what does this mean

crey2907 · #1 ,

i have 2 dwarf gouramis 1 male 1 female. i dont no a great deal about these but was given them by a friend of mine.
anyway the females belly is getting lumpy and has started to go red and i dont no what this means... could she be ready for laying eggs or have i got something to worry about

Dano · #2 ,

It could mean anything right now. Reasearch diseases of Dwarf Gourami and watch the fish for a while for developments.

jellygirl · #3 ,

Hi Crey,

I have kept dwarf gouramis for a while. My female was a dull silver colour. It was the male who became quite colourful and went red around the 'throat' area.

The female did get slightly fatter before they spawned but not a great deal that you would particularly notice too much. They played a lot of hide and seek with the female staying right out of the way of the male. They only caught my eye on this particular occasion as the male started building a bubble nest first.

Is she eating and behaving normally? Perhaps you should look at some pictures of them on the net and see if you think it looks more swollen than them.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

Jellygirl

crey2907 · #4 ,

i have searched the net and the only thing i can find with swollen adomen is DGIV (dwarf gourami iridovirus) the symptoms are
1..loss of colour/her colour is normal but has got a bit of redness on her chest
2..decrease in activity and appitite/she is swimming well in and out of plants and eating with no probs
3..the apperance of sores and lesions/theres not a scratch on her
4..abdominal swelling/her abdomen is a little swollen and looks lumpy
i have put her in my ht and going to keep an eye on her.no4 is the only sympton she has of this so should i get worried and do you recomend i put the male in a seprate tank

Sharon · #5 ,

If she's swimming normally and eating well, I don't see any reason to be alarmed yet. The Iridovirus is a problem with Dwarf Gouramis, but normally, they show more signs than a swollen tummy. Maybe she's just fat, or eggy. I don't think I would have quarantined her yet...

crey2907 · #6 ,

thanks for that sharon, she seams to be fine, still a little lumpy so when i clean my tanks out later i am going to put her back with her family

Sharon · #7 ,

I think that is a good idea...no need to stress her, unless she shows definite signs of illness.