dwarf guarami

Question
i have a dwarf guarami,which i think in my opinion is a male,he is very bloated near  his upper belly,could it be sick,or is it a female,it has orange stripes all around it.

Answer
Hi Alicia,
Most likely your dwarf gourami is a male. Females are rarely sold in stores.

The bloated belly could be from- overfeeding, constipation, internal bacterial infection (dropsy), kidney problems/fluid retention.

There are some things you should evaluate from your fish before starting any treatment and its always difficult to diagnose and advise a treat to any fish without getting to see the individual myself.

If he acts sick (clamped fins, listless, may or may not eat) he may have an internal infection, or kidney problems. In this case most of the time feeding an antibiotic food is the best bet. But its hard to get fish to accept medicated food. You may have to settle with treating the water with a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as a combination of Maracyn-one and Maracyn-two (made by mardel) which covers both gram negative and gram positive bacteria.

But if he doesn't act sickly he may be constipated. I would fast him from his regular food, for at least a day, then offer a bit of mashed green pea on the end of a blunt toothpick. Some fish won't accept this at first. *Also, epsom salt is a great treatment for fish whom have constipation and/or Fluid retention. So I'd put him in a hospital tank if possible and add about 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons. If you don't have a hospital tank. It shouldn't hurt to treat the main display tank.

If after several days this doesn't seem to be working. He may in fact either have a cyst, tumor or an internal infection. Or simply the beginnings of kidney failure. So you see, its difficult for me to give a straight certain answer because there can be so many causes behind swollen bellies in fish.

Dwarf gouramis tend to be especially prone to illnesses and parasites if their water is not kept clean enough. So during any treatment you decide on, try to do daily 30-50% water changes to help keep his immune system up and the keep the temp warm around 80F.

I hope this helps!
Karen~