Honey Gourami mysterious death…

[Karen B.]

Greetings 

I left for a week. All my aquarium had automatic feeders (no amount of food accumulation in any of them when I came back).

A friend of mine still came to check every 2-3 days (and to feed my apisto).

I came back everything was fine, except my crypto melted in my community tank (I planted then too deep? Or maybe I didn’t set the timer right and there was no light for a week?). I immediately took away the melted leaf and tidied the aquarium.

2 days later, I find my male honey gourami dead at the bottom of the community tank. I examined his body and it was perfectly fine - no discoloration, red patch, scales were fine. He was about 2 years old, from a pet shop, so one of my hypothesis is he died of old age?

S.I.P. My beautiful Prince, my Pikachu. My first ever centerpiece fish.

Later that day, I came back to see 1 chili rasboras gasping for air at the surface. He seemed to have dropsy and he was really in a bad shape so I euthanized him with clover oil.

I examined every other fish :

My 2 female honey gourami are fine (except they are looking around for the male)

My 14 other Chili rasboras are fine too, sometimes schooling, other time playing in the sponge filter bubble. None are staying apart or looking sick.

My corydoras are breeding like crazy and laying eggs everywhere as usual. The young babies (1-2 months) are thriving, swiming around and being cute.

It’s a 30 gallons, planted, 1 HOB filter and 1 sponge filter, temps around 75-77, pH a bit low at 6.6, 0/0/25, no chlorine/chloramine, gh between 150 and 300ppm and kh about 60 ppm.

 

Question 1 :

Should I proactively treat my aquarium or just watch it? I plan on a 35% wc and vc tomorrow.

 

Question 2 :

I am now left with only 2 female honey gourami. Should I leave it like that? They get along rather well.

Or should I buy 1 male and 1 more female (so he doesn’t feel too lonely or small when added to the 30 gallons after his 3 weeks quarantine)

[anitstuk]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:05 AM, Karen B. said:

Greetings 

I left for a week. All my aquarium had automatic feeders (no amount of food accumulation in any of them when I came back).

A friend of mine still came to check every 2-3 days (and to feed my apisto).

I came back everything was fine, except my crypto melted in my community tank (I planted then too deep? Or maybe I didn’t set the timer right and there was no light for a week?). I immediately took away the melted leaf and tidied the aquarium.

2 days later, I find my male honey gourami dead at the bottom of the community tank. I examined his body and it was perfectly fine - no discoloration, red patch, scales were fine. He was about 2 years old, from a pet shop, so one of my hypothesis is he died of old age?

S.I.P. My beautiful Prince, my Pikachu. My first ever centerpiece fish.

Later that day, I came back to see 1 chili rasboras gasping for air at the surface. He seemed to have dropsy and he was really in a bad shape so I euthanized him with clover oil.

I examined every other fish :

My 2 female honey gourami are fine (except they are looking around for the male)

My 14 other Chili rasboras are fine too, sometimes schooling, other time playing in the sponge filter bubble. None are staying apart or looking sick.

My corydoras are breeding like crazy and laying eggs everywhere as usual. The young babies (1-2 months) are thriving, swiming around and being cute.

It’s a 30 gallons, planted, 1 HOB filter and 1 sponge filter, temps around 75-77, pH a bit low at 6.6, 0/0/25, no chlorine/chloramine, gh between 150 and 300ppm and kh about 60 ppm.

 

Question 1 :

Should I proactively treat my aquarium or just watch it? I plan on a 35% wc and vc tomorrow.

 

Question 2 :

I am now left with only 2 female honey gourami. Should I leave it like that? They get along rather well.

Or should I buy 1 male and 1 more female (so he doesn’t feel too lonely or small when added to the 30 gallons after his 3 weeks quarantine)

Tbh I had this same experience earlier this year and I was stumped. I can only suggest to get another MALE honey gourami. Hopefully you can get to the bottom of the problem.

[Colu]

Did you test for ammonia when you got back 

[Patrick_G]

So sorry. I've had all my Honey Gourami die of unknown causes. Now I'm intrigued by the Thick lipped gourami that @laritheloud recommends. It seems like they might be a bit more hardy. 

[laritheloud]

I'm so sorry, @Karen B.. I know you loved your honey gourami so much. I want you to know that I lost all but my lone male honey gourami in the past few months to unknown causes and the same symptoms. One declined very suddenly without any apparent forewarning, and just ended up corkscrewing to the bottom of the tank, unable to swim anymore. Two years is a good lifespan for them these days, I think, and overall they seem less hardy than they ought to be according to the literature. I highly doubt you did anything wrong or that anyone made a misstep anywhere along the way. He lived a good life in your tank. ❤️

[Karen B.]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:36 PM, Colu said:

Did you test for ammonia when you got back 

Not right when I got back. Everything seemed fine, no distress in any fish. Now I regret not doing it. But if it was ammonia, wouldn’t more fish be affected?

[Karen B.]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:05 PM, laritheloud said:

I'm so sorry, @Karen B.. I know you loved your honey gourami so much. I want you to know that I lost all but my lone male honey gourami in the past few months to unknown causes and the same symptoms. One declined very suddenly without any apparent forewarning, and just ended up corkscrewing to the bottom of the tank, unable to swim anymore. Two years is a good lifespan for them these days, I think, and overall they seem less hardy than they ought to be according to the literature. I highly doubt you did anything wrong or that anyone made a misstep anywhere along the way. He lived a good life in your tank. ❤️

I am so so sorry to read you had to go through the same thing I did. I know for some they are just fish, but I really consider them wet pet with their personality and behavior. I am sure yours too had an amazing life!

Will you be getting any more? My 2 female keep looking around for the male and I am not sure if I should get another one (he would be so small and young, would the female bully him?) or get a male and female so at least they will be together when I add them in the main aquarium after quarantine. 
 

Or just let my 2 female as the centerpiece. Less colorful but they have established their pecking order, they get along rather well too (finally) so I am afraid adding more could throw off the current balance.

[laritheloud]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:01 AM, Karen B. said:

I am so so sorry to read you had to go through the same thing I did. I know for some they are just fish, but I really consider them wet pet with their personality and behavior. I am sure yours too had an amazing life!

Will you be getting any more? My 2 female keep looking around for the male and I am not sure if I should get another one (he would be so small and young, would the female bully him?) or get a male and female so at least they will be together when I add them in the main aquarium after quarantine. 
 

Or just let my 2 female as the centerpiece. Less colorful but they have established their pecking order, they get along rather well too (finally) so I am afraid adding more could throw off the current balance.

I am not getting more honey gouramis. I'm letting my sweet male live out his life in peace in my tank, and then I'll decide what else I'd like to try in my 29 gallon. I'm considering apistos or bolivian rams.

[Karen B.]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:00 AM, laritheloud said:

I am not getting more honey gouramis. I'm letting my sweet male live out his life in peace in my tank, and then I'll decide what else I'd like to try in my 29 gallon. I'm considering apistos or bolivian rams.

I have a male and female apistogramma cacatuoides in my 20 high. They are absolutely stunning and my female is a sweetheart - she comes and interact with me all the time. But I am not enjoying them as much as I’d hoped. My male is a jerk, territorial and possessive, and send her back to her corner each time. In a near future, I hope I can upgrade to minimally a 20 long to give them more floor space.

As far as my 30g community tank, what would you do? My females are less then a year… should I get another male? A male and a female? Or leave them both like that?

Edited September 1, 2022 by Karen B.