my sick (?) Gourami!

Question

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Followup To

Question -
Dear Jeeva,
I have just set up a 15 gal/53 litre freshwater tank with the following:- 2 sharks, 2 silver dollars, 2 chichlids, 2 angelfish, 4 dwarf gouramis and 2 golden Gouramis.

All fishes are small with sharks about 4 inches long.

All of them are doing well. But since yesterday, one golden gourami, 2" long, seems sick. It is floating listlessly with face upward and tail fin downward and breathing laboredly. It's fins are ok but a lil torn (there is an agressive chichlid nipping all others). It stays hidden near the filter or lies down on the tank floor / or floats on the top on one side. Its not bloated.

I have isoloated it in a glass jar with tank water, added anti-ich and a lil salt and raised the temp slightly.

Pl advise me whats wrong!

Answer -
hi niripraj

If your tank is new, you shouldn't add too much fish at once. Your new tank have to go throgh cycle. It usually take about 4-8 weeks.

What is Cycling?
"Cycling the tank" means that you are establishing a bacteria bed in your biological filter to remove the toxins that the fish's metabolism creates. There are right and wrong ways to do this, and several things you can do to slow this process (which you don't want to do). There are two steps to cycling, but you don't have to do anything special for either of them. First, your filter will grow a culture of bacteria that digest ammonia and turn it into Nitrite (which is more toxic than the ammonia in hard water or water with a higher pH), then your filter produces bacteria that digest Nitrite and turn it into relatively harmless Nitrate. However, Nitrate will contribute to loss of appetite and stress in your fish, as well as contributing to algae growth, so it is important to do regular small water changes to keep your tank in best condition. Read more on water changes while the tank is cycling.

How Do I Cycle MY Tank?
You should cycle your tank with a small number of fish. They should be hearty fish, and something that you will want to have in your tank in the long run.

Every couple of days, do a 10%-15% water change, and after about a week, take a sample of your water to a fish store to get it tested. Most pet shops will test fresh water for a minimal fee, or even for free! If the store you got the fish from won't, check to see if there is another local store that will. At this point, your water should test with high ammonia and maybe a trace of nitrite. If it isn't, don't worry. Just give the tank time. The cycling process usually takes four to eight weeks.

hope i helped


Thanks Jeeva. That gourami passed away last night. I cycled the tank before adding fish, used some aquarium water and filter from an established aquarium (my own).What in particular would make a gourami start floating with face up and tail towards the bottom and breathe hard? No discoloration or injury found in the dead one. Can a fish die of stress because the chichlids are constantly nipping at it? How should i tame them?

Regards. Thanks again for ur prompt response and sparing your time!

Answer
hi niripraj

it could die from many reason. One of it would be from stress. Also it could die from too much amonia, nitrate and other stuff might harm your gourami. In that case what you could do it, get a test kit and test your amonia, nitrate and ph level in the aquarium and make sure, see if other fishes are alright. If everything is fine, then you don't really have to worry too much. Also try do some water change, fresh water does help fish live better.
If anything goes wrong let me know.

hope i helped