Honey Gourami staring, not eating, died a few days later

[Justin Campbell]

I had a pair of Honey Gourami in a 10 gallon tank that I was attempting to breed. Both fish seemed happy and healthy since we got them in February. They had been in this tank for 3 months. I got the male to make a bubble nest a few times, mostly whenever I fed blood worms.

About a month ago the male developed a dark orange color, which I assumed were breeding colors.

I noticed maybe 5 days ago that the male was just staring off, no personality. His tail was making a wave motion. It wouldn’t eat anything I put in the tank. Yesterday I didn’t know what to do, so I moved the female and dosed Maracyn, assuming it might be a bacteria issue.

Today I did a 50% water change because he still looked bad, and a few hours later I found him at the bottom of the tank.

I tested the water after he died and nitrates were around 40, which seems high after a 50% water change. I try to keep tanks around 20. With nothing else to go on I’m assuming water quality got too bad. I also found planaria in the tank. I should have tested the water when I first noticed him acting weird.

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

pH 7.4 which my tap water stays pretty solid at.

I’d like to know what happened, but more importantly I’m wondering what I should do to the female. Should I give her the med trio? Should I deworm her? I haven’t dewormed a fish yet. Her belly is big but I assumed that was from eggs. Otherwise she seems totally normal.

She’s also in a tank with 7 Panda Corys now. I’m assuming whatever I treat her with I should also treat them now.

Apologies for the rotated picture, I’m not sure my my iPhone did that.

[Justin Campbell]

Here’s a video of him with coloration, but before the odd behavior:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0VHnz-Vzlr612naljQN8ynqdA#East_Bradford_Township

Also the water temperature is 78F.

[Justin Campbell]

Here are some pics of the female (at least I think it’s a female). She’s been acting normal, but seems bloated. I thought originally she was full of eggs, but then I read that egg-layers don’t appear much larger. I just moved her to a bare-bottom tank so I can monitor her poop. Do you think she’s egg-y, bloated, or just we’ll-fed? Should I do anything or just observe her for a few weeks? I’d like to move her to a community tank eventually.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Justin Campbell

[Irene]

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that! I've kept honey gouramis before, but I've never seen symptoms like that before. I downloaded the video and I'm not sure if her roundness is from eggs or worms, so I think you're right about trying to observe her poop to see if it's abnormal or not. Maybe someone else in the forum has some suggestions?

If the fish never went through the quarantine med trio, it might be worth putting them through it just to try to give the remaining fish a clean bill of health. Here is an article from Aquarium Co-Op about how to treat with those medications. Let us know what happens!

[Justin Campbell]

Thanks @Irene! I haven't put these fish through the med trio as they predated my knowledge of it 😄. I'll try that next if no other symptoms pop up.

[Sleepy]

Can't fully say from the pics but if they were bloated and the scales popping out that would be dropsy which is really unlikely for them to recover from.

[Justin Campbell]

@Sleepyno scales were popping out/pineconing but I suppose it could still be dropsy.

I've been reading through these trying to get a clear picture of symptoms and treatments: 

11. Fish Disease Symptoms

AQUARIUMSCIENCE.ORG

I have noticed stringy poop in the past in the community tank these came from, but I don't see it right now on this Gourami. I think I'll end up trying a medicated flake food from Angels Plus, but I'm still trying to decide what to target. I have a female guppy in another tank with stringy poop, but I'm not sure if that's related.

That was a long way of saying I'm just observing everything right now and trying to narrow it down. 😃

 

[Ben Ellison]

My default position on all incoming fish is they have parasites. I would monitor poo and eating of all the others in the tank if he did have em and died from them there is a almost certainly parasites in the others now.