Skinny male Dwarf Gourami

[econerd]

well I have had my gouramis for a few months now and one of them has become very skinny. Theres no other symptoms, just really emaciated, and I cant work out why. his friend is fine, altho not grown in size as much as i expected.
ive got skinny boy isolated in a breeder trap for a bit to make sure he gets some food without any competition. ive not seen any aggression from any other fish towards him and both gouramis are very placid. in fact when we introduced them, the problem we had with our pushy silver tip tetras stopped without the gouramis actually doing anything.
Does anyone know what could be wrong with him, when i feed them i watch them sometimes and he comes up for food with the rest and doesn't seam to get bullied.

[imma24]

Good idea to separate him to make sure he gets plenty of food - in time you will see whether it's a lack of food or something else making him get skinny such as something internal.

[ekfishlover2011]

If he doesnt start to gain weight after a little while in isolation and the skinniness is still the only visible problem and you can see that he is eating, id think about maybe some kind of internal parasite, and treat for that.

[econerd]

Thanks. He has been eating in isolation. Been giving him little bits a few times a day to get him fed up. How long is a while? How long should it take to see a difference? And would internal parasites not affect all of the fish or is it possible only he has them?

[imma24]

Possible only he has them if he does. I would keep him in there until he looks normal again if that happens - no rush to move him back.

[ekfishlover2011]

Yea id say probably since hes eating so good find a medicine and give him a good dose of prazipro and see if he gets better

[econerd]

Well hes been on his own for a couple of days now and hes not looking quitee as bony as he was. So im gonna give him a couple more days and see how he goes. If it works im gonna try and really fatten him up and get some strength in him so he has a better chance of competeing.

[ekfishlover2011]

If hes fattening up without meds he must have trouble competing for food. In some cases with my pets if i leave them all alone for long enough they get so used to the joy of no competition that they become almost aggressive for food when stuck back in with others. Or at least thats what happened with my dwarf frog. Not sure if same applies here. Good to hear hes doing better!

[econerd]

Unfortunatly skinny boy came down with a case of white spot and died very quickly. I think it was because he was so thin he just couldnt cope with it all. I isolated him completely when i noticed it but i think the stress finished him off. Its was probably the best for the poor little guy as he just wasnt a well fish.
The day after i noticed the 2 otos were showing white spot and bob the beta was being very energetic and agitated. I got the treatment and administered it that day and by the next day most of the spots on the otos had gone bar one or two and bob was back to normal, by the day after that all the spots were gone. Ive just done the second dose as it says 4 days after the first does so fingers crossed thats it. It turns the water a bluey colour which fades after a day or so but im very impressed with it. Wasnt to happy to begin with having to spend £5 plus on it but was well worth it and its good for 500 litres. Hopefuly i wont have any more problems with it.
Ive also just added some bogwood ive had soaking for the last couple of weeks and the glowlights are loving it. Well there all loving it, keep playing around and under it. Need to try and find one for bob now that doesnt cost the earth and is small. Photo to follow.

[econerd]

Sorry its not to clear but i took it on my ipod. The fish love playing around the part that sticks up and going under it. Its like a little play gym for them. And its not leached to much tanin.