i got a problem

[Davy]

so i recently (couple weeks ago, cant remember exactly) added an awesome dwarf gourami to my main planted tank (its got a SE asia theme). he was doing great for the longest time, however, it appears as though hes been chowing down on the smaller MTS in the tank, and now hes not looking so good.


infact, he looks pretty bad at the moment.


he looks like hes about to explode.


is there anything i can do to save him, or at least prevent it from happening again to another fish in the future?

 

[fishycat]

Are his scales sticking out from his body, making him resemble a pinecone? Any other symptoms aside from bloated? You could try feeding a cooked, deshelled & minced green pea - will help if he's constipated.

Pics would be helpful...

 

[fishycat]

Did you actually see him eat & keep down an mts? Seems unlikely as although I've seen fish accidentally mouth an mts, they spit 'em out immediately.

 

[Davy]

sorry for late reply, i havent had a chance to get to a computer.

unfortunately, i had to euthanize him the other day after i got home from work.


and to answer your question, i can honestly say 100% say i saw him eat them, and after a necropsy i couldnt find any trace of them. i doubt it was constipation, just because i always fast my fish at least once a week and i dont over feed and i make sure they get some sort of vegetable matter to eat regularly (sorta).

it may have been dropsy but, i really aint sure :/ ive never seen a dwarf gourami with dropsy, and it didnt really look like other fish ive seen with dropsy :/

 

[H2Ogal]

How are your water params? Maybe you had a spike after adding the gourami. Or it might just have been bad stock. There's a thread around here about the difficulties people are having with dwarf gouramis. Sorry for your loss.