ooh are the injurys the nasty browny looking patches ouch!

Yep...on the right hand side near his eye, on the left all don his body and the top and bottom of him. Just watching him now and he looks like he is struggling to stay up right, keeps leaning over to one side. Never a good thing is it!

Maybe I'm hoping a little here, but as far as I can see on the video, his dorsal fin (the top one, along his back) seems pretty battered. This fin is used to stabilise the fish from rolling, which could be the reason he can't stay upright!

Hopefully this'll be the case, and it'll grow back to a reasonable degree.

Thanks very much for that...been wondering what these were for lol. I hope it grows back!! He can stay upright whilst swimming just not whilst floating

fish are tougher than we give them credit for.

I had almost the exact same problem with a 11" silver shark, it got stuck between some artificial coral and in the process of trying to wiggle free, took several large chunks...and I mean chunks out of his body and head. It look so bad, I couldnt grip him and had to use a towel, he had a large '10pence' size hole across his head, and similar chunks around his body. You could see right inside him...gross I know!

However, with plenty of water changes and good water stats, over the next week, he healed up really well and is now back to normal...well, he has a lil dint in his head. But no abnormals noticed, so all seems well.

Another story...if I may, to give you an idea of how tough some fish are: a friend of mine has a friend in Italy. He says on a certain day there is a market, and people turn with plastic carry bags for the fish, trout etc, they buy the fish, put it in the carry bags...no water...just the fish...still alive! they then walk/get the bus home, and put it in the bath with water until they are ready to cook it.

Now that is just rank! lol

Cheers for the story about your fish mate. It has intrigued me too about the salts....ive never heard of salts for tropical fish?? What do they provide for the fish? Ill give anything a go to be honest this is really bugging me.

And a bit of an update on the new white fish...he looks like he is giving up. Not even trying to swim now! Arghhh...doubt there is anything i can really do! Think if gourami's are going to get ill a fair bit i should invest in a hospital tank!

Brown patches on fish can be columnaris to velvet.
Does the brown patch look fluffy in appearance,
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Did you get the anti internal bacteria med by interpet.

This post has been edited by Wilder: Jul 1 2008, 08:19 PM

They didnt have any of the anti internal bacterial med i am going to a different shop tomorrow to get it.

the brown patches seem like they are smooth in the middle but rougher around the edges. What does "columnaris to velvet." mean?

Velvet is a parasite and will look like a rusty brown varnish on a fish.
Brown patches can also be columnaris it will have a fluffy texture.


http://www.nippyfish.net/flexibacter.html
Resting on the bottom of the tank can be a sign of a bacterial infection.

Fish seems fine and his wounds seem to be healing slowly. Thanks for your help.

I am currently in the process of doing water changes every day until i can get a tester kit (because i cleaned my filer media under the tap...i started maintenance without reading the thread on here). So until i can afford a water testing kit im going to be doing a 50% change every day.

Lost the white gourami though...he eventually give up

having a spare tank/hospital tank I think is almost essential nowadays. I know when you first start up, it may be the last thing you think of. However, people spend a lot of money on their fish, notwithstanding the moral issues in looking after your fish, it is wiser to have one to hand, should a fish become ill. I have a very large tank, almost 1000ltrs, and under the tank, in the unit, I have a small 1.1/2ft tank, which has a spare heater, filter and air stone. All of these are wired up and ready to go upon pressing a button. All I have to do, is drain off some water from the main tank, into the hospital tank, therefore I can have the hospital tank, up and running in a matter of seconds.

Its also great if you find a fish you have been after a while, but is too small to go into your main tank...pop it into the hospital tank and grow it up.

Hi Benson,
Just to point out, in the pic you posted, the blue gourami looks like a female to me! The orange are male, and the blue/silver are female (in the dwarf species).

Think its time i invested in one of these then. Is it ok to have the tank set up with water and just left there? Im thinking that without the fish waste in the spare tank will the cycle still work? Might be an idea for me to read the fishless cycling article. Do you leave your hospital tank empty and then just use the water from your main tank to fill it up as you need it?



Really? I didnt know that. I thought the females were grey and the males were the blue or orange? Learn something new every day.

following a little bit of research on this site:

Sexing: Males are brightly colored, larger, and have a more pointed dorsal fin. Females are mostly silver, occasionally with a hint of other colors. They are smaller and also chubbier in the midsection.

I always thought even the blue males had hints of orange stripes on them, whereas the female is totally blue/silver. I could be totally wrong though!! Anyone else have any ideas what sex Bensons fish is?

to be honest, I leave it empty, and purely use the main tanks water, which is cycled and is what the fish are used to swimming in already, I have had friends that leave hospital/spare tanks running, but think about your electricity bill.

I personally have never had an issue with doing the above...if ive had a ill fish, ive simply used a hose to get water from the main tank, straight into the hospital tank, flick a switch that then turns on the filter, heater, air etc and put the fish straight in, as I said, the water is exactly the same spec as the main tank, therefore the fish is swimming in its normal water.

Also, dont be tempted to put the water in from your main tank, and leave it not running, this causes bad bacteria to grow in your filter. If you leave your filters off for around 30-45mins, I would at that point clean them before running. So its best to just dump the water in the tank, as and when you need it...plus, its up to temp coming straight from your main tank....sorry for going on a bit lol

Your not going on mate you are helping me out alot. I have managed to source a hospital tank im going to pick up tonight if i can, if not tomorrow. Ive got a filter and heater just no light which is probably not a bad thing for a recovering fish. So ill have it all set up ready to go and just add the water when i need it. Cheers for the advise mate.

Im still doing daily water changes until i receive me test kit. Im treating the water with melafix and have the bubbles on to keep the O2 in the water. How often do you think i should have the bubbles on? The only reason i ask is that it creates quite a current in the water and the smaller fish seem to be battling against it all the time.

Thanks again....im liking the way the tank is looking at the min, heres a pic:



Got a sunken ship on its way to me aswel which ive wanted for ages: Sunken Ship

Im planning on putting alot more plants in the tank but im just researching the best way to do this, worked out the WPG to just under 1 and reading up about CO2. This is really very interesting once you get into it. Anyway...ill leave this thread for updates on Tabby...ill start a new thread when i have the money to start making my planted tank.

Quick question people....should i leave the bubbles for the tank on at all times?? They create a fair old bit of current so i have been turning them off periodically.

Also...with the lights. Is it advisable to turn them off whilst the fish is recovering?