Fungus? And is Maracyn safe for Loaches and Snails?

[Kimbereally]

Hi, I have a 40 gallon freshwater tank with mollies, 3 dwarf gourami, mystery snails, cories, and a few kuhli loaches. I JUST transferred my gourami a few days ago after quarantining them as they're new. However I noticed that 2 of them have a bit of fungus (one on their tail fin and the other on its side) that I didn't notice when I transferred them My bf told me he previously just thought they were injured from fighting (their qt tank was pretty small and 1 gourami was a bit territorial) and that they'd get better on their own but this was AFTER the transfer so when I noticed the tiny patches this morning I immediately had a feeling it was fungus.I want to try Maracyn to get rid of it but I'm worried about my snails and loaches bc ik you can't use a lot of meds with them but also I'm worried they'll catch it soon due to it being a few days now. None of the other fish are showing any kinds of symptoms but maybe its too early? My water parameters are pretty perfect rn (as I just did a water change early this morning) and I plan on doing water changes every couple of days just in case but what should I do? I have some aquarium salt as well but- again- the loaches and snails won't take too well to it. Does anyone know if the Maracyn is safe for them? I've seen mixed answers online with some of them saying yes in certain situations but I'd hate to risk it
---In the pics u can much better see the patch on the gourami that's got it on its side but the one with the patch on its tail def has it too its just more subtle and hard to see on camera

 

[Colin_T]

Maracyn and Maracyn 2 are antibiotics that do nothing to treat fungal infections.

Antibiotics should only be used for known bacterial infections that have not responded to other types of treatments. Improper use and mis-use of antbiotics has lead to drug resistant bacteria that kill people, birds, animals, reptiles and fish.

Salt is one of the best treatments for fungus and is safe for all fish and snails assuming you don't overdose them. But if you overdose with any medication you can kill fish.

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Most gouramis are territorial to some extent. You have 3 male dwarf gouramis and they will fight. It's best to only have 1 male per tank.

The first picture looks like a clean wound on the caudal peduncle area just before the tail and a small wound on the area behind the head.

The second picture (red dwarf gourami) looks like it might have a bit of fungus or excess mucous over a wound.

The third picture the fish has a wound on the side of the body behind the head.

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Bacteria and fungus normally only get into open wounds (damaged tissue).

Salt would be my first option to get rid of any minor fungal and bacterial infections that might get into the wounds.

The fish could also have the gourami Iridovirus and there's no cure for that. But if the 3 fish were put together in a small tank and this happened shortly after, it is probably wounds from fighting.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[Kimbereally]

Thank you so much. I wasnt 100% sure about the fungus but i was pretty sure that the one with the tail was probably nipped. The other 2 pics were of the same fish but hopefully it's just an injury like you mentioned. They actually get along really well together it was mainly the 3rd unshown fish that was semi aggressive and went after them in quarantine where they first got hurt- but ever since they moved to the 40 gallon all of a sudden he's an angel I was mainly uneasy bc I had never dosed my loaches and snails before and wasn't sure if I was able to but i'mma go for the salt treatment and water changes. Again thank you so much I really appreciate it!

 

[DoubleDutch]

Looks like battlescars