# Gourami Overboard!



## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

A few months before his 8th bithday, my blue spot/Opaline gourami decided to examine life on the other side of the glass. 

With a hop, skip, and one small jump for gouramis, one giant leap for fishkind, he managed to jump out of the tank, with the heavy wooden canopy closed, and ended up on the carpet in front. I don't know how he managed this but my best guess is he jumped out the back and flopped to the front. 

I have no idea how long he was out there (probably somehow touching cat litter, my kitty's box is next to the tank and she's a kicker) but he was kind of purple and not moving at all when I found him. First, of course, I had to yell "Fish! Fish!" but after that was out of the way, I grabbed him and threw him back into the tank. He kinda sunk at first and didn't move for a few seconds but all of a sudden began spazzing out and swimming all over the tank. 

He was mostly moving in a diagonal line from one side to the other and I started worrying that he might have litter on him. I netted him with a giant net (This guy is well over 5 inches) and held up at the top for a bit where he finally evened out and I couldn't see any litter on him. I let him go and he's been swimming fine, and I assume the only reason he's alive is that he's a labyrinth fish and can breath atmospheric air.

In all the years I've had him he's never tried to jump out of the tank before! I don't know what got him all riled but he definitely has some damage to show for his trip. The bottom lobe of his tail and a spot on top of his head is tinged kind of purple/black due to lack of oxygen and his slime coat is completely messed up. I added a heavy dose of stress coat to try and rebuild it but I'm not sure what else I can do for him. The water is clean because I just changed it a few hours ago so I'm hoping that helps. 

For now, I put 1/2 of my old glass top on towards the back just in case anyone else has any ideas about jumping. Shouled I invest in some of that egg crate to keep jumpers in or does this sound more like a one time deal? I think I've had one other fish jump out a the tank before, and he went out the back a few years ago and I didn't find him till he was as hard as a rock. Maybe I should just screen the back?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

All you can really do at this point is keep the water clean and watch for signs of infection on any of the damage. I wouldn't medicate unless I saw fungus or bacterial infection start up in the next week or so. Generally, if they make it back in and start swimming, even after swim bladder damage they can heal up on their own, given water quality is optimal, non stressful situation etc. Fins and slimecoat will come back if that's all in check. Of course there are exceptions, like on bettas where you end up battling some type of fin rot.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Poor guy! I'm glad you found him in time! Stress coat, in my opinion, is always a good option to help initial recovery from something like that, but otherwise, I agree, just keep the water clean and he should be fine. I accidentally smushed the head of one of my lady bettas between the glass and the magnetic algae scraper (she swam right in between as i rounded the corner and the 2 pieces separated for less than a second....too curious she is :tongue She looked a little scraped up on algae scraper side, but she ended up fine. I did a heavy dose of stress coat to promote slime coat regneration where it surely gt scraped away on her poor little face, and then just did a couple more water changes than normal. That was about 6-8 months ago and so far she's still doing just fine! She is (and always has been) the most active of my lady bettas. Good luck!


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## Sterving (Dec 23, 2004)

One Big :fish:+ Kitty Litter = One Big Breaded :fish:... on the up side though, he's gonna make it back.


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Wow, this is an amazing story to tell (for both you and the fish). But I don't think he will go on another adventure any time soon. The outside looks a lot better from inside the glass. If this ever happens again to any of your fish and and they don't swim off, I would try the old fishing trick to necessitate em. Put him in your hand and gently push him along to move water through his gills. Its kind of like fish mouth-to-mouth.


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## dogdoc (Feb 26, 2006)

Must be a gourami thing. I had one of my pearls do the same thing. Except he landed on my five year old son's head. I hear from the other room...."Daddy, one of your fish got out". I'm thinking he found a suicidal floor surfer. Go to look and there is a gourami on the floor that looks bad. Kinda dried out. Went to touch him and he twitched. So I threw him back in the tank and off he swam like nothing ever happened.


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## bolivianram123 (Jun 5, 2008)

he was trying to do the finding nemo, minus the bags.


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

Haha yeah, something like that. I don't know what he was after but it must have looked real good since he must have gone out the back and flopped 4 feet to the front. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised considering he's strong enough to rip through my nets if he feels so inclined. He seems to be mostly okay but he must have been out there for a while because he has noticeable damage and he was definitely moist, not wet when I found him. 

The tissue on the middle end of his tail is very translucent and looks like it'll probably die off. His head looks better, but he has a few patches on his body where the slime coat was so damaged that the scales took damage underneath. The water is very clean and he seems to be eating but I am worried about the body patches. One is kind of whitish, like dead tissue (not fungus) and another is more red like irritation. 

I gave him another dose of stress coat but I'm wondering if I should add some melafix and pimafix just to ward off any infection.


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

I just had a chocolate gourami that jumped. I was pretty upset, as they were a pair. Now my lone fish is very skittish and won't come out.
I made a lid for mine

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/74231-no-jump-fish-lid.html


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Last fish I found out was a bulldog pleco. Right next to the tank dried out like a fossil. Sounds terrible but plecos look pretty cool when they're dried out. Got some glass covers cut for that tank soon after.


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

Nice.... a jumping pleco!


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

Hm his side is starting to look a bit more fuzzy so I think I'm gonna go for the pima and melafix after all. Anyone have complications with snails and plants?


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

If you are going to treat any fish, it should be quarantined.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Agreed, much easier. Aside from all the benefits of not treating the main tank, preserving plants and biofilter etc, it's easier to dose a small 10gl hospital tank or 5gl bucket, less meds = less money, less likely to OD etc. Then the same container can be used as a quarantine for an extra week or two after successful treatment. Just have to be sure to keep the water changed to avoid any ammonia build up, use Prime or Amquel Plus, add a small filter from an established tank during quarantine time or if the meds don't kill bacteria. The same filter can be used with carbon to strip out meds. I use a 5gl covered bucket with floating stem plants (silk or real, depends on meds) and either an airstone, small submersible UV, or a Red Sea nano HOB depending on the situation.


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

I usually QT all my sick fish/ new fish but won't have the room for it due to company staying with us :/ They're going to be here for a while, until the middle of October. 

Do people feel strongly that I still shouldn't medicate the main tank? I feel a little uneasy about leaving him to heal on his own.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, I'm not a fan of the unproven herbal concoctions, so I'm not sure what effect they have on the biofilter. Just make sure it won't kill bacteria ie your biological filter, doesn't kill plants, doesn't stain silicone, doesn't contain copper, and remember that everything you add to the water increases the TDS which will mess with your other fish that don't need to be medicated (another huge reason to use a hospital container, some meds can be unnecessarily harsh on the un-sick).

You don't have a 2' x 2' open square on the floor big enough to set a 5gl bucket and an air pump? House must be pretty small, or maybe it's too much of an effort.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Melafix and Pimafix combo killed the biofilter in my 29gal QT tank.


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

Hmm okay, so no treating the main tank. It's not so much the space, though the house is really small, as it is the relatives and their suitcases staying IN the space. I could set the bucket down in the middle of the room, but that would be very unwise for the safety of the fish from my relatives rampant cleaning and my fish-loving animals. 

Normally for QT I have a 5, 10, and 20high that go up on a high dresser where they are protected from hungry cats. I could probably put a bucket outside but that would leave him vulnerable not only to my animals, but the whole neighborhood's animal collection. I normally QT sick fish for at least a week and I just can't have a bucket in the middle of the bedroom or bathroom for a week...I could put him in a covered bucket in the middle of the room and medicate that for a day, but I'd have to put him back in that evening. I don't know if that would be beneficial or if the temperature change and medicine would just stress him out more. The tank has been getting up to 89 so I wonder how warm a bucket would get.


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

I lost two killies (a pair) within three days. Sad, because they were admirable little psychos. On the other hand, I'm kind of relieved that they went as a couple because I will never have worry about them again. Don't get Aphyosemion bivittatum. Not aggressive? My ass...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

No, I wouldn't bother QTing a fish if it was only for a day or so, not worth the extra stress of moving around etc.


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## Soujirou (Jun 16, 2008)

Since you have had your gourami for 8 years or so, have you used Melafix and Pimafix in the past with no problems? I ask because it is not recommended for Bettas because of their labyrinth organ it is usually not recommended for any gourami/anabantoid fish.


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

Haven't used them in years but it turns out I didn't really need to worry. The dead tissue has fallen off and new tissue is already growing in. The sore on his side is also healing, it's no longer red or open and has already healed over. I think I can just leave him be with extra clean water and he'll finish healing by himself.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Awesome! Glad you didn't have to resort to meds. :thumbsup:


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