Flame dwarf gourami white lips?

[SubparFruit]

Hey all! I have a flame dwarf gourami who has bloated white lips and a wound on his bottom fin A few weeks back I had an issue with a heater that cause the tank to get far too hot for a few days but I fixed it as soon as I realised what was wrong. I noticed the lips two days ago and this morning I noticed he seemed a bit bloated as well. He's been acting strange, not eating and more skiddish than usual. Two days ago when I noticed the lips I started him on melafix because I saw a post with a similar issue saying it could be due to negative bacterial but it doesn't seem to have changed anything yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It could be a fat lip from swimming into something, or the start of Columnaris (mouth fungus).

Columnaris usually spreads rapidly and covers the face in 24-48 hours. The fish normally dies during that time. If it hasn't spread in the last 2 days, then it's more likely to be bruising from swimming into something. If this is the case, the swelling should go down in a week or so.

Monitor the fish and if it gets worse, post more pictures straight away.

 

[SubparFruit]

Thank you so much for your reply! My concern now is that he has not eaten since I first noticed the lips, and he appears to be getting bloated as well, do you think that's just due to having sore lips? Or does that indicate another issue?

I also checked all the water parameters and the water was in perfect condition, do you think I should continue with the melafix treatment, I know it can be damaging to the healthy tank bacteria as well?

Thank you so so much! It can be hard to find places with helpful information

 

[itiwhetu]

Melafix is not good for any of the Gouramis as it contains oil which affects their breathing, I have read this here. What is your pH? What do you call perfect parameters for this fish?

 

[SubparFruit]

Melafix is not good for any of the Gouramis as it contains oil which affects their breathing, I have read this here. What is your pH? What do you call perfect parameters for this fish?

Thank you so much for the feedback! If only this kind of helpful info was easier to find! I followed the parameter guides on the strips I was using for testing in tropical tank. A ph of around 7 I can double check exactly what they were when I get home. I know the tank is a nice 24 degrees celcius now, I check that quite often. I did an ammonia check as well and there was none in the tank from what the test strip said. Low nitrates and nitrites and low water hardness too (I treat with tap water conditioner when I cycle the tank)

Should I completely discontinue using melafix and do a new cycle early to alleviate any stress it might be causing as well?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Melafix...along with all API products with "fix"...contain unrefined tee tree oil. This gradually destroys the labrynth organ that allows the fish to surface breathe. It will in a short time suffocate the fish.

Surface breathers like Gourami and their close relative, the Betta, should never ever have anything with essential oils. They work on humans but there is zero evidence that they work with fish. The API conditioner with Aloe vera is also potentially fatal for fish as the Aloe vera builds up in the gills, it does not decrease with water changes, once the gills are stuffed, the fish will die.

 

[itiwhetu]

Thank you so much for the feedback! If only this kind of helpful info was easier to find! I followed the parameter guides on the strips I was using for testing in tropical tank. A ph of around 7 I can double check exactly what they were when I get home. I know the tank is a nice 24 degrees celcius now, I check that quite often. I did an ammonia check as well and there was none in the tank from what the test strip said. Low nitrates and nitrites and low water hardness too (I treat with tap water conditioner when I cycle the tank)

Should I completely discontinue using melafix and do a new cycle early to alleviate any stress it might be causing as well?

I wouldn't use Melafix. Personally, I think your tank is a little cool for the Dwarf Gourami I would raise the temperature by 2 or 3 degrees.

 

[SubparFruit]

Melafix...along with all API products with "fix"...contain unrefined tee tree oil. This gradually destroys the labrynth organ that allows the fish to surface breathe. It will in a short time suffocate the fish.

Surface breathers like Gourami and their close relative, the Betta, should never ever have anything with essential oils. They work on humans but there is zero evidence that they work with fish. The API conditioner with Aloe vera is also potentially fatal for fish as the Aloe vera builds up in the gills, it does not decrease with water changes, once the gills are stuffed, the fish will die.

thank you for this info! Poor little gourami, I had no idea , he was still alive and kicking this morning, but I will definitely stop using the melafix, if it was some kind of infection is there something non-harmful I could use instead? I'm just concerned for him, and if its not bruising I was hoping there was some other way I can help him heal.

 

[SubparFruit]

I wouldn't use Melafix. Personally, I think your tank is a little cool for the Dwarf Gourami I would raise the temperature by 2 or 3 degrees.

I will definitely do that when I get home, I assume that 2 degree increase will be fine for my tetras, guppies and catfish as well?

But also with the mouth injury and the wound on his fin, do you know of anything it could be or how I could help him out? I'm getting really worried now that he hasnt eaten for nearly three days now

Thanks again!!!!

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Since you have been using Melafix, can you do 70% water changes daily for the next week to remove all traces

Most health issues can be dealt with by upping the water changes from weekly to daily....it is too easy to fall into the medication first trap, medication like Melafix usually ends up doing more harm than good...but the shops still pressure people into buying them when its often unneccessary

 

[itiwhetu]

thank you for this info! Poor little gourami, I had no idea , he was still alive and kicking this morning, but I will definitely stop using the melafix, if it was some kind of infection is there something non-harmful I could use instead? I'm just concerned for him, and if its not bruising I was hoping there was some other way I can help him heal.

If the water parameters are correct for the fish concerned the fish will usually overcome any disease or injury. Fish are actually pretty tough.

 

[SubparFruit]

Since you have been using Melafix, can you do 70% water changes daily for the next week to remove all traces

Most health issues can be dealt with by upping the water changes from weekly to daily....it is too easy to fall into the medication first trap, medication like Melafix usually ends up doing more harm than good...but the shops still pressure people into buying them when its often unneccessary

Yeah of course! If that's gonna be the best I'll definitely get on that, won't that kind of water change disrupt the nitrogen cycle of my tank though?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Yeah of course! If that's gonna be the best I'll definitely get on that, won't that kind of water change disrupt the nitrogen cycle of my tank though?

Is the aquarium fully cycled already?

With the fish in there, by rights it should be fully cycled (ideally before the fish went in)...a fully cycled aquarium can handle water changes since the good bacteria is not in the water per se, it is in the filter media, decor etc so not affected by water changes, even larger than average ones.

 

[SubparFruit]

Is the aquarium fully cycled already?

With the fish in there, by rights it should be fully cycled (ideally before the fish went in)...a fully cycled aquarium can handle water changes since the good bacteria is not in the water per se, it is in the filter media, decor etc so not affected by water changes, even larger than average ones.

Yep sorry poor use of language on my part! I slowly added the fish when I cycled the tank (I already had a preexisting bacterial colony) to ensure the bacterial had time to adjust (started with two tetras, then a week later three more, week later added the guppies then the gourami) and it's been a well established tank for months before this, until the heater issue I had which caused a couple fish to die, but I replaced them fairly quickly after the issue was resolved.

Okay sweet! I have a bacterial filter in my tank so that should be all good then! I'll begin the daily 70% water changes once I get home today. Thank you so much, I hope he's gonna make it through this!

 

[Deleted member 149562]

There is a caveat in regards to the use of Melafix with labrynth fish like Gourami.

Depending on how long you have used Melafix there could potentially be residual damage done to the Gourami's labrynth organ already. It won't heal once damaged, but with water changes to get rid of the medication it shouldn't get any worse. However you may find that the Gourami surface breathes more frequently than you might expect it to do. Hopefully the fish will not be too severely damaged but you need to be aware that its behaviour with surface breathing frequency may increase as a result.

Keep the water clean, keep a close eye on the fish, add in a bubbler or if your filter has venturi use that to bolster the oxygenation.

Try not to kick yourself over using the medication, you should have been warned off it by the shop but you weren't and that isn't your fault. Unfortunately shops are in the business to make profit, they rarely (if ever) consider their actions and recommendations having detrimental effects on the fish.