# Worried about female cobalt blue dwarf gourami



## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

Ok for at least today and some of yesterday my female cobalt blue dwarf gourami has been acting odd... I am guessing she is being stressed out by the male. 

She has always seemed shy since day one usually hiding in the plants and sometimes coming out but now its worse than ever. 

I have filmed whats going on here- Female Cobalt Blue Dwarf Gourami acting off - YouTube

Water parameters fine - nitrite at 0, ammonia at 0, Nitrate at or below 40 but my tap supply is naturally around this anyway.

All other fish look happy and as usual, baby fry doing well.
Her mouth is moving a lot but I have seen her surface to replenish oxygen as per normal.

She does look a bit a bit fatter...maybe she is ready to spawn? I have seen dropsy before on Koi and it doesnt look like dropsy and swim bladder maybe a possibility but the other fish are all fine... 

I do have a breeding tank setup so do I go for it or....

I am thinking she needs a rest...should I put her in the breeding tank alone- its well planted and has an established filter and tank with same water parameters and is heated.


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

I took more pics with a better camera




























I have caught her vertical a few times but she does level out too and be in normal positioning


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

hmm so: faded color, i can see she is breathing rapidly too

Is it just me of on the photos do her scales look a bit like theyve sort of popped out a bit - giving her a bit of a pine cone like look?


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

Shes dead :-( come home to find her behind the filter :-(

She did feel a bit "rough" so possible dropsy...she was deffo swollen though 

So what do I do next?


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

yes dropsy was what i was thinking from them pics... a good water change now, and i dont suggest adding or replacing to your tank.


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

just a water change?


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

yeah, you can treat the tank with a bit of meds... usually id just water change if everyone else is looking happy


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

Ill do a water change as 7 fry look happy and so does everyone else. 

How much water do you think 50% or less/more?

The fish that died never seemed at home from day one about 2 weeks ago to tell you the truth, always hiding rarely coming out or leaving bottom of tank :-(


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

in which case it may already have been ill, or seriously stressed out. 

Yes about 50-70% should be fine


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

Yeah thats what I am thinking.

Wow ok a big 1 thats 5 to 7 buckets! Is there anything I can buy to lower the nitrate from my tap supply...its at or around the 40ppm mark and Id be happier if I was adding a lower amount to the tank in future....what about mineral drinking water?? I can get this stuff quite cheap!?!?


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

hmm you could buy RO water from the pet shop.


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

dont I then need to play chemist with packets of various mineral powders adding the good stuff back to the RO water?

We have an american fridge with an inline filter...its water tastes far better than tap...I will test this out of interest.

I am planning to be a RO unit or de-nitratefier tap filter when I get paid

Thanks for your replies btw


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

ahh here we go! your in the USA arent you! most USA tap water is 40... ideally a tank should be no higher than about 5-10... RO water is an acceptable subsititute for tap water.

*Water changes* – Performing regular water changes with water that has little or no nitrates will lower the overall nitrate level in the tank. *RO/DI water is an excellent choice for keeping nitrate levels low.
*
*Keep live plants* – Live plants utilize nitrates, and will help keep nitrates in check.

*Use nitrogen removing filter media* – Instead of an expensive denitrator or special filter, use special media in the filter you have. Although they will not lower nitrates dramatically, if used together with other methods the net result will be beneficial.


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

No I am English and in the UK. I kid you not my tap water has high nitrates deffo about 20-30 Id say.

Ill find out how much it costs at my LFS and will need to buy containers :-(

I have live plants so will see about adding more - also means more hideouts for future gourami.

I will look into denitrifying filter mediums tomorrow at the LFS.

thanks 

PS- What about deionized water?


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

my RO water costs £4 for 30 ltrs. the bottle cost £5 but you get to keep that. So over all its not massivly expensive to use RO.


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## karlb123 (Jul 20, 2009)

Ok thats cool 

I will still test the water coming out of my fridge too!


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

sure, just remember to warm it up befor you put it in!


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