Fat Gourami

Question
I have a dwarf pearl gourami that is very fat, and I am concerend that he/she is sick. I can supply an image if required. The tank is 200 litres, water quality is quite fine, checked weekly. The fat is lop-sided a little higher on one side compared to the other. The gourami seems to be swimming okay, but not eating much. He/she has been this way for about 2 weeks. Scales are not sticking out. About a week ago I added 1 teaspoon of epsom salts for each 10 litres of water. Hope that someone can help.
Dennis, Sydney, Australia

Answer
Hi Dennis,
Sure, you can send me a picture. Just request my email address in the next letter and be sure to set it to "Private".

By what you described the poor gourami sounds like she may have a tumor. But she may be retaining fluid also. Eggs are also a possibility but I'm not sure if she really is a female.
Constipation may be another possible problem. For that you can try giving her peas (hopefully she'll take it) with constipation the poor fish is usually a little sluggish and cannot or may not pass its droppings very well. Peas usually help as well as holding off her regular food.
Epsom salt is a great precaution treatment for helping draw fluids from the bloated fish.
But then again unfortunately it may be a tumor. If no other treatment helps the poor fish then you may have to come to that conclusion.

But all you can do is try your best. I would try treating for all the other possible causes for bloating before coming to a full conclusion that 'there's no hope'

This would just mean attempting to treat for constipation for several days, feed a deshelled and thawed green pea to her a few times a day. And continue with the epsom salt. If that doesn't work after a few days then you may want to try treating for an internal bacterial infection. Feeding an anti-bacterial food is usually best rather than just treating the water itself. I'm not sure what's available in Australia but just try to find a antibacterial food. Many times the fish wont eat it unfortunately although sometimes you can trick them by mixing it with their favorite foods. But if they downright refuse, then you may have to just try a water treatment. If you can find Mardel Lab's Maracyn 2 that would be great. It claims to treat internal infections and it is even effective when fish don't eat. I've used mardel's medications before with very good results.

I really hope this helps!
Best of luck!!
Karen~