Whats wrong with my gourami?

Question
QUESTION: I have a tropical tank and i have recent lost 2 peppered corys and a gourami. Another one of my gourami's isnt looking to crash hot. He has slimmed down quite a lot, kinda sits around on the bottom of the tank a lot. I think he has a little bit of red in his eyes. The only thing i can think of is that he may have some internal bacterial infection. I would like some advice before i start medicating my tank. Any idea's on what type of medication to buy?

ANSWER: Hi Miranda,
You may be on to something with the suspicion of an internal infection. One thing- how does his poop look?  if its stringy or white then it may be internal parasites. Which is common in some species of gouramis like Dwarf gouramis especially. You can get rid of it but Internal parasites are stubborn and it takes feeding the fish an anti-parasite medicated food.The problem is its hard to get them to accept the medication and you may have to try soaking different kinds of tasty foods in the medication and even then the gourami will probably be picky.

But with the red you described, it makes me think internal infection more so. I would test the water first to make sure there isn't a water quality issue going on, which I am leery of with the loss of the two cories and other gourami. Make sure the test results are as they should be-

Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-20 or less


Try doing a 50% water change after checking the water quality. (Try to let me know what your water tests are when you can.)

Mardel brand Maracyn and Maracyn-two combination covers both gram negative and gram positive bacteria and would probably be ideal for treating your gourami if you truly think he is sick and its not water quality affecting him.

Make sure to do a water change before medicating.

Try to keep the water as clean as you can during treatment as it really aids in their recovery.

I hope all goes well and best of luck!
Karen~


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay i tested the water and all is fine. So it might be some type of sickness.

If my fish does have a parasite, does it carry on to other fish with in the tank?

also, when my cories died, one of them had a weird red stripe down the side of him, then he started to get skinny and couldn't move all that well. The red made me think of a bacterial infection. Also does the infection carry through out the tank? Because i think this all started from a pair of rams i bought from a pet shop. I took them back and was told they have a bacterial infection.

i cant really tell how his poop is, but i will get back to you with that one when i find out.

thank you alot,
         Miranda

Answer
Hi Miranda,
Red stripes can definitely signal bacterial infection. And it could certainly have been derived from the rams. Infection can spread through a tank fast, especially if the gravel/substrate isn't kept clean of debris, which only harbors and encourages the bacteria to thrive.

Keep an eye on him. Its very possible this may be a fast growing and dangerous infection that may prove difficult to cure. But all you can do is try your best.

I hope this helps!
Karen~