Fish: Re: [tropical fish club] sick Gourami

Chris,

What happens sometimes, when fish get constipation,the pressure building up
can exert a force on the swim (air) bladder, affecting this organ in it's
ability to stabilize the fish in mid-water. The fish is often seen to be
buoyed up to the surface. That the fish is now excreting feces, it wouldn't
appear as though it's constipated -- or perhaps the peas have only just now
loosened up the bowels. Please indicate if the fish is still floating at the
surface.

As for this fish glancing off the glass sometimes, can you tell us if this
looks intentional or just accidental, like it's disoriented? Most often,
white stringy poo is an indication of an internal digestive system disease
called Heximita. Usually, a fish having this does not eat; it's fortunate that
it still does.

I have no explanation for the glancing-off-the-glass behavior, as I don't
yet know if it's intentional or not. Nor do I fully know how it's been
behaving for the last two weeks to enable you to say that something is wrong with
it. It does appear that treating for Heximita is in store, but a more
complete description of the fish's behavior would be helpful.

For treating against Heximita, the tank needs to be raised preferable to at
least 88 o (or more, up to 92 o). You may use either Jungle Lab's Parasite
Clear (containing Praziquantel and Metronidazole) or a combination of Clout
and SeaChem's Metronidazole). As Metronidazole is not very soluable in
water, it should first be disolved in very warm (almost hot) water into a paste
and thinned out from there into a solution before adding it to the tank.
The reason for the 88+ o, is that Heximita thrives best at 86 o, and to get
the medications to work against it as intended, you need to exceed this
temperature, Metronidazole is not one of the more readily absorbed (internally)
medications either, and a high temperature will promote this better.

Ray</HTML>