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Thicklipped Gourami Having Trouble


laritheloud
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Hi everyone!

Today my thicklipped gourami appears to be having trouble swimming. I'm not sure if this means a swim bladder problem or something else. She can swim around the tank but at rest she floats to the top. It looks like it's taking her a lot of effort to swim down.

Where should I begin with treatment? I do have a quarantine tank. @Colu?

Tank parameters for main tank are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30 to 40 ppm
Ph 8.0
KH and GH both between 10 and 12

I do not have epsom salt, but I do have aquarium salt. Is epsom salt available at a drug store? I have a cabinet full of other meds. No other fish are displaying issues, including my other gouramis.

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Video of the sick fish 

https://streamable.com/vuc67z

this week I added my male honey gourami to the main tank. Today was fasting day when she started exhibiting this behavior.

Edit: I absolutely love this fish, so any tips with where to start would be wonderful. I turned off the lights in her quarantine tank and I did run to the grocery store to pick up Epsom Salt, but I'm trying to let her rest for now. I don't have time to change water in the main tank tonight but I can do it tomorrow.

Edited by laritheloud
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That looks like a swim bladder problem I would Qarantine and treat with epsom salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons I wouldn't  feed for a couple of days swim bladder problems can be caused by constipation have you seen her pass anything if you can't Qarantine you can do salt bath for no more than 15 minutes 3.times a day

Edited by Colu
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On 7/11/2021 at 9:07 PM, Colu said:

That looks like a swim bladder problem I would Qarantine and treat with epsom salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons I wouldn't  feed for a couple of days swim bladder problems can be caused by constipation have you seen her pass anything

I have seen her pass a little poop. I will withhold food. Can I wait to do the epsom salt bath tomorrow or is it best to do it as soon as possible? I don't want to stress her too much.

I have a lee's specimen container I usually use for baths, should I use the five gallon bucket instead and fill it with two full gallons?

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On 7/12/2021 at 2:25 AM, laritheloud said:

She’s in the bath and she’ll go into quarantine for a rest after

If.you see no improvement after a couple of days of salt treatment I would do a course of maracyn.as swim bladder problems can also becaused.by an internal. bacterial infection

Edited by Colu
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On 7/11/2021 at 9:32 PM, Colu said:

If.you see no improvement after a couple of days of salt treatment I would do a course of maracyn.as swim bladder problems can also becaused.by an internal. bacterial infection

Is it more likely to be bacterial than anything else? All of my tanks have been through parasite treatment (not levamisole because I have seen no evidence of camallanus).I just saw her pass some poop and it looked normal. She’s back in the tank now

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The main causes of swim bladder are distended stomach putting pressure on the swim bladder thought over eating  constipation gulping in much air when eating floating food and bacterial infection fasting and salt  sort most swim bladder problems after a.couple of days I would treat with the kanamycin in food if there's no improvement

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On 7/11/2021 at 10:04 PM, Colu said:

The main causes of swim bladder are distended stomach putting pressure on the swim bladder thought over eating  constipation gulping in much air when eating floating food and bacterial infection fasting and salt  sort most swim bladder problems after a.couple of days I would treat with the kanamycin in food if there's no improvement

Thank you! I’ll let her rest without food for a few days and repeat salt treatment tomorrow

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On 7/11/2021 at 10:04 PM, Colu said:

The main causes of swim bladder are distended stomach putting pressure on the swim bladder thought over eating  constipation gulping in much air when eating floating food and bacterial infection fasting and salt  sort most swim bladder problems after a.couple of days I would treat with the kanamycin in food if there's no improvement

The only other two possibilities I can think of are this:

My male honey gourami does chase the females (all of them, including the thicklipped) away from one corner of the tank where he's preparing a bubble nest. I have heard her in particular 'thunk' against the side of the tank when swimming away. Maybe she injured herself and caused this issue?

The other thing (that i'm totally worried about) is that I dropped in some baby brine about a week ago and made a mistake dropping in some unhatched eggs. It was a really bad batch with a really bad hatch. I've since switched to co-op brine shrimp eggs and got a much much better hatch rate a few days ago. Maybe she gorged herself on unhatched eggs?

Regardless, she is passing stool in the quarantine tank and swimming around, attempting to scavenge. She is interested in eating. She lets herself drift to the top when she wants air. I'm hoping she's not beyond helping.

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On 7/12/2021 at 4:29 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@ColuI see Epsom salt mentioned quite a bit. I have aquarium salt, but think I should keep some Epsom salt too just in case. Where or what kind do fish keepers recommend? Where would I find some that is fish safe?

Hi Sandra, my drug store was closed but I picked mine up at the pharmacy section of the grocery store. It's right by the first aid stuff. Get the kind that is *JUST* epsom salt, no added lavender or scents or anything else. I got a big bag for 5 bucks. My fish tolerated it really well and it helped her out!

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@laritheloud so funny you say that. I was at the pharmacy the other day and saw Epsom salt.. and was thinking to myself.. wonder if that is what people use for sick fish??? Thank you for confirming that.. and I will add it to my hospital kit to have..  just never know when you will need it.. I am so happy for you and your fish! Glad she's feeling better!

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On 7/12/2021 at 4:35 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@laritheloud so funny you say that. I was at the pharmacy the other day and saw Epsom salt.. and was thinking to myself.. wonder if that is what people use for sick fish??? Thank you for confirming that.. and I will add it to my hospital kit to have..  just never know when you will need it.. I am so happy for you and your fish! Glad she's feeling better!

Thank you so much! she's my little sweetheart, very friendly and personable. She's getting some nice R&R in the quarantine tank for the week, and i'll reassess my feeding routine for the main tank to keep her from overeating. Hopefully she'll continue to be okay and I can put her back with her gourami friends soon enough.

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On 7/12/2021 at 9:29 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@ColuI see Epsom salt mentioned quite a bit. I have aquarium salt, but think I should keep some Epsom salt too just in case. Where or what kind do fish keepers recommend? Where would I find some that is fish safe?

Epsom salt acts as muscle relaxants so better for treating fish with swim bladder and constipation 

Edited by Colu
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