Rescued A Wounded Dwarf Blue

[shaddai]

Got 3 dwarf blue males here a couple of weeks ago. All is going well.. went back to the LFS last night & noticed #4 was still there with a tank full of opalines. Upon closer inspection, I noticed one of the opalines apparently doesn't like him very much & he has a pretty good sized wound on his side for a dwarf gourami, and a few other smaller ones.

Well, to make a long story short, I felt bad for the little fella, told the LFS to forget their warranty & he's now in my little 10 gallon tank on his own, healing up. When he got home, I let him spend some time in the big tank because the little one wasn't set up yet. He's really very social and has taken to nipping my fingers already like the others, and is eating well. The wound shows no odd discoloration, and he looks like this:

(Sorry about the quality..had to use the camera on the phone. The flash on the other one sends the tank into an uproar & reflects off the glass.)

The big wound is about 60% of the way back from his nose. There are a couple of other smaller wounds, like the one down & to the left of the big one, but nothing that looks like it did anything more than rearrange his scales. The wound does not look infected to me, and the gourami gal at the LFS didn't think it was either, but was surprised it wasn't. There are also some spots a little banged up on his fins.

Anyway, I'm not an expert & would really like to know if there's anything else I should be doing for him. The tank he's in currently has about a 50% dose of aquarium salt and some stress coat in it..and that's it.

Water parameters are currently nh3/4=0 n02=0 n03=10 ph=7.8

Thanks.
Todd

 

[shaddai]

 

[Silverlady]

Hi shaddai, Well done for rescueing him, I am not an expert ,but perhaps some Melafix would help him.I am sure someone with a lot more experience then me will be along soon.

 

[LucyHurst]

be careful using the melafix, i dont have experience myself, but i know people have had bad luck with mela and bettas, so not sure if it would be good for gouramis..

 

[TammyLiz]

be careful using the melafix, i dont have experience myself, but i know people have had bad luck with mela and bettas, so not sure if it would be good for gouramis..

Actually, melafix is fine with bettas but they need smaller doses. The Betta Fix that so many people use is actually watered down melafix. Very good for healing ripped fins, etc.

 

[shaddai]

Well...THEY are in the 10 gal by themselves. I'm not so sure it's war wounds anymore, and I'm beginning to suspect there's something else going on with our water. I did a bunch of diggin and found about 3 threads about dwarf blues with the same kind of wounds at aquariainfo...and then one of the others in my main tank developed a similar wound on his lower fin...but I have a school of golden barbs that could have done it I suppose.

I also had a pair of rams die within 24 hours of introducing them to the tank yesterday...which is what got me wondering about the water. The LFS the rams came from is 3 blocks from my house, and doesn't have the best reputation for healthy fish. But the LFS the gouramis came from is accross the street from them, and they do have a good reputation...so the only common thing between them and my house is the water supply.. also noticed the pH from the tap shot off to the moon a week ago or so..

At any rate, I've got the medical tank still with a 50% salt dose, the melafix, and about a 50% dose of stress coat. Watching the ammonia and nitrites closely to be sure the melafix doesn't nuke the bio filter. In the mean time, I'm on the lookout for a good deal on a pretty exhaustive water test kit

The 2 are getting along okay in the close quarters, but one spends most of his time hiding in a cave...until it's time to eat of course.

 

[shaddai]

Okay...it's not war wounds. Whatever it is has now moved from one side of the fish to the other! Ideas appreciated!

Todd

 

[shaddai]

Took the sick fishy to the LFS. They say septicemia that's gotten far enough to ulcer. After some intense googling, I found another that looks much closer to what's going on though:Furunculosis. Gonna get the right meds in the am.

Todd

 

[TammyLiz]

Good for you doing the research. I'll be watching to see how he does!

 

[shaddai]

Hmmph. Try finding something to treat furunculosis at our LFS..they don't even know what it is.

Had to settle for Maracyn 2 even though I doubted the septicemia prognosis when I got the meds..started treatment last night, and already the wounds seem to be improving. One one fish, he had some raw areas around his mouth & the left side doesn't look like anything happened anymore.

In the meantime, I did some research into septicemia, and found out it's caused by a strain of aeromonas bacteria. Kept looking to find out that furunculosis is caused by a different strain of it..so I'm beginning to think the Maracyn 2 might take it out, even though they don't specifically state it will work on furunculosis.

Anyway, fishies seem content for now. One stays on one side of the tank, one on the other, and they mingle from time to time. The older one looks like he's beginning to bloat up some though. I'm gonna feed them a couple of peas in the am, then back off the food for a day or two to see if it helps.

Todd

 

[wendywc]

Wow, good going on your research. Good luck.

 

[shaddai]

Things are not getting better, one gourami died this morning. Other's infected in main tank, other fish acting weird too..

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131990

 

[sylvia]

Lower the temperature of the tank in which the gouramies are in. That'll slow the bacteria down. Be very careful to lower it gradualy and to not go below 74 deg F or the gouramies will get stressed.

Rather than concentrating only on furunculosis, look up 'ulcers' in general. Furunculosis, in fact, doesn't usualy manifest itself as obvious sores until the later stages or in already sick or weak fish (not to say that that's not what the dwarfs have).

Looking at the pics, the white stuff around the sores are the result of secondary infections - typicaly aeromonas or flexibacter. Incidentaly, the improvements you saw may have infact been superficial - killing off these secondary infections rather than helping with the ulcer itself.

If the antibiotic you're using now realy isn't helping, it's probably not right for the job. If you've gone through the full course, start with a different antibiotic. I'd suggest tetracycline personaly.

Just to make something clear - it's very unlikely that a dwarf would recover from this kind of thing. They are very prone to disease and, to be honest, you may decide euthanasia is less stressful on the fish than continuing with a treatment and it'll rpevent other fish from contracting the same disease as well.

Just a thought on your water - the meds might be the cause of your irritation and they could also explain why the other fish are acting unusual - they'll often rub up against things or flash and flick against objects when their water chemistry changes. I do know that, if you get antibiotics (or pretty much any med) on your hands, it can sting or make you itch. If you have particularly sensitive skin, I can imagine it's even worse and even dilute amounts may effect you.

 

[shaddai]

I've given up on the 3rd dwarf blue in the picture. He acts better and looks worse. Then with the other med, he looks better and acts worse...and I'm not about to try both at the same time. He's been through enough.

If #4 gets sick, he'll be taking a swim in the clove oil before he sees any meds, and I won't be getting any more dwarfs.

Todd