Ill Honey Gourami Or Just Old?

[noodles]

Hi,

I have one honey gourami left, and she seems to be on her way out like her female companion a couple of weeks ago. The only sign is what appears to be a patch by one of her gills which looks like some of the scales are gone like a scrape. Its not red, or bleeding and the fish is not trying to rub the patch at all. Her companion had the same thing, which I had presumed was a wound when they used to have a little dig at each other, but the only other fish I have in the tank now are a few baby platies which have not been near her. She is eating, but is a bit listless and hanging by the surface.

My water parameters are all fine, no other fish has any sign of any illness, I have treated with some melafix but seems to have no effect.

Has anyone got any ideas what the cause could be, and if there is any thing I could do to help her out? I would love to save her and get her some more companions, but without sorting out the cause of this, then I dont want to introduce any more. She is about a year old, so I suppose it could be old age? Not sure how long they live. Its a shame as about 4 months ago she spawned with her late partner just before he wore himself out!

 

[sylvia]

At a year old, she is nowhere near old age (they can live a good 5 years).

It sounds like your fish is probably developing an ulcer (generaly untreatable and euthanasia could be the only option) or has a simple bacterial infection in which case you'll soon know as a fuzzy white growth will appear or she will become bloated and her scales will start to 'pinecone'. Melafix isn't going to help. Antibiotics might but don't use them until it's clear that they'll be of use.

Can you describe this patch a little more? Any chance of a pic? Are her scales sticking out or does she look bloated? Any red streaks on her body or black/red/white edges to her fins? Anything at all you can say might help.

 

[noodles]

At a year old, she is nowhere near old age (they can live a good 5 years).

It sounds like your fish is probably developing an ulcer (generaly untreatable and euthanasia could be the only option) or has a simple bacterial infection in which case you'll soon know as a fuzzy white growth will appear or she will become bloated and her scales will start to 'pinecone'. Melafix isn't going to help. Antibiotics might but don't use them until it's clear that they'll be of use.

Can you describe this patch a little more? Any chance of a pic? Are her scales sticking out or does she look bloated? Any red streaks on her body or black/red/white edges to her fins? Anything at all you can say might help.

thanks for the response, I will try and get a pic later tonight, the patch simply looks like a few scales have rubbed off. its a pale colour, there are no red streaks on the body, no colouring to the fins, no bloating at all. Apart from this small patch (couple of mm square) there is nothing wrong with her. It does simply look like a small wound where perhaps another fish has bashed her. Hence I would not usually be worried, but having seen her previous friend die with an identical thing, I am worried.

Actually now you mention it, I am sure just before her friend died, she did have a small bit of fuzzy white growth that appeared on top of the patch of missing scales. I assumed this to be a bit of fungus growing on the wound. But maybe not...

Any idea if this could affect other fish in the tank or is it likely to be gourami specific as the platies all seem fine. And what is the likely cause of a bacterial infection, is it just something fish get from time to time or have I done something wrong? Same with ulcers, do fish just get it like we get a cold?

I do hate fish keeping when fish suddenly get ill and die even when you try your best for them. Makes me sad!

 

[sylvia]

Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria

Ulcers, yes, are similar to what we get when we have a cold. There was a post a while back about ulcers in gouramies and it seems that they are often caused by a viral infection that cannot be treated (somewhat like the common cold or flu) and that is often mistaken for a bacterial disease.

The problem here is that, even if the fish has white fuzzy 'stuff' growing in this spot, it's difficult to know whether this is a secondary infection (which is truly fungal and will be growing over an existing ulcer) or a bacterial infection (like finrot - caused by aeromonas or flexibacter). However, both these things can be treated if you use an anti-finrot medication and lower the tank's temp. (VERY gradualy) so that it's at 76 deg F. Once that's cleared, you'll either find there are no other problems, or there will be an ulcer left which will not be treatable.

If she starts getting bloated or her scales stick out, she needs to be treated with antibiotics - but for now, a finrot med. should work. Keep up with water changes as well.

Unfortunately, any of the possible problems are contagious so the other fish are at risk too. If you have a small, cycled, hospital tank, isolating the fish is a good idea. However, if you don't, you may as well treat the whole tank. Having said that, if the fish stops eating, it's time to euthanise her (using drops of clove oil in a cup of tank water).