laritheloud Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I brought home two honey gourami from the store yesterday and set them up in my quarantine tank. Plenty of hidey-holes, temp is 78 degrees Fahrenheit, added catappa leaves, treating with PraziPro first. Water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 5. One of them, my smaller honey, is perfectly inquisitive and happy, and it's also eating just fine. The other... Oof, I'm not sure. When it comes out and swims up, it seems okay. It's not breathing heavy. It kind of floated and swam at the surface underneath the catappa leaves for awhile. But it's also not eating and it's bottom-sitting for a portion of the day. By bottom-sitting, I mean lying on the substrate and looking half-dead until I disturb it. It will allow itself to lie against the substrate--maybe not fully sideways but curled against it. The colors are silvery on them both, but strangely enough, the one behaving this way is both the larger fish and the slightly brighter yellow fish. Both have a fading darker stripe down their middles. It's just that the recluse is lethargic. Everything I have searched for online regarding this behavior is telling me there might not be a good end for this little fish, which is a huge bummer. I'm not sure if there's anything I can treat because there's no visible symptoms aside from just lazy swimming and lying against the bottom. I do feel like this fish is probably not all that well, and I'm concerned it's beyond the normal shyness of a honey gourami. Thoughts? Should I be concerned about my more active buddy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I would treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons and see if that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 Just now, Colu said: I would treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons and see if that helps I'll add the salt and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 9 hours ago, Colu said: I would treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons and see if that helps Update: Fish didn't make it. It didn't move from its spot last night, I went to net it out and it flailed a bit before dying during container transfer. The other little guy looks active, inquisitive, and ate happily this morning. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Sorry to hear he didn't make it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 Just now, Colu said: Sorry to hear he didn't make it It's fine! It's what quarantine is for. I'll be calling my usual LFS to see if they have any honey gourami for some buddies for my lonely one. Do you have any recommendations for other treatments to use on my remaining one? I couldn't find anything visibly wrong with the one that passed, and it seemed like swim bladder issues to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I difficult to no for sure what it had as you have treated with prazipro and salt I would monitor for now if it starts showing any of the symptoms the other fish had I would treat with maracyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 Got buddies at my usual LFS. Treating quarantine with Metronidazole. All fish are active and eating. The pair was sold to me as Sunset Honey Gouramis and there was a stark difference between the sexes. The female was all gray with a dark stripe down the middle that's faded now that she's less stressed, more similar to wild type honeys. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 I'm noticing in the dark my female's stripe colors up and darkens again, and I turn on the lights to feed her and it fades back to silver. I wonder if these 'sunset' gourami are actually wild types? That'd be exciting to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 Colored up again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 Finished 1 round of General Cure and I'm planning on doing a second round -- should I start that 1 week after the first round or 2 weeks? @Colu any recommendations? The pair of sunset gouramis are active, eating, and very adorable. Baby golden honey is also active, but I noticed after the second dose of General Cure it seemed to be struggling to pass a very long poo. I'm not sure if it was a worm of some sort or it was just constipated. Water change is tomorrow, so I'll examine. The baby does eat, but seems to do better with flake foods and/or picking at the decorations and water sprite clippings. I have tried pellets, and when the youngest attempts to eat them, he tends to chew them and spit them out for several rounds. Flakes go down for the most part. I'm going to try some repashy next. Sometimes I catch the baby resting at the bottom at night but never on its side like the 'buddy' from the store that passed on day two. Of course, I'm concerned and watching like a hawk, and I have a cabinet full of meds to try if I need to. I'm debating trying a round of Levamisole on these guys. Not sure about antibiotics, because I'm not seeing any obvious signs of a bacterial infection... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 More pictures. Baby came with the black spot on the bottom fin. Not sure if it’s an old ammonia burn or its markings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 2 hours ago, laritheloud said: Finished 1 round of General Cure and I'm planning on doing a second round -- should I start that 1 week after the first round or 2 weeks? @Colu any recommendations? The pair of sunset gouramis are active, eating, and very adorable. Baby golden honey is also active, but I noticed after the second dose of General Cure it seemed to be struggling to pass a very long poo. I'm not sure if it was a worm of some sort or it was just constipated. Water change is tomorrow, so I'll examine. The baby does eat, but seems to do better with flake foods and/or picking at the decorations and water sprite clippings. I have tried pellets, and when the youngest attempts to eat them, he tends to chew them and spit them out for several rounds. Flakes go down for the most part. I'm going to try some repashy next. Sometimes I catch the baby resting at the bottom at night but never on its side like the 'buddy' from the store that passed on day two. Of course, I'm concerned and watching like a hawk, and I have a cabinet full of meds to try if I need to. I'm debating trying a round of Levamisole on these guys. Not sure about antibiotics, because I'm not seeing any obvious signs of a bacterial infection... Leave it Two weeks before next course of treatment depending on how their doing you might have to do a third course 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 Just now, Colu said: Leave it Two weeks before next course of treatment depending on how their doing you might have to do a third course I'm prepared to do that. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 I'm back with an update! I treated the quarantine tank with two rounds of General Cure. At around the second dose of the first round, I started seeing evidence that the treatment was working on the juvenile; there was one night after the second dose when she struggled to pass a very distressing looking poo (quite long, could have just been intestinal irritation or a tapeworm, I couldn't find it during cleaning). After that she steadily improved. The first week we got her she would rest overnight quite a bit. Not fully lying down like her shop-mate that died, but resting. She was very small and skinny. Halfway through the third week she's done it less and less. Now it's nearing the one-month mark, and I'm seeing zero bottom sitting. She's out and about, enjoying the floating plant trimmings I put in the tank, eating vigorously, gaining weight, and growing. Poop all looks normal. The other two gouramis never showed signs of illness and are still doing great. If everything is looking good, I don't need to do a third round of treatment, right? I'm planning on keeping them in quarantine for at least another week and a half without meds, then I want to move them to the community tank. That will be about 5 to 6 weeks total in quarantine. I know it is best practice to reset the quarantine clock when symptoms clear up. Should I hold them in the 10 gallon quarantine for an extra 3 weeks then? I want to make sure I'm giving them the safest, healthiest start I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 Gosh when I compare the photos she looks SO much better!!! Also I think our thicklip gourami is also a female, what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 They're clearing quarantine either today or tomorrow, and I'm bizarrely nervous about it! I hope they settle into the display well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrassick Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 @laritheloud I think your post has been one of the few that I have found online and it's great that your treatment worked. I guess happy almost anniversary to the end of your quarantine! I hope they are all still thriving. I actually had a question about your approach. Did you use aquarium salt as well as General Cure? Also, how long did you wait between treatments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamilars84 Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 Oh man, I wish I’d seen this post last week! Brought a red honey gourami home who wasn’t really red, the guy said it was pale because it was stressed and as it settled in the color would show. Anywho, he/she just never seemed right, either hung out at the top or was resting/laying on the bottom or on various plant leaves. Nothing physically wrong showing on the outside. Only ate half of what the fish store said to feed and then stopped altogether. He/she did not make it…I’m so sad I hadn’t seen this post last week. I bought the API test kit and checked daily and all levels were great the entire time. Temp of 78°. Should I treat the water with something before getting new fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now