Advice On My Sick Gourami Please

[GemGem86]

Hi there

I have a 60litre Bi-Orb with a Dwarf Gourami, 3 tiny neons and some platys (not sure of exact number as I have bred them all in there).

Up until a few weeks ago he did a lot of swimming - he lapped and lapped the tank 24/7 - always thought he was trying to beat his personal best! Then he stopped... but I presumed thats because some of my Platys were having babies and he got distracted by that.

Last tuesday he had a lump on his side - a flat lump rather than a gold ball looking lump. The next day it turned all white and 'furry' - then the following day it 'popped' through his scales. Today it now looks quite 'manky' almost as if the other small fish have been eating into the area... I saw him today and it turned mu tummy he looks that bad!

He hasn't been eating his food and has totally stopped doing his 'laps' round the tank. But he will happily swim smaller paces or stay at the top of the tank, at the bottom, or in the green grass ring.

Any ideas on what this could be? And do you think he will eventually die? He still hasall of his gorgeous colourings etc.

Any advice muchly appreciated!

Thanks

Gemma

 

[Fishy friend2]

Could it be
Fungus:: Common disease that effects all kinds tropical fish. Fungus mostly infects in poor water conditions in which there are unacceptable levels of ammonia or nitrites. Fin nippers will damage the fins of other fish making them more susceptible to fungal infections and external bacterial infections such as fin and tail rot.

Symptoms A white cottony fluff will appear on fish. Can be around body or in mouth. Fin rot appears as white on ends of fins.

 

[GemGem86]

Hiya,

Well all of the other fish are totally fine and the lump first appeared after the monthly water/filter change. (Sorry I should have put that in the original post).
Like I say the white fluffiness has gone now and it almost looks like the other fish have been eating at the area or it is falling off. No other parts of his body are affected.

 

[GemGem86]

It's just very strange as its not really affecting him apart from him not doing his 'laps of the tank' anymore and that he doesn't seem to be eating as much as he did...

 

[Fishy friend2]

Dwarf gourami disease?
http/www.google.com/search?q=dwarf+gourami+disease&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=YJlWT8DhDfSKsALExL3bCQ&biw=1024&bih=644&sei=YplWT4vNCoiDsAL4lMHbCQ

 

[GemGem86]

Oh my - that first picture looks exactly like what my Gourami was the first time I saw it on him. Now it is just like a whole in his body with his flesh and scales coming away

Looks like he wont be with me for much longer then
Thanks for helping me get to the bottom of it though.

 

[Rummynose]

Hiya,

Well all of the other fish are totally fine and the lump first appeared after the monthly water/filter change. (Sorry I should have put that in the original post).
Like I say the white fluffiness has gone now and it almost looks like the other fish have been eating at the area or it is falling off. No other parts of his body are affected.

Depending on your filter you may have thrown out your beneficial bacteria when you did your filter change and are basically in a fish-in cycle. Have you checked your levels of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate in your tank? This could have been the root to your Gourami getting sick!

 

[GemGem86]

I don't know how it came about - I have had him for around 7-8 months and I changed the water & filter in the exact same way I have done every month since I have had him...

I don't have any kits atm but my local aquatic centre have said they will test my water - I am taking a sample to them...

 

[afremont]

Hi there

I have a 60litre Bi-Orb with a Dwarf Gourami, 3 tiny neons and some platys (not sure of exact number as I have bred them all in there).

Up until a few weeks ago he did a lot of swimming - he lapped and lapped the tank 24/7 - always thought he was trying to beat his personal best! Then he stopped... but I presumed thats because some of my Platys were having babies and he got distracted by that.

Last tuesday he had a lump on his side - a flat lump rather than a gold ball looking lump. The next day it turned all white and 'furry' - then the following day it 'popped' through his scales. Today it now looks quite 'manky' almost as if the other small fish have been eating into the area... I saw him today and it turned mu tummy he looks that bad!

He hasn't been eating his food and has totally stopped doing his 'laps' round the tank. But he will happily swim smaller paces or stay at the top of the tank, at the bottom, or in the green grass ring.

Any ideas on what this could be? And do you think he will eventually die? He still hasall of his gorgeous colourings etc.

Any advice muchly appreciated!

Thanks

Gemma

If you have a hospital tank, put him in there. Put one teaspoon of salt per gallon in with him. Don't treat gourami with melafix or pimafix. Keep an eye on it, do lots of water changes and see if it doesn't heal up in a few days. You might also want to get ready to treat with antibiotics to prevent a secondary infection.

I don't want to instill false hope, but I've seen several reports recently of lumps turning into a pimple like head, bursting and then becoming a fairly large open wound, finally followed by promptly healing up. The common factor in all of them was that the fish acted pretty much oblivious to the fact it had a gaping hole in it. I don't euthanize fish that eat and swim, but that's me.

EDIT: If you read that wetwebmedia page, you'll find that "neale" classifies pretty much every possible symptom as a sure sign of DGD and then predicts certain death for the fish. I don't know who "neale" is or where he went, but he sure went a long way to instill fear about DGD in a very prejudiced and extremely unscientific manor, but that's my opinion.

DGs are inbred and tend to be sickly as a result. I've read that many fish farms feed them antibiotics from birth until they are shipped. This allows many fish that would have otherwise died early on to live to reproduce. In the world of breeding the color varieties, coloration is the only thing that matters to the farms. Any other genetic trait, good or bad is simply ignored. Again, that's my opinion based upon personal research from a variety of sources, not just "neale".

EDIT2: Sorry if I sound put off, but I guess I am. Every time a DG has something wrong, it seems that many want to assume that DGD is to blame. Thanks allot "neale". Oddly enough, freshwater angelfish had the same type of widespread plague like problem in the past but nobody mentions that at all when one is sick.

EDIT3: I think I figured out who neale is, and he does certainly seem to have some education behind him. I still feel that on that page he is way too quick to condemn so many fish having such a variety of symptoms. I have searched high and low and cannot find anything showing numbers of confirmed cases of any kind. The main timeframe of the problem seems to have been from the early to mid 90's ending several years back. I'm still confused as to why angelfish are suddenly ok, but gourami are not.

 

[afremont]

Any updates on his condition?

 

[GemGem86]

Hi everyone - sorry I did mean to post this morning - been a busy day!

Well he is still eating ( not as much as he was but atleast he having some). The affected area seems to be clearing up a bit too - not as much 'flaking away' off him now and its just not looking as nasty so hopefully it is starting to heal for him.

Still feel sorry for him though. It has now been 9 days since the lump first appeared so I am hoping that as he is still with us he will be ok now as it appears to be clearing up.

 

[GemGem86]

Well a couple of weeks later he seems ok, he seems to be eating more food than he was - as soon as the food is in the tank he is now the first fish up to feed so thats a good sign. The 'manky' area on him is getting smaller now and where it is getting smaller you can see where he has lost his scales and colourings - so hoping the rest of it will go away within a couple of weeks.

I am glad as I really did think I was going to lose him before now, but I am taking it as a good sign he is eating more

 

[afremont]

Well a couple of weeks later he seems ok, he seems to be eating more food than he was - as soon as the food is in the tank he is now the first fish up to feed so thats a good sign. The 'manky' area on him is getting smaller now and where it is getting smaller you can see where he has lost his scales and colourings - so hoping the rest of it will go away within a couple of weeks.

I am glad as I really did think I was going to lose him before now, but I am taking it as a good sign he is eating more

Great, that's excellent. Your fish should be hungry, his immune system is in overdrive healing that hole and running the bilge pumps to keep the water out. Some salt would help the fish stay off the water infiltration by making it more difficult for the water to get in. It also has minor antibacterial and antifungal properties.

 

[GemGem86]

Thank you

If I put a pinch of salt in the tank will that affect the rest of my fish at all?

There is hardly any of the 'manky' stuff left on him, but now as all that has gone, you can really see how big the 'hole' is in his body - will it stay this way now or will he eventually get back to normal do you think? So far it has been a natural healing process and I have not put anything in the tank.

Thanks for your help!

 

[afremont]

Thank you

If I put a pinch of salt in the tank will that affect the rest of my fish at all?

There is hardly any of the 'manky' stuff left on him, but now as all that has gone, you can really see how big the 'hole' is in his body - will it stay this way now or will he eventually get back to normal do you think? So far it has been a natural healing process and I have not put anything in the tank.

Thanks for your help!

Since the fish hasn't died and doesn't have a severe case of dropsy, I'd say it was healing up. Just watch out for something to try and take advantage of the wound like bacteria or fungus. Fish often like to pick on other fish that are sick so keep an eye out for that.