# Dwarf gouramis slowly wasting away



## Buggy

I had three dwarf gouramis-2 neon blue-1 flame. I've already lost one of the neon blues and the flame is in bad shape.

The first thing I noticed was they would start turning dark and the colors would get dull. Then they would get thin to the point of emaciation. They want to hide and stay at the top of the water but they still eat a bit. 
The first one lasted about a week after I first noticed the color turning. The flame is still hanging on for about three weeks now.

I did the water changes and that didn't help. Stats are: 29 gal, 0 ammonia; 0 nitrites; ~40ppm nitrates; 6.0 (approx) PH. Tank is a year old and I've had the fish about 6-7 months or so.

None of the other fish in that tank have any problems-it's only effecting the gouramis. The last neon blue is looking better but still not back to top form but I don't think the flame is going to make it much longer. I moved him to another tank (same params but a 10 gal) and that didn't help either.

Can anyone shed any light on this problem for me? Would medicated food possibly help? Are there any diseases specific to gouramis?

Thanks
Rita


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## mousey

Apparently gouramis tend to carry parasitic worms internally.
that said, perhaps it is the dwarf gourami virus again rearing it's head. there was an outbreak of it last year.Some stores stopped ordering dwarfs as they lost whole shipments of them. 3 that I bought up and died within a few weeks. Started to lose weight and then started whirling in the water.
If it is a virus, nothing helps.
IO figure that the breeders keep them on antibiotics and whatever else they do to get them to market and then when they get into our tanks and they don't have all the antibiotics given them, they are more susceptible to any diseases taht are endemic to our tanks.
the old salt had an article about this very thing just a week or so ago .
The same thing has happened to angel fish in the past-- about 30 years ago.
Check out dwarf gourami virus on the internet.


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## emc7

Getting skinny while eating sounds like an internal parasite to me. Many can be treated with medicated food, so definitely try it. If it is a virus, there is most likely nothing you can do.


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## TheOldSalt

Well, nothing you can afford to do, at least.

Internal flagellates are a common pest of gouramis, and they usually cause this symptom as well as head & lateral line erosion. 
Any good Metronidazole based medicine should help if it isn't too late already.


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## Buggy

Alrighty guys, thanks a bunch. It's probably too late for the flame but I will pick up some medicated food anyway and see what happens since I can't afford a bunch of other meds. 

If it is internal parasites, is it likely that the other fish in the tank, that aren't gouramis, can be infected too? Or is this something specific to the gouramis?
And if it's a virus, can the others catch it and what can be done about it? I'm not going to be a happy camper if my BP cichlid and bolivian rams get sick too. So far they are fine so maybe they won't get it.


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## Guest

Other fish can get internal parasites, but I don't think they'll "catch" it from the gouramis. Dwarf gouramis especially just seem really prone to getting parasites for some reason. I'm not sure why they are especially prone to them, but they are and its probably the most common disease/problem with DGs.

Definitely get some medicated food. I think Jungle brand makes some for parasites and that brand is pretty common in stores.


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## Buggy

thanks for the tip Kristin, I'll look for it at petco.


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