Strange Movements: Sparkling Gourami

[gogomarigo]

Not the best video but here is a clip that shows the strange movements my sparkling gourami makes:

He does this nearly every time he opens his mouth to eat something (not every single time though). To me, it seems kinda like a twitch or a tic in humans.

This has been happening for the past couple of weeks. Otherwise, no change in behavior. Still actively exploring around the tank. Still eating regularly. Still being a shy guy when I approach the tank too suddenly.

I thought maybe it was something neurological but today I thought I saw some white worm-like things around his mouth so I thought I’d ask on this forum. Has anyone noticed this type of fish movement before? Again, it seems to only happen when he opens his mouth.

He’s in a heavily planted 10 gallon tank (just did a big trim yesterday) with some Amano shrimp, blue neo shrimp, pygmy corys, chili rasboras, and a nerite snail. Up until a month ago, he had lived with a female sparkling gourami but she unfortunately got stuck in a clay shrimp dome (which has since been removed) and didn’t make it.

water parameters using Aquarium Co-Op test strips:

pH: 6.4

nitrate: 50

nitrite: 0

ammonia: 0

GH: 150

KH: 40

chlorine: 0

temperature: 75

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 15, 2022 by gogomarigo

[Colu]

Odd swimming behaviour can be caused  by parasites as you saw a white worm it could be tapeworms as you have shrimp and snails I would treat with paracleanse as it shrimp and snail safe you will have to do to course of treatment 2 weeks apart