Can anyone help tell me if my Gourami is sick?

[HeatherM]

Hey,
I have a Dwarf Gourami ( I think) and he is laying at the side of the tank. He is breathing, and the other one rarely leaves his side. My husband thinks maybe it's a girl laying eggs but reading some literature I found, I don't think so. Can anyone help, please.

[cocoa_pleco]

how are your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels? tank size? temperature?

[HeatherM]

I don't know the first three answers, but my tank temp is 78 and I have a 55 gallon Tank.

[cocoa_pleco]

how long has the tank been running?

[Ryuu]

Gouramis are hardy yet very sensitive fish, if the tank is cloudy, it is probably ammonia, if the tank is cleat check your pH. and post back, do you have a test kit?

[HeatherM]

I do not have a test kit. I should probably get one. The tank is very clear. He is up and swimming, but not very well. I read somewhere something about peas and gas? Any ideas about that?

[DragonGoby]

Before answering your question we need some info about your set tup...
Like :
How long since you start your tank?
Do you establish your cycle before putting your fish in it?
Do you establish your cycle with fish?
You need the test kit for ammonia and nitrite... That's the least for having an healthy tank... Those two chemical are nocive for your fish...And the fact that your water is clear doesn't mean that there's no ammonia...

In case you don't know what I mean by "establishing a cycle" here a quick explanation: your fish produce ammonia... After a while some bacteria will "appear" in your tank and begin to "eat" your ammonia and produce nitrite... After some moment, another type of bacteria will appear and eat the nitrite and produce nitrate.... Then you have a "cycle" established, in reference of the nitrogen cycle.... It takes some time to grow those bacteria in a tank and it's needeed if you want to get rid of ammonia and nitrite...
It's simplistic, I agree, but it gives you an idea...

For your problem, other things we need to know:
what's your schedule for your water change?
What's your tank size?
Do you age your water and do you dechlorinate it?
Do you have some plant? Are they any hiding spot?
Do you use a filter? What kind?
If it's a dwarf gourami, do you have two male or male and female? Because two male will certainly fight...
Have other fish in their? what kind?

I'm sorry, it's a long post, and I don't even give you an aswer, but it will give us an idea of the environment of your fish and will help us to help you...

If you want you can read the e-book on this site, there's a lot of good stuff in it, and look for post on the "cycle" process...

Best of luck with your friends and welcome here, you'll find some very knowledgeable people!!

[bandittcj]

For me a more important question is how are the other fish in the tank? If the rest of the fish are healthy and active, then it may just be a problem with the one fish and not the tank.