Question about pet Gourami

[ReggieJr.]

Hi I have a gourami that I’ve had for about 5-6 years now, it’s been flashing very violently. I feel so bad for it. It swims in circles, in my opinion it is very irritated externally. It is scratching against different surfaces, and when it goes in circles it looks like it’s trying to reach an itch on its body. I have done water changes recently and I will admit I have really been slacking on cleaning the tank properly of the waste and old food, but it’s pretty clean now and I’ve done enough water changes. This is also day four today of General Cure treatment, which I was pretty sure would work, but the fish is still flashing and looking extremely irritated at times. Other time it’s just sitting there looking sad. I tried to feed him yesterday and the other two fish in the tank were eating, but my gourami just moves away from the food and looks depressed. Is the General Cure working? Should I try something else? Thank you for reading.

 

[ReggieJr.]

And I also noticed a week or two ago around the same time he started flashing he had a red spot on the rear end of its body like a blood spot. When I did immediate water changes it seemed to help but then a day or two later it would start back up again. Now it’s flashing everyday and looks beat up near the head like he’s scratching and bumping his head against things

 

[Big G]

Seachem's Polyguard is a wide spectrum med that treats a variety of conditions. Highly recommend it.
How's the ammonia levels in the tank?

 

[ReggieJr.]

I’m not sure but the ph is normal not sure if they have any correlation with one another ph right at 6.8

Actually I am wrong ph is actually 6.0 I just checked is that too low? Probably because I did Water changes did one right before general cure and also added aquarium salt

 

[ReggieJr.]

I checked ammonia it is at .5ppm

I got a test from pet store that says NH3/NH+4 on the chart

 

[Big G]

Ammonia is too high. It burns the fish's gills making it difficult to breathe.

 

[ReggieJr.]

Thank you very much. I started Ammo Lock yesterday around 5 he flashed again a few hours later. He actually looked a little better mind later after I put the Ammo Lock in, but as I said I heard him flashing a few hours later. Didn’t actually see it. The instructions say to treat every 48 hours until there is no trace of ammonia on test. I’m also assuming it is safe to use carbon filter again, I took it out due to general cure treatment, which today is the last day of treatment I also want to finish up with that and replace filter today.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Depending on type of guorami, dwarfs mainly live 3-4 years in captivity whereas giant guorami can go 10 years. Sounds like a bladder or other internal issue. FW gourami respond well to maracyn and Maracyn 2 in your case.

 

[Angelwolf21203]

Are there any "cleaner" species for freshies? Similar to cleaner shrimp, or cleaner wrasses? My SW angel was acting the same way until I got a cleaner shrimp, and then over night he was so much better, and back to normal by day 2.

 

[ReggieJr.]

Depending on type of guorami, dwarfs mainly live 3-4 years in captivity whereas giant guorami can go 10 years. Sounds like a bladder or other internal issue. FW gourami respond well to maracyn and Maracyn 2 in your case.

Ok I bought some fritz maracyn oxy today. Maracyn 2 is not sold locally that was all I could find.

And this is a dwarf I’m assuming, it’s only about 3.5 inches. I was thinking today and I know I’ve had it for at least 7 years. I’ve lived where I’m at now for about 25months , was at the place before for about 28 months. And when I was at the place before that I purchased the fish about 2-3 years before I moved. I’m pretty sure of it. Bought him before my roommate moved out. Stayed in that place about 2 more years before moving

 

[ReggieJr.]

I also had a puffer had him 1-2 years before this gourami he died in December. The tank was actually brackish for the majority of this gouramis life

 

[vetteguy53081]

He's an old man and that's great longevity !!

 

[ReggieJr.]

Thanks for the help, unfortunately it flashed again this morning and I put some ammo stop in the tank and he appears to have died and is sitting on the floor of the tank, discolored.