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Diseased Dwarf Gourami


bobo

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Hi guys,

Can you please give me advice re: this gourami:

ss850106.jpg

He has what appears to be wounds or lesions on his body - not caused by fighting; scales and skin appears to be missing. His behaviour seems fine. The ammonia/nitrates/nitrite reading were all fine. I am concerned about the pH, the water comes out of the tap at a pH of ~8-8.2 (measured at night - I heard pH goes up later in the day?), but hovers in my tanks around 6.8.

Anyone know what's wrong with him/what can be done?

I appreciate any advice.

Cheers

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What/who else is in the tank, can you advise who his tankmates are, and what you have in the tank, ie driftwood. is there anything that is sharp that he has brushed against?

2 Platies

3 Harlequin Barbs

3 Neons

1 Bristlenose Cat

I haven't seen any signs of unrest though.

There is a log in the tank - I haven't seen him hitting it or brushing up against it though. Nothing else sharp.

Any ideas?

Cheers for reply :)

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These guys are prone to that from what I hear. I had 4 die of the same symptoms regardless of the treatment I offered (now I don't keep them any more). If I were to do it again, I would get some proper antibiotics from a vet and treat them early. I tried good wound care, antibacterials and furan to no effect, even when I caught it early.

That said, the general wound care principles are the same for most species - keep the wound clean, fight infection if it arises, keep the environmental temperature high (dramatically speeds healing) and boost the immune system (excellent nutrition and minimal stress). For fish this would mean very clean warm water, the best food you can get and minimising stress in the environment. Others may have some good tips on how you can carry out those steps.

Good luck!

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Came back to a dead fish today; makes you wish you euthanased it :(

I think I am going to skip on Dwarf Gouramis - since I bourght two from the same store, and they both died within a couple of weeks. It also makes me a little suspicious about the store...

Cheers for the advice guys :)

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I havent had good experiences with them either. Lovely fish, they were my first ever proper fish. Bought two males and two females for the three footer, I think ammonia, fighting and incorrect feeding killed them. Would love to get some more one day.

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We have had lots of problems with them too, getting abscess' then slowly dying, I wouldnt be blaming the Petshops as it seems they are just rather prone to it. Although in saying that, we have some lovely NZ bred ones and they seem, :bounce: at this stage they seem to be stayers :) There are people :hail: on here trying to breed so maybe keep an eye out and if you feel that way inclined, you could give them another try.

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It is just a problem with most imported dwarf gouramis, the honeys seem ok but just the neon blues and others like that seem to just die off, dropsy or abscesses etc noone really knows why I think it is just mass produced inbred fish not being immune to different bugs or something like that?

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hey bobo i got 2 of these lovely little fish a few weeks ago and got up this morning to find our last one dead. he too had a funny lesion sort of thing between the tail and his bottom fin. as with you, our ph and nitrates and everything were fine. i dont think we should blame the lfs if this is something that is happening to people from other places too. it is very upsetting when you pay for something that looks nice and healthy only for it to die due to an unknown disease (especially with the price you pay to get them.) its starting to make me wonder if i should keep getting fish that have been imported or just hang around and keep my fingers crossed that someone, somewhere will breed what im after.

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I brought 4 of these little guys and they are a cool little fish but I have also lost 2. Both to infection from little wounds. Thought I was doing everything right too, so know how you feel. I am keeping a very close eye on the last 2, but all seems well so far. GL if you try with NZ bred ones.

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