Dwarf Gourami Dead.. Help me replace him...

[lilsilkk1112]

Well, I got home from a weekend away and my dwarf gourami was dead *thumbsdow

He had some sort of gunky fungus stuff all over his head. Must be the same thing his tankmate died of about 1.5 months ago... it hit fast though. Any clue what it could have been? He was fine when I left Friday afternoon.

Now, the question is, what to do with my 10g.

The contents are 5 Zebra, 2 Cory.

Should I simply add another Neon Dwarf like I had? How about 2 Honey Dwarf Gourami (they stay smaller)? How about something else?

I'll take all suggestions into consideration, but I'd like something bright as my other fish are duller colors...

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Was it white? Well if it was it could be a common case of "Ick"

 

[lilsilkk1112]

it was white, but kinda looked like fuzzballs hanging off him... i was told my other dwarf that died, like i said, had a fungus?

any suggestions for a replacement? I'm kind of skeptical of the neon dwarfs now after seeing 2 get fungus and die.

How bout' honey dwarfs (pair?) or could i fit a small (5) school of a small fish in there. lets say, cardinal tetra for example? Or would I be pushing it with 5 Zebra, 5-6 Cardinal, and 2 Cory?

 

[lilsilkk1112]

The other thing I was thinking was to lose my corys and add a pair of Dwarf Cichlid?

Banded, Agassiz, Cockatoo?

I think I read that these Cichlids could live in a 10g. with 4-5 Zebra or Whitecloud minnow?

HERE IT IS:
Apistogramma Aquarium

• Apistogramma cacatuoides - 1 pair
• Tanichthys albonubes "White Cloud Minnow" - 4


• Apistogramma bitaeniata - 1 pair
• Brachydanio rerio "Zebra Danio" - 6


• Apistogramma agassizii - 1 pair
• Tanichthys albonubes "White Cloud Minnow" - 4

 

[Angelfish]

Doesnt sound like ICH at all to me, more like a fungus.
Id just get another dwarf gourami for your tank, and leave it at that. But if you want to completely re-do fish which it sounds like you may, then yes you could do a pair of dwarf chiclids and 4 minnows or whatever other tiny fish you want.

 

[Gomer]

[Rant]
What?...no "My poor fish died!" "I'm so sad" "What should I do"

come on....you have a responsibility to figure out WHY your fish got that whatever fungus. The last thing you should worry about is how to "fill the void".

Fix the problem, don't bury it

[/Rant]

 

[FroggyFox]

I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm with Gomer on this one. This is the second fish you've lost to the same thing in less than 2 months, don't you think you ought to do something to make sure it doesn't come back...figure out what it is? Your other fish aren't as susceptible to stuff, so chances are whatever kinds of fish you put in there are going to keep dying off while the fungus or whatever it is is still present.

 

[lilsilkk1112]

What the heck would you like me to do to figure it out?!

I'm not a total moron. I've tested every water parameter and they are all fine. 78 degree constant. I feed them once a day, every day. 25% Water Change every week on Thursdays with dechlorinator. Tablespoon of Aquarium salt to reduce stress and prevent disease about every 6 weeks or as needed. Lights on and off by timer 10am-9pm.

I'm doing things right here, I have no clue why the Dwarfs got fungus unless the batch at the LFS has this lying dormant in them?

Everything else in the tank is fine as well... Would you like me to disect the fish to figure out what is wrong with it?! Don't try to make me sound like a bad fishkeeper here when you have no clue... Holy hell people...

EDIT: The fish was also perfectly fine until I left. He would eat out my hand and showboat about... Had a lot of character. Come home and boom, dead. Checked everything like i said. Nothing wrong... Throw me a bone here, you fish-keeping gods. What should I do to figure it out.

 

[Gomer]

No one ever said you were a moron


If just seemed like a "cold" post.

no worries if you did try. Did you try any of the fungal medications?

What do you mean LOOSE your corys? THe corys are so fun
The onlything to worry about with the dwarf cichlids is the pH requirements.

 

[aspiringangel]

I would be careful about dwarf gouramis - not only have I had fungus problems, two other people I know have also had fungus problems with them. I managed to save gouramis from evil fungus twice now - unfortunately this last bout was too much and despite my best efforts, she died on the weekend. Mine were honey. My one friend had a cinnamon and the other had a neon blue. All the same thing. All parameters in all tanks were fine. They, too, as well as me, had other fish living in the tank that never did and never have had that problem. I'm wondering if dwarf varieties are more susceptible? But I doubt I will ever try any dwarf variety again after all these problems, and I'm not the only one to experience them.
I like the cardinal idea though, they're nice fish, and colourful. Brighten up any aquarium! I have NO experience with cichlids, so I won't yay or nay that one. They're pretty though.

 

[lilsilkk1112]

I didn't get to treat the fungus. He had no signs of it on Friday afternoon, but when I came back Sunday afternoon he was gone... No chance for fungal meds.

About the Corys, I didn't mean throw them out, I meant return them for credit on the dwarf cichlids.

I'm going to keep researching fungus while deciding on what I'll do fish-wise. I'm going to go to the smart LFS around here too and see what they say... Maybe they know if dwarfs are fungal blooms, so to speak.

Thanks for the help.
-S

 

[FroggyFox]

I think just like parasites...even if the fish die and are removed who have fungus (like yours) the fungus may still be alive in your tank. I think a responsible move would be to treat the tank with fungus medication for the prescribed amount of time.

Sorry if I sounded judgemental at all, but your comments sounded to me like the attitude of "hey no problem he died and now I have more room to put fish in." Not that you have to dwell on it, but taking steps to assure that the same thing didn't happen to more of your fish sounds reasonable/responsible to me. Its entirely possible that the two deaths of your gouramis weren't related, and that its just a "dwarf gourami thing" like aspiringangel suggests.

 

[lilsilkk1112]

Sorry I came across as I didn't care.

He was my favorite fish ever, like I said... He did all types of awesome things include eat flakes right out of my hand!

Either way, I went to the LFS and took my large, bully longfin danio with me and purchased a pair of Honey Dwarf Gourami both at about 1" each. I took the Longfin Zebra out to provide less of a bio-load, plus he bullied the smaller, non-longfin zebras constantly.

I also picked up some sort of parasite/fungus treatment and am using it at 1/2 strength for now. Its a pretty large bottle that can be used for more than 1 treatment session, so hopefully if it is still in there it'll be cured out. It says add two drops per gallon, but i'm just going to go with 1 for now, since the tank is very clean and healthy otherwise. I am leaning towards it being a dwarf thing, but this treatment should do the trick of preventing it again.

Signing off... sorry again for coming across like I didn't care. Things should go ok now and if any signs of fungus show up again, i'll be sure to use the full treatment....

 

[slurpor]

I had the same thing happen. All parameters were tip-top and stable, water was clean, salt added, etc. I did everything to promote healthy fish, and they all appeared healthy. Then I went away for a weekend and returned to find my biggest, healthiest dwarf gourami was dead. As for determining the cause- have you ever seen a gourami after it has naturally decomposed for a day or two with snails, shrimp, and/or other fish picking at it? Sorry for the gory imagery, but it's hard to visually determine what actually killed the fish if you find it a day or two after the fact. In my case, I medicated with AquariSol for over a week before buying any new fish, and watched for any signs of disease in the remaining fish. If there is still disease lingering in the tank, then any new fish will probably just catch it and die, so it's best to be careful.

 

[lilsilkk1112]

ACTUALLY... Aqaurisol is the stuff I got too... Hehe.

Hope it works!

I acclimated them with about a 45 minute "drip" process I read about on here where you slowly change them over to the new water... They seem totally happy in there now, and as noted, im treating the tank to kill anything lingering. Weird thing is, the first Dwarf who died to the same thing died about 2 mo. ago and it took this long for dwarf two to get it?!

 

[jaws2]

i am sorry about your loss i think if you watch the fish that it will be fine good luck

 

[aspiringangel]

Good luck with your dwarf honeys - they are my favorite of all the dwarf gouramis! Heh the first time my male started spawning (the first time I had them - a couple years ago) and he got that black stripe down his belly, I panicked and called my LFS - and was calmly told 'It's okay, he's just ready to mate.' I swear, the tone of voice from the guy on the phone was like 'You idiot.' That's okay. Their mating dance is the cutest thing ever!