Gourami lying on the bottom.

[KyleBradley]

The giant gourami I just got has taken to lying on the bottom of the tank behind a rock structure and leaning on the back wall. She then stops moving his fins and just sits there. Every once in a while she will go to the top and do what looks like taking a breath out of the water. Then she settles back down on the bottom. Is this normal?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Have you checked the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?) or done a water change recently? Adding a 10" fish has got to put one heck of a strain on the bacteria in the tank, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you threw it into a cycle again. Try a big ole water change if you haven't done one very recently.

 

[Lotus]

Definitely check the water. It sounds like your gourami is sick.

A 10" fish is in no way equal to 10 fish that are 1" (think of how much that one fish weighs in comparison to 10 of your smaller fish). If that were my temporary tank, I'd be testing the water and doing water changes several times a week.

 

[KyleBradley]

I tested the water this morning because the fish isn't eating. The pH was low-in the 6's, so I added a pinch of baking soda. I also changed out 10-gallons of water and added some aquarium salt. I took the suction tube of the filter out and cleaned all the matter off of it that was restricting its flow.

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0-2.5

I also just saw for the first time today something I've been curious about-feces from that beast. I thought the kids had dropped a Tootsie Roll into the tank!!!! What do you do with that? Should I vacuum it out every time I see it? It's huge! So huge that I thinhk it displaces some water in the tank!!!

I've got a 55-gallon tank coming today, so I think that fish will be happier and healthier in that than the 39-gallon.

 

[kristar1982]

Gouramis breath out of water so this is normal. However, the fact that hes not swimming around is not a great sign. Besides an illness he just might be stressed out. You mentioned you just got him. Well, maybe the lfs just got him too and he hasn't been able to recover from that stress.

I never heard of the baking soda thing. I guess this is supposed to raise the ph. Is this safe for the fish?

 

[KyleBradley]

About the baking soda, one day while I was at PetCo, one of the sales ladies saw some pH UP in my basket and told me not to waste my money on it and to just add baking soda. She said the commercial pH raisers don't work. This is the first time I've tried it, but some people on this site have actually said it works and that the pH UP adds something bad to to the water, I can't remember if it's phosphates or what.

 

[Dan Steveo]

erm its not very unusual i just got a dwarf gourami yesterday and he went to the bottom and layed there but now he is swimming around really well it could be because of stress. have you checked your ph? if it is 6.5-7.5 then your ok.

 

[jeremy]

Yeah, but, you have had that gourami for about a month now, right? So, I dont think it would be stressed. Since it is so big, usually meaning it is older, it might just be nearing the end of its life, too.

 

[jwddboy]

Do you have enough places for it to go and hide/sleep. Quite a few fish will take to lyig or sittng on the bottom of the tank if they are stressed, ill, or there is nowhere for them to go. If You really dont know and cant diagnose anything yourself. Take him into your local petstore who will probably give him a few tests (maybe under sedatant if needed -perfectly safe) you a diagnosis for a small fee.