NataNZ Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi all, Is it normal for the dwarf gourami to swim up and down one side of the tank? Have wanted one of these fish for so long and I've just googled for more information and now am a bit paranoid. There are a lot of posts that say they come with viruses and parasites etc and that they need to be in quaranteen for a while. I don't have another tank set up to be able to do this. There are also a lot of posts saying use tank salt and melafix, can I still do this and not effect the other fish? I've heard that salt isn't great for bottom feeders and I have a couple of algae eaters, a striata loach, a red tail shark and and 3 Bolivian Butterflies. I would really really hate for the gourami to die, he's so gorgeous. I also had a Bolivian butterfly die 3 days ago, I did some tests and the amonia levels were quite high, diagnosed to dodgy filter, so went and brought a new filter. I still have one Bolivian Butterfly that looks a bit pale. Should I do another water change (did one 3 days ago)? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have had my tank set up for 9 months now and have just sold some fish so that I had to make room for new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 nothing wrong with doing a water change, you certainly wont make it worse. ive always had a teaspoon of salt in my 3ft, it was something a friend told me about years ago and ive always done it without adverse side effects, i have had bottom feeders at the time too, this behaiviourisnt uncommon, though it depends how hes doing it, ie. if hes contacting the glass etc or swimmingl funny it might be a parasite, or it might be that as it settles it will drop this behaviour and explore the rest ofthe tank. the Tiger bard i had used to do similiar, though it was a happy healthy fish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NataNZ Posted September 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Great, thanks for that. He does make contact every now and then. What parasite treatment would you recommend? Should I treat him even though I'm not sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 When you say he makes contact with the tank, what do you mean? Is he rubbing against things? Other than the swimming behaviour is there anything else that you can see that makes you want to treat him/her? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NataNZ Posted September 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 It's just his nose that makes contact with the tank, not his whole body. Other than that he has no suspicious behaviour. He does have incredibly long stools though, whether that is normal or not I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 my dwarf gouramis do poos that get more than twice the length of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NataNZ Posted September 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 hehehe it had me a big worried for a bit, thought it might be a worm or something ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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