My Poor Gourami

Question
I have a 20g freshwater tank filled with two black skirt tetras, a bleeding heart tetra, a (tame) african leaf fish, a catfish, a chocolate plecko, and two dwarf gouramis - one powder blue the other sunset.

My sunset gourami developed a bloated abdomen last month. Its getting bigger and is lopsided. He is male and showing NO SIGNS OF SICKNESS. He eats and plays with the other fish like he has since we purchased him last summer. His eys are healthy and clear, scales are not protruding, color is bright. The only other problem is that bubbles escape from his month every so often and he rushes to the top of the tank to vomit the rest. My other gourami does not. What should I do?

Answer
Hi Addie

Well, this is a tough one to answer. If you're certain it's a male, it could be constipation. However, when fish are constipated, they are usually not very active. It also wouldn't last a month without causing more severe problems, even death.

Most likely it is air in his labyrinth organ. I don't think you have enough oxygen in your tank. Unlike other fish, Bettas and Gouramis can get oxygen from the surface. They only go to the surface to get oxygen, the oxygen is passed into the labyrinth, then the carbon dioxide is extracted which causes the bubbles that you see. You may want to increase the oxygen in your tank by adding a large airstone.

If he's showing no other signs of sickness and looks and acts healthy, I wouldn't worry about him. Just keep an eye out in case he does start showing other symptoms.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard