Guorami not looking good

Subject: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:23 am

I have checked all my water parameters and they are all good. This Guorami is at least 21/2 years old and is 4 1/2" long.
All the other fish look great it's just this one fish he has a reddish color in his fins, here are some pics I hope help.

I took several pics and these are the best I could get, I have circled all the areas that look bad. He is eating and swimming in a normal way. I have no clue what this is or could be, so I'm hoping that someone here can give me some ideas of what it is and how I can treat it.
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Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:27 pm

I've never seen anything like it. Maybe it's a nutrient deficiency. Have you tried mixing up what you feed it or adding some slime coat? Those pecs look worn out.

Maybe it's a parisite of some kind.

Subject: red blotchs on gourami Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:47 pm

These look like haemorrhage sites. Physical rough rolling with its mate or attack from another fish, got stuck somewhere to tight to fit perhaps? He looks to have physically hurt himself. Other than that what might he have eaten that would get to those areas from inside that was too rough.

Graham Cox on marine fishes says that ".............heavy filtration, ozonization and frequent part-water changes...." can help. He does not have anything for meds.

If you put it in a ten gal. I would suggest mellaluka treatment, (don't do that to that whole beautiful 29gal tank) That would also let you increase salinity SLIGHTLY, for a short time, apart from the whole tank. To stimulate his own slime and inhibit fungus.
Both mellaluka (for fish tanks), and salt would help heal and inhibit fungus. He can't really tolerate water salinity changes much or radically though. There may be too much risk for you with the salt thing. The Mellaluka is totally safe. Its greenish and smells kind of like an anti-fungal.

Axlerod and Schultz have a listing "Spottiness of the Skin in Labyrinth Fishes" caused by Psuedomomas fluorescens a rod bacterium common to fresh water, that does not respond to antibiotics. Thats all they got.

If he acts OK, he probably will be OK.

Thats all I got for now.

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:04 pm

I like that Melaluka stuff. I buy it in the pond section because it's a lot cheaper to buy the concentrated bottle, and it lasts longer. You just have to measure more carefully.

This is Tea-Tree oil I believe, and I used to dose it quite a bit and i never had any bad things happen. I added much more than was indicated and nothing bad happened, just a lot of bubbles occurred which I think is cool.

Subject: Water Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:12 pm

Just an note here: I've got a co-worker who "tops off replacement water" with distilled water. Doesn't add anything but H2O to replace evaporated water that left everything else behind as it evaporated. Says he never has a problem.

Garman;
That's the Tea tree oil, I forgot that name, Calendula mellaluka ( and 4 other spellings t'boot).
I got aquarium solution stuff that, that was the main or only ingredient for fishy fins not that long ago.

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:07 pm

Thanks guys I'll try some of this and see what happens. I'll keep you informed.
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Rank2 Member Age : 33 Joined : 20 Jan 2008 Posts : 63

I have nothing to say that will help other than good luck, hope it all works out good.

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:48 pm

I'm thinking parisites as the anal area seems affeted. I immagine you've looked at pics of fish diseases already right?

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:52 pm

i have had something similar with tanks years ago when my water chemistry got out of whack. Have you checked that?

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:37 pm

I have, but I will again to make sure it's still OK. I let you all know.
ph 7.6 my ph has always been 7.6 it never changes in all the years I've lived were I do.
Ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 0
Water quality is OK

He does seem to be looking better, but I will keep a good eye on him.
Thanks
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Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:14 am

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:01 pm

I know what this is, it is gill flukes, and as billchnc said, hemoroids. Keep regular water changes, and try fungal treatment medicines. Melaluka and tea tree oil wont work, and will make your fish even sicker. Separate it from the rest of the fish, as soon the fluke (parasite) separates, it will look for a new host.
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:16 pm

Wow! You seem to be pretty certain there. What if the fluke just goes back to the same host?

Isn't there a medication that could be used for these kind of parasites? I would think that there would be a trade off between the harm done by the flukes and the harm done by a medication.

I've got this medication I've never used called "Life Bearer". It contains 0.0-dimethyl, 1-hydroxy, 2-trichloromethyl phosphonate. It's supposed to be non-toxic and says it works in 48 hours or less and is supposed to eliminate flukes and fish lice.

I got this stuff in the truckload of big aquariums, filters, and supplies I bought for $240 bucks.

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:29 am

Thats the same medication I use for flukes. No, once the fluke separates, the current host will be too weak for two flukes to gain from it, so the new fluke has to find a new host.
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:07 pm

He looks as good as new now and I have not seen any signs of it with the other fish. I will continue to be on the look out for any others not looking good. At this point in time my other tanks are full so I had to keep him where he was. I use Primafix and its not at all expensive and I have had great results from using it.
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Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:47 am

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:36 am

Alright, I will help you out here. First, scratch of the loaches and Siamese algae eaters, they are bottom huggers, they wouldn't bully surface-dwelling gouramis. Scratch off the krib and danios, they are too passive without a mate to do any harm. Mollies are wimps, scratch them off, too. I would say rather the Chinese algae eater or the female gourami. Keep doing what you are doing right now, and keep us posted.
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:12 pm

Those are the ones I have narrowed it down too, he was looking great no signs of any problems. He could have still been weak even though he looked good and that left him open to attacks that he would normally have no problem defending him self from. I will be surprised if he pulls through, but I have seen it happen. Neutral

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Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:59 am

I'm about 80% sure of what the problem with my Gourami it was, Hemorrhagic Septicemia.

The signs of it are:
# Redness at the base of the fins, or... red streaking in the fins and/or body.

This matches exactly what I saw.
One thing I'm sure of though is that it wasn't gill flukes. He never had any of the symtems or even displayed signs of it.

The systems of gill flukes are:
# Fish gasps for air at the water's surface
# Gills open and close rapidly
# Gills are covered in mucus
# Part of gills may be eaten away
# Scraping & Flashing
He is at this point just laying on the bottom of the tank and not move much at all. I'm going to get some clove oil to anesthetize him, so that he will feel no pain and then add Vodka to the water. I hate to have to do this but see no point in letting him suffer.

Thanks for all the help and continue to comment
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Subject: Re: Guorami not looking good Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:54 pm

The cycle of life!

Sad to have a fish you've had for so long meet its end. Maybe it's in another place now reincarnated as a different fish or something else, or maybe it's found peace under the wing of the cosmic creator sharing the creators eyes and smiling down opon us all from a place beyond time and suffering.