Bloated Gourami, Missing Scales

[Jephex]

Ok I just moved and my fish have been doing fine for a good month now...i have a ten gal with a piece of bogwood, anacharis, 2 flame gouramis, 2 striped danios, 3 shrimp, a small pleco (wont grow over 4 to 5 inches), and 2 cories. The flame gouramis appear to have some missing scales, which i treated with some anti fungal remedy, (they've never had missing scales before), and they appear to be whiter around the body edges, but not stringy. The scales arent protruding or anything, like dropsy, but one of the fish is very bloated, with a reddish tint on the side of one bulge. Help!

 

[sylvia]

You need to treat immediately with an antibiotic. It may not look like dropsy, but what your fish have is the same as what causes dropsy and is soemwhat serious. ('dropsy' is a symptom - not a disease in its own right - and is caused by internal bacterial ifnections - which is what is wrong with your fish).

BTW, this kind of disease is common in stressed fish. Having 2 males together in a 10 gallon is one obvious source of stress as they need to compete for territory.

What kind of plec do you have? Idealy, the danios should be in a larger tank and the plec isn't suitable for such a small tank. Overstocking or crowding fish also leads to stress and increases susceptibility to disease.

 

[Jephex]

the danios are small and the plec is small and they aren't going to grow...crowding is not an issue i've had these fish in these conditions for months with no problems until i moved.

what is the antibiotic called?

 

[sylvia]

I can't give you a specific brand name - any med. that says it treats 'internal bacterial infections' will do.

Danios are small but active fish. They should never be kept in small tanks and should be ing roups of 5 or more.

I don't know what your plec is but, if you think it's not going to grow because your LFS had it labelled as growing to only 4-5", you're probably going to realise sooner or later that it's still growing and needs a larger tank. Also, plecs that grow to 4" are still not suited to a 10 gallon because of the vast amounts of waste they produce.

You are certainly over-stocked regardless of the plec's size though.

The only thing I'm asking you do is take a pic of your plec and get it positively identified in the catfish section. If you've done so already, then fine but do be aware that you are overstocked anyway and need to keep on top of water changes.