gourami bloated up

[Glengoyne]

Ive got a ten gallon tank with a dwarf gourami, a diamond tetra, and a
harlequin rasbora. Oh I just added a Bosemani Rainbow today. I'm
looking to get a bigger tank, and wanted to give the Rainbow a try, I
know the tank is probably too small for him.


In any case the dwarf Gourami suddenly became quite bloated(abdomen),
and started resting on the bottom. When he does swim, he doesn't seem
to have too much control. It seems too soon to be a reaction to the
Rainbow's addition. I did recently have another gourami, but he died
while I was away on Vacation. According to the person who was caring
for the fish, he was OKAY for the PM feeding, but was found dead in the
AM. That was over a week ago. None of the other fish have shown any
symptoms of anything. One thing I have noted about the Gourami's
activity the past few days is that he hasn't been as social(he seemed
to be hiding a lot), and he seems to have been pooping quite a bit. At
least I hadn't previously noticed him trailing around body length
feces, which I noted twice since my return.

In any case...what actions should I take? The amonia level in the tank
seems to be slightly elevated(borderline on the color chart), but it
had been OKAY/ZERO for the preceeding several weeks.

I'm at a loss for what to do. Any suggestions?

[Elaine T]

Glengoyne wrote:
> Ive got a ten gallon tank with a dwarf gourami, a diamond tetra, and a
> harlequin rasbora. Oh I just added a Bosemani Rainbow today. I'm
> looking to get a bigger tank, and wanted to give the Rainbow a try, I
> know the tank is probably too small for him.
>
>
> In any case the dwarf Gourami suddenly became quite bloated(abdomen),
> and started resting on the bottom. When he does swim, he doesn't seem
> to have too much control. It seems too soon to be a reaction to the
> Rainbow's addition. I did recently have another gourami, but he died
> while I was away on Vacation. According to the person who was caring
> for the fish, he was OKAY for the PM feeding, but was found dead in the
> AM. That was over a week ago. None of the other fish have shown any
> symptoms of anything. One thing I have noted about the Gourami's
> activity the past few days is that he hasn't been as social(he seemed
> to be hiding a lot), and he seems to have been pooping quite a bit. At
> least I hadn't previously noticed him trailing around body length
> feces, which I noted twice since my return.
>
> In any case...what actions should I take? The amonia level in the tank
> seems to be slightly elevated(borderline on the color chart), but it
> had been OKAY/ZERO for the preceeding several weeks.
>
> I'm at a loss for what to do. Any suggestions?
>
Seems like there's been an epidemic of bloating dwarf gouramis around
this NG. Bloating (or "dropsy") is really hard to treat because the
fish is quite ill by the time it bloats. The trailing feces are a sign
of internal parisitic or more likely bacterial infection that is
overwhelming the fish. The swelling is from acute renal failure, a
severe intestinal blockage, or both.

First, since you had a fish sitter and now some ammonia, you probably
have some uneaten food around the tank. Clean the gravel really well,
changing up to 1/3 of the water as you do it. Wait a week for the
bacteria in the gravel bed to recover and then change some more water
and clean out the filter. If you have any AmQuel, AmQuel+, Ammo Lock,
or other ammonia remover, use that to make the ammonia nontoxic.

If your swollen fish is eating, you may be able to heal him with an
antibacterial food. Jungle makes one. I usually euthanize fish with
"dropsy" who have stopped eating because it's so darned hard to get an
effective amount of antibiotic into the fish. A drop of clove oil in a
bag of water will anesthetize the fish to sleep.

You also need to get the sick fish away from your healthy ones, either
into an inexpensive breeding net or trap at the minimum, or ideally into
a heated, filtered quarantine tank. In a quarantine tank, you could try
treating with kanamycin or Maracyn 2 in the water, but don't hold your
breath.

Good luck, and I hope your rainbow does well. I'm sure he'll be fine
for a while in a 10 gallon tank.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[Glengoyne]

Thank You for your reply.

The little guy didn't make it an hour from the time I posted. He did
eat a very little when I fed them, but died shortly there after. I've
used the Amquel, and did a water change..I'll do another to clean the
gravel(thank you for the suggestion). I'm now hoping that the problem
doesn't spread to the other fish.