Sick Honey Gourami

I got up this morning to see the Serpaes curiously nipping at the smaller of
my new male Honey Gouramis.

He was on his side scraping along the bottom in the current.

I have put him into the Q/H tank and dosed the water with a weak solution of
H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) over about 6 hours.

He's perked up a little since the H2O2 dissipated, but his behavior is of
concern:

He swims "normally" to the surface for a breath, then does the Labyrinth
dive but doesn't seem to know where the bottom of the tank is and frequently
bangs, nose first, into it. Then he'll either sit vertically on the bottom
motionless (very little gill respiration) or lie on one side like he's dead.

Other times he hangs motionless just below the plants on the surface,
correctly orientated.

His eyes look fine - no bulging. His stomach looks fine. He's symmetrical
and has balance until he hits the bottom from a dive. There is nothing
strange on his scales either and he's of full colour. He looks perfectly
normal to my eyes.

Before this he was the quieter of the two from the LFS, always hanging in
the corner of the tank just below the water surface, only really moving to
eat or if chased by the other male. He had, from day 1, long trailing
droppings, which lead me to suspect he wasn't well from the shop and
possibly had constipation, or some digestive problem.

He also used to eat like a pig in comparison to the other Gourami. For all
the world it looked like he had some sort of parasitic infection of the
stomach to me, but now he's losing his float ability and balance I'm not too
sure about that.

The reason I dosed with H2O2 was to rid his scales/gills of any
flukes/bacteria and realise that it may have removed his slime coat in the
process.

Any ideas? I'm worried he's going to pass over night and freaks me when he
just lies there on the bottom of the Q/H tank.

Thanks in advance,

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

It's dead now. Oh well.

Oz
--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

Ozdude wrote:
It's dead now. Oh well.

Oz
--


Sigh, I was afraid of that, but then I always am.

I'm always in a quandry when someone asks for help with their fish that
is "swimming in circles and bouncing off the bottom with one eye popped
out and a huge bulge in it's tummy and white spots on it's other eye
and lips." My best answer is none, to just wait and usually the next
day we get the report.
Sorry to hear about it succombing, take care of his buddies.

steve

"steve" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ozdude wrote:
It's dead now. Oh well.

Oz
--


Sigh, I was afraid of that, but then I always am.

I'm always in a quandry when someone asks for help with their fish that
is "swimming in circles and bouncing off the bottom with one eye popped
out and a huge bulge in it's tummy and white spots on it's other eye
and lips." My best answer is none, to just wait and usually the next
day we get the report.
Sorry to hear about it succombing, take care of his buddies.

Thanks. I think he was a sickly from the LFS to be honest. I believe the
long droppings are indicative of a stomach parasite.

My main problem now is this bloody brown **** all over the tank. If these
are diatoms, then it's a pain in the ass! Is this the price you pay for a
new tank with CO2 injection??? ;(

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

Ozdude wrote:
My main problem now is this bloody brown **** all over the tank. If
these
are diatoms, then it's a pain in the ass! Is this the price you pay
for a
new tank with CO2 injection??? ;(

Oz


Oz, dude! Don't feel so special. Everyone gets diatoms (I think). I
believe they are a natural progressive state of a newly set up fish
tank. So far, I've had them appear in all 3 of mine, and I have C02 in
only the one. Don't worry, they give way to a far more colorfull
bright green algea that is way harder to irradicate!
:)

steve

PS Otto's make quick work out of brown diatomacious slime.