I feed my tanks 4-5x per week max. This also helps keep healthier water parameters given the majority of the 'pollution' that builds up daily in our tanks is from what we sprinkle into the water.

 

[Lalo J.]

It is a beautiful tank, but during all my years in aquarism I have always chosen natural themes, I think that offering natural plants to the fish you are handling would be more appropriate, some wooden roots and a couple of rocks for the comfort of the animals, but they look good, it's just my suggestion