Indian Gourami White Lump On Tail. Fungus? Parasite?

[Reporter_Stewart]

Hello everyone,
 
Before I come across as incredibly ignorant, I'm fairly new to fish-keeping.
 
Just joined up primarily because I need some help diagnosing what's wrong with my Indian gourami.
 
He has a fairly substantial white spot at the bottom of his tail fin. It seems to penetrate all the way though the fin, and is of an equal size in either side.
 
Lets go back to when I first got the fish: I bought two Indian gouramis about three weeks ago. Upon getting home and putting them in the tank I noticed one of the gouramis had precisely the same white lump - so I returned him and exchange him for another. Unfortunately the replacement is now exhbiting the same white lump.
 
It doesn't look particularly fluffy at the moment, so although I think it's most likely it's fungus, I'm not 100%.
 
My dad suggested it might be a parasite, but like I said I'm not sure. 
 
My water quality is generally quite good for a new tank. No ammonia, 7.5ph, low NO2 and NO3 is an (apparently) acceptable 30. He's currently in a 7l heated hospital tank. I've dosed with just under 1ml of whitespot and fungus treatment.
 
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated and thank you for welcoming me into your community!
 
I've attached a picture to help.
 
 

 

[fluttermoth]

Welcome to the forums

As your post is regarding a sick fish, I'm going to move your thread to 'Tropical Fish Emergencies', where the people who can help you will see it.

 

[Reporter_Stewart]

Thank you Fluttermouth! Apologies for having not posted in the correct place initially. 

 

[fluttermoth]

That's quite all right.

Sorry, I can't help you myself, but I'm not very good with disease or gouramis!

 

[Reporter_Stewart]

No worries

 

[DanTheFishMan11]

No the best p, so I'm not even going to say what I think, but hopefully you get it sorted

 

[Reporter_Stewart]

Is this any better? It's difficult to orchestrate a decent shot.

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

That lump is huge! A little while ago I noticed the same white lump on my dwarf Gaurami. Several actually, but way smaller than the one on yours. And jut like yours they're equal on on both sides. Two are on the top fin, and another two on both sides of his face next to his gills. The thing is, I don't remember those always being there. But the Gaurami seems to be doing very well and eating good. I thought it was ich or something, but the lumps don't seem to be growing or disappearing. I'm assuming he's okay since he's eating and swimming normally. I'm very new to fish keeping myself so don't take my word on it. But I would test the water quality (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, chlorine, hardness, etc.) You can get 25 test strips for $15 at PetSmart.

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

Actually, one thing I should of mentioned is that they're not really lumps, they don't rise outwards or anything. Do the lumps or white spots on your gaurami stand out or are they just spots?

 

[Reporter_Stewart]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately the lumps do protrude slightly and more so on the fish's left side. The water is, on the whole, pretty decent. Tested for ammonia, PH, nitrite and nitrate but not chlorine so that will be my next mission. Like your dwarf gourami my Indian seems to be unaffected by it. He's eating well and behaves much like you'd expect of a normal fish. I really don't know what to make of it. It may be my mind playing tricks on me, but I think they are turning more grey now - which I'm hoping is a good sign. I'm treating him with melafix daily and have given him 2 doses of whitespot / parasite treatement over the course of a week. They aren't getting any smaller nor are they growing. Again, thanks for your response. I'll go buy some chlorine test strips etc and let you know tomorrow. FYI I guess the UK's equivalent of Petsmart is Pets at Home haha

 

[Byron]

I would caution you against treating for various problems when they are not likely present.  This can stress this and other fish severely, making them less likely to recover and prone to disease.  The spot in the photo is absolutely not ich (white spot).  And it is not due to chlorine, so save your money on a chlorine test.  Melafix might help, but I would suspect not.
 
I won't hazzard a guess, but I have seen this myself and to my knowledge there is no treatment.  But I can't be certain it is the same thing exactly; when I have encountered this, it is usually more on the body and not out in a fin.
 
Byron.

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

Probably a lot better... PetSmart (at least the one in my area) is really bad at customer service and overall just really lame and over priced. Plus they don't take really good care of their fish. :c
Just curious, does Pets at Home keep their betta fish in little plastic cups like PetSmart does?
Byron does have a point. If it's not gorwing or shrinking, and if the Gaurami isn't acting sick or lethargic, then i wouldn't be too concerned, its always a possibility that it's nothing at all.
Although, I must say that I've been treating my tank with Pimafix and my gaurami is just fine. The other fish like my mollies and Platy died after three days on treatment. Then again, they are very fragile fish and I think it was the fungus that killed them because they had it pretty bad.