Finfern honest freshwater care

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Croaking Gourami Vet-Prep Sheet

Fish vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. Print it and keep it by the tank.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it's a vet trip yet? Run the symptom checker or the water-parameter interpreter first — many worries turn out to be a water or husbandry fix.

Finfern honest freshwater care · finfern.com
Croaking Gourami — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find an aquatic / fish vet — before you need one

  • Search the WAVMA aquatic-vet finder (the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association) — or search "aquatic / fish / exotics vet near me".
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you treat fish?" Few vets do — and ask the exam fee while you're on the phone.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of a crisis.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it by the tank.

My fish vet
My croaking gourami
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

Act promptly — starting with a water test — if you notice any of these:

  • Fish gasping at the surface, clamped fins, or sitting listless on the bottom: stop feeding and test the water now for ammonia, nitrite (both should be 0 ppm) and nitrate. A spike or an un-cycled tank is the usual cause - do a water change and correct it, then seek help if it persists.
  • It never surfaces for air, or seems to struggle to reach the surface: check the lid gap and that the surface is clear (no film sealing it over) and that flow is not too strong - an air-breather that cannot reach humid surface air is an emergency.
  • A jumped fish found on the floor, or gaps around the lid: this species jumps - close every gap around filters, heaters and cords immediately.
  • Sudden hiding, loss of colour, refusing food, or no more croaking in a previously settled fish: usually a sign of chill, too much flow, bullying, or a water-quality slip - review temperature, flow, tank mates and parameters.
  • White spots, cottony fungus, ulcers, rapid breathing or fin rot: signs of disease or poor water. Quarantine if you can, test and improve water quality, and consult a knowledgeable aquatics vet or a trusted fish-health resource - do not guess at medications.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Test your water NOW — ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature — and correct the obvious (a big source of trouble is ammonia / nitrite).
  • Keep the fish in its own stable, dechlorinated tank water.
  • Move it to a hospital / quarantine tank if you already have one set up.
  • Keep the tank calm and dimly lit — stress makes almost everything worse.

⛔ Don’t

  • Don’t tip in OTC, aquarium-shop or forum “cures” blindly — many are harmful or just mask the real problem.
  • Don’t make a big sudden water change or swing the parameters.
  • Don’t add salt or medication without knowing the cause.

🎒 What to bring

  • A recent water-test result — ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature. Water quality is the root of most fish illness and the first thing a fish vet asks about.
  • Clear photos and a short video — it may not show the behaviour or symptom in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • Only if the vet advises transporting the fish: the fish in a bag or tub of its OWN tank water.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Temperature
22-28 C (72-82 F); aim for a stable 24-27 C (75-81 F) on a reliable heater. It is a tropical fish, so do not keep it unheated at room temperature.
pH
Soft and slightly acidic to neutral is ideal, roughly pH 6.0-7.5. Reported tolerances run wider (SeriouslyFish 5.0-7.5; FishBase and UK retailers 6.0-8.0), but it colours up and spawns best on the softer, more acidic side. Stability matters more than chasing a perfect number.
Hardness
Soft to moderately hard. SeriouslyFish gives 1-15 dGH as the target; FishBase and UK sources list a wider 5-19 / 5-20 dH tolerance. Soft water (about 1-12 dGH) suits it best. KH is not critical, but avoid very hard, alkaline tap water.
Minimum tank
A single pair does well in a 60 x 30 x 30 cm tank, about 54 litres (14 US gallons) - that is the SeriouslyFish footprint and the honest floor. Pet-shop labels often quote 40 L / ~10 gal; that scrapes by for one fish, but the 60 cm footprint gives far better surface space, cover and water stability. For a small group go wider and longer, not just taller: floor area and surface area matter more than raw volume for a slow, surface-breathing fish. Never a bowl, vase or unheated nano cube.
Filtration & flow
Gentle. This is a slow, surface-oriented fish from still and sluggish waters, so use a filter with mild output (sponge filter or a baffled/low-flow filter). Keep the surface calm but not stagnant; strong current stresses it and stops males building a bubble nest. Cycle the filter fully before adding fish.
Diet
Micro-predator / omnivore leaning carnivore. Takes good-quality micro-pellets and flake, but relishes small live and frozen foods: daphnia, brine shrimp (Artemia), bloodworm and other chironomid larvae, and micro-worms. A varied diet with regular live/frozen foods brings out colour and breeding condition.
Tankmates / temperament
Peaceful, shy and easily startled. Not aggressive toward other species, but males can be territorial with one another and around a bubble nest when breeding. It is a quiet micro-predator: anything small enough to fit in its mouth (dwarf shrimp, fry, the tiniest fish) may be eaten. Give it cover and calm and it will slowly grow confident enough to display and "croak."

⚕️ Most fish illness starts with water quality, not infection — bring a recent water test; it's the first thing a good fish vet will ask about. Fish medicine is specialised and few vets treat fish, so call ahead. Many aquarium-shop and OTC 'cures' are harmful or simply mask the real problem, so tell the vet exactly what (if anything) you’ve already added, and treat a sick fish in a separate hospital tank rather than dosing the whole display.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you treat fish? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my water or setup be the cause?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?