Blue dwarf gourami

**toolisj** · 02-27-2009, 07:15 PM

i have a blue dwarf gourami and have for a while. he's been fine in the past but suddenly stopped eating, either that or he wont eat when im around. i did an ammonia check and the ammonia levels are high, and i did a sizable water change yesterday, which inherently raised the ammonia levels temporarily because our city water has high levels anyway. but i have ammonia lock and made use of that. what could be the reason that he stopped eating? and how can i fix it?

**escamosa** · 02-27-2009, 09:58 PM

Just a couple of questions.
How long have you had the tank?
When did you add the fish?
Did you cycle the tank first? In the beginners corner there is a subtitle called "cycling" read that and it will give you a better understanding of what i mean about cycling.
I'm pretty sure if you have really high ammonia that's what's causing him not to eat he's probably quite sick.
Your ammo lock will turn the ammonia into a less toxic form but won't get rid of it.
Keep up regular water changes and try to get your ammonia levels down to under 1ppm. You may have to do 1 or 2 a day, make sure you use a dechlorinater every water change so that you dont kill off the good bacteria you need to help get rid of the ammonia.
Also if you can lower your ph level to about 6.5 or so it reduces the toxicity of the ammonia. This can be tricky because the high ammonia can give you a high ph reading so you can fill a bucket with water adjust your ph in the bucket first if you like and add it to the tank gradually.
But don't panic your at the right place for some help. If you get stuck ask more questions.

**toolisj** · 02-27-2009, 10:48 PM

I've had the tank about 6 months, i fought the cycling battle (and won), the ammonia is less than 1ppm, just a hint of it from the city water. i'll try lowering the ph and im trying to soften the water because our water is also relatively hard. anything else i should try?