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Our male bristlenose went belly up this afternoon, he is breathing extremly fast and wont move. The water levels are fine but the ph is slightly higher than normal at 7.4. Nitrite nil, ammonia nil. He has been pigging out on cucumber and zucchini all week and this is a new addition to his diet. He is not looking great, any ideas??

Thanks everyone for all that advice!! i didnt know they could escape, i will definatley need a lid!! On Tuesday i am off to the hutt to pick up about 20 tiny babies so will let you know how they get on.

I was feeding algae wafers, have since learnt that they need constant food and wood, was told by pet shop to only feed every other day and to take away uneaten food after 2hours.

About two months ago, i purchased 3 golden bristlenose babies from a breeder, They did really well for the first week then they stopped eating got air bubble type things under their bellies and died. I had them in an isolation tank within the community tank to stop them being eaten by other fish. They were only 2cms. I was advised by a lfs to only feed every other day, since found out that they need food constantly and i didnt have any driftwood, the water levels were good. I am picking up two more next week and i have set up a special tank to raise them up in, is there any thing else that i need to do?, or does anyone no what could of caused the air bubbles? I really dont want these to die.

Hi, This was quite a stressful experience, we lost 3 neons(that were healthy) and one dwarf gourami (that was sickly) I had a lot of different opinions about Metro, i used 250mg per 40litres leave in for 3 days then add carbon and do a 30% water change., and apart from those losses(which were more to do with the stress of moving them to another tank to treat) the 2 bristlenoses and the Male dwarf gourami are doing great, the male gourami had all the signs (extreme nervousness, white mucous,not eating) and is now alot less timid! the female bristlenoses tummy is now normal and they cant of been feeling well for a while as they have suddenly cleaned up the tank for me!! and are alot more active. I hope this is the end of this drama. The only thing that concerned me was the fish seemed to have trouble breathing, and were quite stressed. So maybe retreating and water changes might be better, i dont know i am far from experienced with this disease, but after treatment and a large water change the fish all came right. Hope this helps.thanks

Thanks warren, i will do that. I am going to give them a five day break, then i will try that. Thanks for all your help.

Oh my goodness! this fish hobby is turning out to be really stressfull. I have treated the tank, the fish have had a three day course, i have had to stop short of the fourth day as the fish were really stressed out, the neons and the tetras were not eating and seemed to be gasping for oxygen, so was my big gourami, the female gourami is still not looking great, she either sits on the bottom of the tank or floats around sideways at the surface, she can still swim around and will eat aswel every morning. Each day i expect to find her dead but she keeps going, i dont know whats wrong with her or what i should do. The other fish look great today, no signs of hex so i will treat them again in five days.

thanks warren, i think i will just have to wait it out an extra day, the rainbow tetra is not eating now and my smaller gourami not looking so good today, but the bristlenoses are really active today and eating great, so i dont want to stress them out any further. The big male gourami is picking on the female no end which i think is the reason why she is not doing well, but i am in a spot as i cant add any more females to the tank until i have finished treatment. The ph has gone up fron 7.0 to 7.4, do i need to worry about that?

change of plan!! today two of the fish are not eating so i have decided to give the tank treatment again without removing the fish and see how that goes, the bristlenose just has a constant string of clear mucous hanging out, and is not as lively as usual, so i need to do something, what is the safest high temperature i can have?, our tank is at 27already.

thats ok, im just grateful for the advice!! the neons looked like they got dropsy, their bellies just puffed up and they went all disorientated and died, everyone else is ok, even my big gourami is doing ok now. The bristlenoses are still showing signs, so i got some more metro(solution) and i have got enough to treat the whole tank so i will try that and see what happens, the female bristlenose isnt very lively so i have to do something. i will keep you posted.

Thanks for that warren, i might try that. they seem to be eating really well.

Thanks for that Al, so do i but today our big gourami male is not looking so hot. But the sickest one that was showing all the signs of hex, actually looks ok today.

I set up my tank to start treatment with a filter, heater. Sadly the filter broke last nite and woke to find 3 dead neons, my big gourami not looking hot either. The water was so cloudy i couldnt even see the fish! I have only treated them with two treatments 12hours apart but have put them back in main tank and hope not to see any more die. I know its not long enough but i will see how they go and if still showing signs i might get some more and treat the main tank. I see what you mean by white slimy stuff though, it was all over the drift wood that i put in for the bristlenoses. Thanks again for you help.

I have just put all the fish back in main tank as 3 neons died and other fish not looking great. Not long enouugh to finish course? Maybe i should of just left them in main tank and treated that?? The fish seem to be gasping for oxygen, they have an air stone, filter etc I have stuffed up somewhere along the way.

Well i went to the vets on friday, as suspected the vet had no idea about fish but he was very interested and gave me the metronidazole. Yesterday i set all of our fish up in another tank with a heater, and filter, air stone but the filter packed up last night. The water is so cloudy i cant even see the fish unless they are up against the glass. The water levels are ok, Ammonia nil, ph up slightly 7.4, nitrite nil. I did a water change today about 25%, some of the fish are acting a bit strange, disorientated, one neon not looking good. Am i doing this right, i dont want to lose any fish. i was going to do just three doses of metro, 12 hours apart and then put them back. They were not heavily infested i dont think.

I am off to the vet today with our gourami, lol! because i suspect several of our fish including our beloved bristlenoses have hexamita. I am hoping that he will prescribe metronidazole, does any one know if any of the following fish are sensitive to it. Neon tetras Rainbow tetra gouramis Bristlenoses (adults) Any advice on the best way to treat them? Sharn has already given me some great info, any other opinions or do's and dont's would be much appreciated. (The full story is under "disease in our tank?" ---Diseases.

Thanks Sharn for all your advice, its a real help!! When you say metro messes up the tank, what do you mean? does it affect the filter System?? I dont have another tank set up yet and most of the fish are showing symptoms, would it hurt to treat the tank? or should i look at getting another set up?

Several of our fish are now passing clear stringy poo!! I have no doubt its Hexamita. Our female bristlenose is definatly slightly bloated too, but they are still eating really well. I am going to take one of them to the vet (even though there is not much to see) and hopefully they will prescribe Metronidazole and if i need it in the future i shouldnt need to bring the fish in. Cant say i have ever taken a fish to the vet!!! lol But i am desperate now, i just hope she doesnt get too stressed. As our vet doesnt have much to do with vets, can anyone give me dose rates for metro, oral dosage and bathing dosage?? Thanks.

I am having trouble her tracking down some Metro, no one wants to give it out without a consultation, now my big bristlenose is passing the same stuff, now i am worried, i was advised to start garlic. So i have made up mashed zucchini with crushed garlic and have frozen them into little cubes, they seem to like it. And i will mix garlic into the flakes for the other fish and see if that helps. One petshop offered me furan 2 but said it may not help, true?? I so dont want to lose any fish, any other ideas??

Thanks for that, i might have to cut it down too then as we were advised to feed it once a week, and while we had our skinny gourami the LFS said up it to every second day (which the fish loved). I am a bit weiry of it now if its going to cause issues, mind you it says on the packet that it is bacteria free.

no we were feeding frozen blood worms but they partially thawed out on the drive home. We put them back and re froze them.

Thanks so much for that info!! It definatly sounds like parasites then as thats what happened to my poor gourami, Can i get metro from the vets without taking the fish in?? Our LFS said he had nothing for parasites etc. So i should stay away from blood worms then??? seems a shame as the fish love it, what could i give them as an alternative?

i posted some questions about our gouramis sitting on the floor of the tank alot and one was skinny,sadly the skinny one died yesterday. But just before she died she would not eat much and was passing a clear stringy thing from her back end, today i have noticed that our female bristlenose is also passing a clear stringy thing but there is also faeces in it too, she seems healthy and is eating well, but she also seems to have a slightly distended abdomen, i dont know if its normal for them or not, our male doesnt have it. Could it be possible that we have an infection in our tank, we lost a rainbow tetra last week too, it suddenly went all disorientated and died. Also i would like to know how often i should be offering the bristle noses algae tabs or pellets?? Can blood worms be contaminated?? it seems to be since i started offering blood worms that we are having issues. Sorry for a long list of questions but some help would be much appreciated as we are new to the fish thing and i dont want to lose any more fish. Thanks. I am about to do a water level check and will post the results but after getting our nitrite under control the water has been stable.

That was very interesting, hope its not!! thanks.

The scientific name for these gouramis is "Colisa Lalia" Dwarf Gourami. From the Belontiidae family. The goramis seem alot happier and are not on the floor of the tank anymore but there is one that is just getting skinnier by the day and seems constipated. She will scoff down blood worms which i have increased to every second day to try and fatten her up but i think we will lose her. When i offer flake food she will have one or two mouthfuls then swim off. The water levels are fine. Brought spirulina flake food today to try and ease constipation, but she wasnt keen, have also tried mashed peas. I feel we are at a stop now with her, the others seem ok now.