# Questions about my Opaline Gourami - HELP



## gypsity (May 19, 2010)

I have read that opaline / 3 - spot / 2 - spot Gourami are all considered closely related, enough so that they may decide to interbreed. It seems mine have, as I believe my opaline is preggers









Now, if she is pregnant what do I do? I know that the male 3 - spot in my tank is the only likely candidate for dad (could the female golden gourami also mate with him I wonder?)

If she isn't pregnant.. then what is wrong with her? Could it be constipation? I need some guidance


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

She won't be pregnant in the same way that say a livebearer would. So she didn't get hit. She could be egg bound but I tend to think not. I would feed blanched peas. After I blanch them then I will crush them up to make kind of a paste. The fish really seem to go for that. 

It could be dropsy so I would read up on that a bit. Since gourami's are fairly smooth it might be hard to tell if they are "pineconed" If it is that far along it is my understanding that it can be very hard to save them. Start with the peas. It's a much more likely problem.


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## gypsity (May 19, 2010)

I have also read that for constipation you can add epsom salt to the water - and it won't do any harm to the other fish. Is this true? Because she won't eat the peas (tried that last night after reading some other posts here) Infact, none of the fish will touch them except the tetras. So is that a good idea or bad?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I know you can do that but I have no idea how much. Be careful with how much salt you use if you have smooth fish like cories or loaches. The gourami might be smooth enough that its more of a bother than a help. 

If they don't go for the peas add some garlic. Yumy  They will be more likely to go for it if it is mixed with the garlic. I had a tank where I had one fish with serious constipation and the only way I could deal with it was to serve peas and spirulina for a long long time to the whole tank. I had to add meaty stuff every now and then but that was not good for my pleco. Finally he got better after about 2 months. WOW. I had added some parasite meds to that tank after a few weeks because I was not convinced something else was going on at the time.


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## gypsity (May 19, 2010)

garlic huh? I have garlic. Will post with results. Thanks!


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## Torone (Apr 23, 2010)

i dont know if opaline can get it. but i had a Dwarf gourami that contacted DGIV (dwarf gourami irodvirus(sp?)) from the pet store. if you recently added any gouramis, and depending on how easy it is for that disease to spread from one species of gourami to another, it may have contracted that?

Is your gourami hanging out near the bottom, acting strange?


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## gypsity (May 19, 2010)

she is hanging out in the leafy plants maybe a bit more than usual, chases the gold / 3-spot around when they get close to her territory of the tank (as usual) Doesn't seem listless or odd really.


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