MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) My powder blue dwarf gourami has been acting strange for about a week now. He's been hiding a lot more than usual and sometimes swims very erratically all over the tank. He even scraped the top of his head on the gravel. We also just noticed some black spots around his face. He still eats, but not as aggressively as he usually does. He's in a 20 gallon long tank with 1 guppy and 2 nerite snails. Temp: 76 F pH: 8 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 30 Hardness and Buffer: 200-300 Edited March 8 by MetaRaptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 this is what I found. I'm thinking it could be your PH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 (edited) On 3/7/2024 at 10:42 PM, Abby said: this is what I found. I'm thinking it could be your PH I've read that pH doesn't matter as much, as pH stability matters much more. I've also had him for 5 months and haven't had problems until now. pH has been at 8 the entire time. Edited March 8 by MetaRaptor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 @Abby one of the things to remember when looking at those types of guides. They apply mostly to wild caught animals. Most aquarium animals are raised by farms with vastly different conditions. Usually in whatever water is available. 85 % of the water in the US is hard to very hard so most fish are already adapted to harder water. Unless they say specifically wild caught. There are certain sensitive fish that have a harder time adapting. Thing like apistos, discus German rams, but even those can successfully be raised in hard water. @jwcarlson raises his discus in this type of water, no issues. So that’s not the problem. I’m wondering if it’s not just an illness of some sort. The head of the fish looks kind of leathery and worn down. We have to ask our resident expert @Colu On 3/7/2024 at 11:50 PM, MetaRaptor said: as pH stability matters much more This is actually very correct. Stability is everything. Animals have a degree of plasticity in which they can adjust to their environment. As long as it’s stable 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/7/2024 at 10:53 PM, Tony s said: @Abby one of the things to remember when looking at those types of guides. They apply mostly to wild caught animals. Most aquarium animals are raised by farms with vastly different conditions. Usually in whatever water is available. 85 % of the water in the US is hard to very hard so most fish are already adapted to harder water. Unless they say specifically wild caught. There are certain sensitive fish that have a harder time adapting. Thing like apistos, discus German rams, but even those can successfully be raised in hard water. @jwcarlson raises his discus in this type of water, no issues. So that’s not the problem. I’m wondering if it’s not just an illness of some sort. The head of the fish looks kind of leathery and worn down. We have to ask our resident expert @Colu He has been bumping into stuff when he's frantically swimming around, so I wonder if that's why his head looks like that. I don't know why he's acting like this though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Yeah, colu would be the best one to ask. But your tank condition looks good. Have you added anything to the tank recently? And just in case. You may need access to aquarium salt and some meds. Either maracyn2 or kanaplex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/7/2024 at 11:05 PM, Tony s said: Yeah, colu would be the best one to ask. But your tank condition looks good. Have you added anything to the tank recently? And just in case. You may need access to aquarium salt and some meds. Either maracyn2 or kanaplex. I was treating for ich on my tetras so I was using super ick cure. Unfortunately they didn't make it so I suspect something else was wrong with them. I have maracyn and paracleanse and I'm in the process of setting up a quarantine tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcarlson Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Something on the skin is usually a bad sign. It sounds like it might be dwarf gourami iridovirus. Very very common and unfortunately fatal to the best of my knowledge. It took out the most recent (and last) dwarf gourami I owned. It can happen quick too. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) Have you added any new fish recently if so did you quarantine is he eating ok any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy is he rubbing on things in the tank or just swimming into them @MetaRaptor Edited March 8 by Colu Typo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/8/2024 at 5:31 AM, Colu said: Have you added any new fish recently if so did you quarantine is he eating ok any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy is he rubbing on things in the tank or just swimming into them @MetaRaptor No new fish. He still eats but he doesn't come up to me like he usually does. I have to drop the food near him to get him to eat. He doesn't seem to be breathing rapidly. He usually is hanging near the bottom or under my Frogbit. Sometimes he'll bump into the glass like he's trying to bite it, but no rubbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) I would be concerned about dwarf gourami iridovirus his head doesn't look right that a viral infections that that caused by inbreeding in fish farms it's not found in wild gouramis very prevalent in dwarf gourami with no treatment available it's always fatal usually with in a couple of weeks of the start of symptoms or it's possible something else is going on if you have a quarantine tank I would move him and treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons for 1 weeks just remember to only put back in what you take out so if you do a 2 gallon water change put 1 table spoon of aquarium salt back in as salt only removed though water changes and I would add some Indian almond leaves as well as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties you might have to add one leaf per gallon to get a beneficial effect and than give an update in 1 week @MetaRaptor Edited March 8 by Colu 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/8/2024 at 9:17 AM, Colu said: I would be concerned about dwarf gourami iridovirus his head doesn't look right that a viral infections that that caused by inbreeding in fish farms it's not found in wild gouramis very prevalent in dwarf gourami with no treatment available it's always fatal usually with in a couple of weeks of the start of symptoms or it's possible something else is going on if you have a quarantine tank I would move him and treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons for 1 weeks just remember to only put back in what you take out so if you do a 2 gallon water change put 1 table spoon of aquarium salt back in as salt only removed though water changes and I would add some Indian almond leaves as well as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties you might have to add one leaf per gallon to get a beneficial effect and than give an update in 1 week @MetaRaptor I don't have any salt but I will get some. Should I use maracyn or paracleanse as well, since I do have those? And is adding the salt a one time thing unless I do a water change, or should I continuously add it over the course of a week? Just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) Salt doesn't evaporate, so a one time thing. don't add for top offs. When doing water changes add it only for the amount of water you remove. Sorry to hear about your animal. We just got a small group that look exactly like him (except for the sick. hopefully). Really sounds discouraging. Edited March 8 by Tony s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/8/2024 at 10:44 AM, Tony s said: Salt doesn't evaporate, so a one time thing. don't add for top offs. When doing water changes add it only for the amount of water you remove. Sorry to hear about your animal. We just got a small group that look exactly like him (except for the sick. hopefully). Really sounds discouraging. Okay, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) On 3/8/2024 at 4:11 PM, MetaRaptor said: I don't have any salt but I will get some. Should I use maracyn or paracleanse as well, since I do have those? And is adding the salt a one time thing unless I do a water change, or should I continuously add it over the course of a week? Just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. Thank you! You could do a course of maracyn as you don't have salt to hand as @Tony s mentioned add back what you take out though water changes with salt Edited March 9 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/8/2024 at 2:15 PM, Colu said: You could do a course of maracyn as you don't have salt to hand as @Tony s add back what you take out though water changes Ok got it. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 On 3/8/2024 at 2:15 PM, Colu said: You could do a course of maracyn as you don't have salt to hand as @Tony s add back what you take out though water changes Ok got it. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 My gourami has been in the quarantine tank for a week now. He's alive and eating/acting normal. He still has the black spots on his face, but I don't see anything new on him. No bumps or anything like that. I treated him with the salt and maracyn. Should I put him back in the main tank, or leave him in longer? @Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) I would leave him in another week just to be on the safe side then put him back in the main tank if he's still active and eating ok Edited March 17 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 On 3/17/2024 at 2:16 PM, Colu said: I would leave him in another week just to be on the safe side then put him back in the main tank if he's still active and eating ok Ok thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetaRaptor Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 On 3/17/2024 at 2:16 PM, Colu said: I would leave him in another week just to be on the safe side then put him back in the main tank if he's still active and eating ok Everything still seems good with him so I'm going to go ahead and put him back in my main tank. The black spots seem to be going away as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) If he's still active and eating fine back to his old self it's fine to put him back in the main tank Edited March 24 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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