Whats wrong with my gourami?

Question

We have a gourami and when we first put him in the tank he was very active, swimming back and forth ect, but the last couple days he has been kinda sitting in one spot for long lengths of time, kinda looking up you might say..just kinda vertical most of the time, ive noticed one particular fish seems to come along every once in a while and pick at his side , ive tried to get the other fish to stop, ive fed them an extra time to make sure they were well enough fed and not just picking on the gourami for food or whatever, but still he is doing this..any ideas anyone?If its poor water or what not, what could I do to improve it? I have an electric filtering system and I put aquariam salt in.

Answer 1

He definitely does not sound he healthy. He is probably too far gone to recover; when a fish floats vertically and does not resist other fish's pecking, they are near death.
However, it is important to pinpoint the cause.
You did not specify what size your tank is or what other fish you have. Many problems are caused by overcrowding; this is when you put too many fish in a tank that is too small. You should look into each of your fish and see what they tank size requirement is; and know that the inch per gallon rule does not apply to fish any bigger than small tetras and guppies.

How often do you do water changes? 30% weekly water change is a good amount.

You should test for nitrites and ammonia - which should be 0, and nitrates - which would be between 10 and 30 ppm. It is definitely worth it to invest in a master testing kit. It'll cost you 30$. Or you can have the petstore test your water; just bring some in in a cup and they will do it. Get the EXACT numbers from them, not just "fine" or "ok" or "good".

Answer 2

My gourami's did this too. Here are a couple ideas for you to try that helped me out take care of my gourami's.

First, I read in a book that gourami's need real, living plants in a tank. Fish flakes and blood worms and so on arn't enough for them. They need real plants to munch on. They like feathery plants the best. I always used frill, I think that is what it is called. They ate that stuff up all the time!

You might check the water quality of the tank. But, I would consider looking at the other breeds you have in your tank. Are they more aggressive than a gourami? I think most gourami's are non-aggressive or semi-aggressive. If you have an aggressive tank then they will be picked on if not eaten. I had a community tank, and the gourami's were the most aggresive fish in there, but they left the other fish alone because my tetras and danio's lived in the top half of the tank while gourami's live in the bottom half. That could be something too, your bottom half of the tank could be overcrowded.

So, my best advice would be to get some real plants and learn about the other fish in your tank. What they eat, how aggressive they are, what area of the tank to they live in, ect. That might lead you to an answer. My gourami's 'looked up' sometimes too, so I wouldn't be too concerned with that. I would be more concerned with the fact they are getting picked on.

Good luck!

Answer 3

One of the sad facts of owning an aquarium is the cannibalistic and bullying tendencies some fish have for others...it's simply going to occur unless fish are separated from the other, more agressive fish, with physical walls or boundaries.
Once weakened by the attack, the victim becomes further suscepible to attack by the others.
Feeding fish "an extra time" will do nothing more than overfeed and contribute to tank contamination.
When fish are in distress, poor water conditions, including temperature, filtration, ammonia levels, and disease are prime suspects.
I agree with taking a sample of the tank water to your Aquarium shop where they can test it for you and offer suggestions for treating any problems.
Once a fish begins to be under attack by the other bullies in the tank, there's little hope except to put him in another tank or before you know it, it's "belly-up time".

Answer 4

He sounds stressed for some reason. DO you check your water quality? Take a sample to your local licensed fish store. It may be that he is being bullied by that other fish or the bullying started after the Gourami became lethargic(when my water quality got bad once my Gourmais acted like you described here)

Answer 5

do a partial water change. some gouramis are very sensitive to water quality. the other fish picking on it just makes it worse. you need to separate them. what kind of gourami is it and what is picking on it? what is the temperature? any clue what your ph is?

if it is a ph sensitive gourami your tap water could be bad for it. you can do water changes with low ph bottled water or use chemicals.

in general gouramis prefer temperatures in the upper 70s.

i would do a water change of about 1/3 of the water right away though.

Answer 6

isolate this sick fish..ask a good reliable pet store for med. but i use kosher salt..very little to help with the infection
if the fish shows signs of ick then you might use a blue dye that will stain your tanks...i forget the name but you also can find this in any good pet store...you will have to discontinue your filter and take out the ornaments and gravel..its better to put your fish in another small tank..this type of fish is very hardy but I cant spell it..huh//growonme (sp) the blue growonme is very hardy and can live in a cooler water temp

Answer 7

do you test your water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?