I've had 5 gouramis for the past couple of months (used to be 6, but one died right away). A couple of days ago, my golden gourami developed wihte patches on its scales, and something appears to be eating at the tissue on it's dorsal fin. It's also swimming erratically, not really eating and breathing heavily. Seriously, this seemed to happen overnight! I figured that something was wrong with the water, so I tested the pH yesterday, which was pretty low. After getting it to neutral, I thought the patches were disappearing, but more of his fin is gone today and it's still acting funny. The fish get along, so I don't think its being bullied or getting nipped at. The other fish are also unaffected.
Will I be able to save my fish? Whatever this is, is it something that the other fish can contract??
P.S-this is my favorite fish :-(
2007-05-22 11:09:12 · 3 answers · asked by gouramilover 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
From the things I've read in terms of your PH, unless it is drastically out of range, don't adjust it. Your fish would adapt better to a constant PH vs constant changes in it. I have not seen this in my Gourami yet, but it sounds like a fungus to me. MM is very good at diseases as is Copperhead, in fact Copperhead has a degree in Biology so I'd bet he could be outstanding in diagnosis. My guess...fin rot? My fish have died due to my chemistry stupidity so biology wise, I'm not too good. It also maybe a parasite since the patches seemed to disappear but stayed on the fin. Again please keep in mind I am really speculating here and admit I am out of my arena of comfort. I am sure there is a treatment regimine out there you could get, but getting the right diagnosis is really crucial to that. Shoot copperhead or MM an email.
2007-05-22 12:06:55 · answer #1 · answered by I am Legend 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It sounds to me like Jon made a good diagnosis, and thanks for the reference! I would consider fin rot to be a good possibility. You can check this against some photos of fish with this condition on this link: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Finrot
To treat this, I'd start with a larger water change (up to 50%), followed by treatment with Furanase for 10-14 days. This is a bacterial infection, so it's possible that it would spread to the other fish if left untreated.
The white patches may have been a fungal infection that took advantage of the the weakend fish, or it may have been a Columnaris infection. Since Columnaris is also treatable with Furanase, that would be the medication I'd suggest.
2007-05-22 19:49:56 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, I think yoru fish has fin rot. There might be a parasitic problem in your tank. I would get a medication form the pet store and medicate the fish in a different tank. Quicly put the fish in a different tank before it goes to other fish.
2007-05-22 11:21:36 · answer #3 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋