First off I say hello to everyone, this is my first time posting but I have been an unregistered reader of this forum for a long time now and I have to say it's been very helpful. Unfortunately I register and post today to try and find out what to do with my 40 gallon. It's been running for only 3 months and although I've kept many fish over my life this tank has been horrid so far, but I can't figure out if it's the the fish that were infected when I purchased them. I have gone through the disease and treatment posts and have narrowed what I "THINK" I'm dealing with, but I've never had issues like this before so have no idea for sure.
In a month I've lost 4 golden gourami's to 4 seemingly different ways. The tank currently has in it 1 golden gourami (seems healthy still), 1 senegal bichir (4" and seemly healthy), 1 african brown knife (seems healthy but has a few tiny white scratch like marks on it's side), and 1 kribensis (looks healthy but in the last few days I've noticed it "wipe" it's body across the sand more than a few times).
Originally it had 3 golden gourami's and the bichir. The gourami's bullied the bichir some when he got too close but he never bothered them. The first gourami became bloated on one side and began to have clear poo (constipation) I gave it an Epsom salt bath and no luck, the next day it's scales pineconed and it died by that night (dropsy most likely). About a week later the second one started doing the same but becoming emaciated. I was told this can be a common problem with them and was giving them peas once a week to help battle constipation if that's what it was. When it started showing signs I removed both and put them in a 10 gallon. I was told over the phone from a different fish store that it may be an internal infection and to give them meds. They said give it to both since all 3 were from the same batch and it would probably show up soon on the 3rd. I gave them 2 doses of Clout as per what the fish store person told me and followed the directions of the box. That morning the 2nd one with the bloated side had gone down and become normal, the 3rd stayed normal. That afternoon the 2nd's side went all red like it was bleeding from the inside, I went to the LFS to ask them they said to water change and keep an eye on it. When I got back home the 2nd one was on it's side and the bloody spot "blew up" the outter skin covering it was gone and there was a hole through it, (gross but kinda like if you popped a pimple)(suspected septicitis or tuberculosis. I removed him and brought him to the LFS, they told me that it was probably just the batch and gave me 2 new ones supposedly from a different batch. They told me the batch I had my original 3 from was unhealthy and the new batch would have healthier fish.
I put the 2 new ones in the 40g and left the 3rd old one in the 10g. My dad bought the krib and the knife between the old ones dying and new ones (there's a 2 week span in there). About a week ago the 3rd one from the old batch just started flopping about and died no bloated side or anything. This morning the male of the 2 new ones was acting normal in the morning (the female chased the male now and then for this past week I've had them) but this afternoon she chased him and I noticed him not being able to swim well, he was spinning while swimming and the flow of the filter was blowing him all over, within about an hour he went from the top to the bottom dead.
So needless to say I'm worried about the last of the golden gourami, none of the fish really fight with eachother, the bichir doesn't care (in fact is bullied by the gourami's), the knife sleeps all day in his hidey spot and roams the night in search of bloodworm I give him and the krib cruses the bottom building stuff in the sand (he occasionally chases fish out if they try to go into his pot but that's about it).
The question now is, is the tank infected with something that will affect the other fish, is there something I can or should do about it and what exactly did the previous ones have and can they spread or would they. Med options are extremely limited with the bichir and knife in there. The LFS just says it's probably the gourami batches. I've never had gourami's before and never will again after this. The gourami's,krib are/were fed flakes during the day and peas once a week, and while asleep at night bloodworm was added which the bichir and knife quickly gobble up.
I had added feeder guppies the other day (haven't really done that before) but all 10 were finished quickly (I think the bichir ate like 6
he's so small they stuck out of his tummy). Not sure if they caused the recent issue but it looked more like a swim bladder problem with his inability to stay at the right height or rightside up, and they were not there for the first 3 deaths.
The tank was suppose to be a temp tank till I get my 60 later this year and I had my water tested at my LFS and levels have been perfect they said ph 6.9, ammonia and nitrate levels around 0, etc. I do weekly 10% changes.
Before people say too much I had added the knife and krib and replacement gourami's because the LFS told me everything was fine.. but I'm really having a hard time believing that after today. Sorry for the long post but I tried to add as much info as I could to help decipher what's going on. I appreciate any help. P.s. looking for new good LFS.
In a month I've lost 4 golden gourami's to 4 seemingly different ways. The tank currently has in it 1 golden gourami (seems healthy still), 1 senegal bichir (4" and seemly healthy), 1 african brown knife (seems healthy but has a few tiny white scratch like marks on it's side), and 1 kribensis (looks healthy but in the last few days I've noticed it "wipe" it's body across the sand more than a few times).
Originally it had 3 golden gourami's and the bichir. The gourami's bullied the bichir some when he got too close but he never bothered them. The first gourami became bloated on one side and began to have clear poo (constipation) I gave it an Epsom salt bath and no luck, the next day it's scales pineconed and it died by that night (dropsy most likely). About a week later the second one started doing the same but becoming emaciated. I was told this can be a common problem with them and was giving them peas once a week to help battle constipation if that's what it was. When it started showing signs I removed both and put them in a 10 gallon. I was told over the phone from a different fish store that it may be an internal infection and to give them meds. They said give it to both since all 3 were from the same batch and it would probably show up soon on the 3rd. I gave them 2 doses of Clout as per what the fish store person told me and followed the directions of the box. That morning the 2nd one with the bloated side had gone down and become normal, the 3rd stayed normal. That afternoon the 2nd's side went all red like it was bleeding from the inside, I went to the LFS to ask them they said to water change and keep an eye on it. When I got back home the 2nd one was on it's side and the bloody spot "blew up" the outter skin covering it was gone and there was a hole through it, (gross but kinda like if you popped a pimple)(suspected septicitis or tuberculosis. I removed him and brought him to the LFS, they told me that it was probably just the batch and gave me 2 new ones supposedly from a different batch. They told me the batch I had my original 3 from was unhealthy and the new batch would have healthier fish.
I put the 2 new ones in the 40g and left the 3rd old one in the 10g. My dad bought the krib and the knife between the old ones dying and new ones (there's a 2 week span in there). About a week ago the 3rd one from the old batch just started flopping about and died no bloated side or anything. This morning the male of the 2 new ones was acting normal in the morning (the female chased the male now and then for this past week I've had them) but this afternoon she chased him and I noticed him not being able to swim well, he was spinning while swimming and the flow of the filter was blowing him all over, within about an hour he went from the top to the bottom dead.
So needless to say I'm worried about the last of the golden gourami, none of the fish really fight with eachother, the bichir doesn't care (in fact is bullied by the gourami's), the knife sleeps all day in his hidey spot and roams the night in search of bloodworm I give him and the krib cruses the bottom building stuff in the sand (he occasionally chases fish out if they try to go into his pot but that's about it).
The question now is, is the tank infected with something that will affect the other fish, is there something I can or should do about it and what exactly did the previous ones have and can they spread or would they. Med options are extremely limited with the bichir and knife in there. The LFS just says it's probably the gourami batches. I've never had gourami's before and never will again after this. The gourami's,krib are/were fed flakes during the day and peas once a week, and while asleep at night bloodworm was added which the bichir and knife quickly gobble up.
I had added feeder guppies the other day (haven't really done that before) but all 10 were finished quickly (I think the bichir ate like 6
he's so small they stuck out of his tummy). Not sure if they caused the recent issue but it looked more like a swim bladder problem with his inability to stay at the right height or rightside up, and they were not there for the first 3 deaths.The tank was suppose to be a temp tank till I get my 60 later this year and I had my water tested at my LFS and levels have been perfect they said ph 6.9, ammonia and nitrate levels around 0, etc. I do weekly 10% changes.
Before people say too much I had added the knife and krib and replacement gourami's because the LFS told me everything was fine.. but I'm really having a hard time believing that after today. Sorry for the long post but I tried to add as much info as I could to help decipher what's going on. I appreciate any help. P.s. looking for new good LFS.
