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I have 4 dwarf blue gourami's in a 10 gallon tank and all are doing well except for 1. He's very lethargic, hangs around the filter, looks quite "bloated" in the stomach area and on of his "feelers" is almost gone. Other than that LOOKS great. Any ideas? I tried salt, but didn't seem to make any difference. Help.

Hey, Welcome to fishprofiles.com and sorry we are getting to your post so late.

We always explore environmental issues first before considering illness. Any illness can be exacerbated if parameters are not perfect.

Since we don't know you yet, can you tell us if this is your first time fish keeping? How long has the tank been set up? We need to know if it has cycled properly before fish were put in. Any ammonia or nitrite can cause a problem and even tho other fish are not reacting yet, he could be more sensitive to lower levels.

If you have test kits, please post the following:

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Temp:

What kind of filter have you got on the 10 gallon. Is there anything else in it besides the gouramis?

Also, next question, what sex is this gourami? Male or female?

Any signs of bleeding around any of the fins? Might be difficult to see in a fish with natural red colour in the body, but look for it and see if the fin bases are inflamed and red.

Is the bloated condition accompanied by scales that stand proud of the body, giving the fish a serrated appearance when viewed from above? Or are the scales all flush with the body?

Does the fish show any signs of spinal curvature? Is it starting to look as if it's crooked in the body? Or is the body otherwise normal?

Someday, someone will write a form script for all of this

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002