Hi,Hope everyone's well.

Not posted on here for ages although I've been reading the forum everyday.

I decided to set up my 90/95 litre tank again after 5 months of it being empty.I gave all the former residents away,including almost 100 crystal red shrimps which started out as only 5, because I decided to get another puppy.

I cycled the tank to 4ppm and used Seachem fluorite dark for the substrate,bought lots of new plants,a new fluval U2 filter, a rena smart heater and an Arcadia Ellipse Pro Plant light unit as I am hoping I won't have to keep replacing plants as often as I used to.

I bought 10 spotted blue eyes and 1 dwarf gourami.The guy told me that there was no incidence of DGIV where he got his stock from.They all seemed healthy and the gourami is so cute and was friendly from the start and not the least bit shy.He takes food from my fingers and spits water at me if I am not quick enough with the food after lifting the condensation tray.

However after 5 days I was watching them all swimming around and doing fishy things and they all seemed fine. Then I went to let the dogs back in which took literally 10 seconds and went straight back to the tank.1 of the blue eyes was vertical and swimming frantically to keep from sinking. It happened so quickly that I was wondering if it had been haed butted by the gourami and winded.The next morning there was no sign of her and I couldn't find the body so maybe she had been eaten.The next morning another was missing and again I couldn't find the body.2 days later I noticed another 1 hanging around at the surface and it was dead the following morning and the same thing happened to another 2.
It's strange how they only die 1 at a time and not together as you would think they would if there was a problem. Then all was well for 6 days and I thought maybe things were ok now and maybe the weaker ones had died due to stress of transportation but I thought too soon!

Last night I noticed 1 hanging around near the surface when only minutes before they were all swimming about and being playful.Within another 10 minutes it was obvious that it was going to die as it was almost lifeless and upside down so I decided to end its suffering with clove oil.

I have just looked in the tank again (getting really paranoid now)and another 1 is hanging around at the surface.
They all seem to hang around under the dwarf water lettuce when they are on the way out.

I was wondering if maybe the dwarf gourami does have the virus and although he isn't showing any symptoms he has passed it on to the blue eyes. I examined the latest dead 1 with a magnifying glass but there are no obvious signs of any illness.

I'm reluctant to buy more to boost their numbers again incase I am just signing their death warrant,until I know what is causing it.

Ammonia and Nitrite 0,

Nitrate 10
Ph 7.4
gh 10 drops
kh 6 drops

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me before I give up.

Many thanks in advance.

Lynn

The DG virus isn't transmissible to Pseuomugil gertrudae so that can be ruled out.

The only things I can think of are that your hardness and pH are close to their upper limits and they are known to be very sensitive to even small fluctuations in water chemistry so it's usually not advisable to put them in a newly cycled tank.

The other possible factor given their tendency to hang around near the surface is too little oxygen - they do need a reasonable flow of water and surface disturbance. The final possibility is that the DG is harassing them or out-competing them for food. He's a good deal larger and more aggressive than they are and not an ideal tank mate

Hi Fishlady,
Thanks for the reply.

I googled for ages before buying them and everywhere seemed to suggest they got on fine and that dwarf gourami were peaceful fish and I only decided on the pseudomugil because you had once recommended them for my water parameters when I first started out. The tank had been cycled for over a month before I eventually made my mind up as to what to get and I just kept dosing with ammonia until the day before they arrived and then did a large water change.I suppose that still wasn't long enough though.

I have never seen the gourami bother them and I watch them for ages and usually end up missing the programme I'm supposed to be watching on tv. He doesn't even seem to notice them half the time.
I've only ever seen him chase one once and that was when it went right up to his nest but as soon as it moved away he left it.

They get plenty to eat as some of the food sinks quickly and they are always rooting around for it.Infact most times it's the gourami that doesn't notice that it's feeding time and I have to put a bit more in for him as the little blue eyes have eaten most of it.
Last night I gave them some Delica bloodworms and when it sank they were all picking at it from the same place and the gourami wasn't the least bit bothered and happily let them share it with him.

I have an airstone on 24/7 and there is a reasonable flow of water so I would think that it isn't due to too little oxygen either.

So I'll just take it that it's because it's a newly cycled tank then and will wait a while before getting anymore.I'm just worried that now there are only 4 left they will be unhappy in such a small group and that will cause them all to die.I feel really bad now for me being the cause of their deaths,poor little fish.

Thanks for your help anyway, as always, and I am relieved to hear that it isn't DG virus.

Have you check for water chemistry fluctuation? Maybe there's something that cause' the the water to change during a certain time of day?

Also did you use treated water for water change? I find that fish with this size are very sensitive to un-treated water.

Also did you notice anything weird on their body when they die?

Yeah I leave the water to stand in buckets for 24 hours and then treat it with Prime before adding it to the tank.

No there was nothing weird on the bodies.I even looked at them with a magnifying glass but could still not see anything weird.

The strange thing is that they don't all appear to behave strangely at the same time which I would have thought they would do if it was anything to do with the water as they are all in the same tank and therefore all subjected to the same conditions at the same time.One will behave strangely and then die and it can be anything up to 5 days before another one does the same and then dies.

The one that was behaving strangely earlier on appeared to be fine again after half an hour but is now hanging at the surface again. Or it could be a different one,they all look the same apart from the one male that is left.

I think it might be what Fishlady suggested about a newly cycled tank but then again why does it only seem to affect one at a time?

Just like humans I suppose. Not everyone dies of an illness at the 'same' specfic time. Many factors to take into account and some fish cope better for a while.

Sorry for the losses though

Thanks Violet