PARASITIC EGGS?! What is wrong with this gourami?!

[Stoopid_Fish]

Hello all!

I recently adopted this poor little wetpet from a local pet store who weren't having any luck clearing his issues. His water was deep, dark green from meds and I didn't actually get a good look at him until now. And OMG.
I have NO idea what I'm dealing with here. I just saw all the white and thought "Oh, some sort of fungus."

Never in over 20 years of keeping fish have I seen this. It's like ich on serious steroids, or like weird eggs have been laid on him.
It's almost like someone has put glue on him and rolled him in tiny beads. The lumpy mass physicially sticks out from his sides by a good 2-3mm. There are also clusters of it near his head and small balls of it on his ventral fins.
He's been like this for weeks apparently, and he's still very active, chases food, is alert, and has a nice colour.

He's currently in a 24ish litre tank, 0 amm, 0 nitites, 15 nitrates, ph approx 6.5.

What would you guys recommend as treatment?

Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

More pictures and video of the fish please.

Do the things wipe off?
It could be sand or air bubbles stuck to the mucous on the fish.

 

[Stoopid_Fish]

He's very timid because I'm his first person, and he only ate in front of me for the first time today so getting pics of him are a bit hard. I'll try and coax him out with more food in a bit.

I did try and wipe them off, and they're rock hard and well and truly stuck onto him. It's not sand because he's never been in a sandy environment (bare bottom tank before I got him) and definitely not bubbles.

 

[itiwhetu]

Are they annoying him, he seams to be sitting normally and his fins are up. They almost look like eggs!!

 

[Stoopid_Fish]

I'm also going to try and wipe off or remove some of the lumps that are hanging off a bit, but I'm going to give him a day to get over being man-handled the first time. I'd love to look at these creepy ball things under a microscope.

 

[itiwhetu]

interesting at the least !

 

[Stoopid_Fish]

Are they annoying him, he seams to be sitting normally and his fins are up. They almost look like eggs!!

I KNOW!! They DO look like freaky eggs. But he's very happy cruising about. He has a good appetite, his fins aren't clamped, he doesn't gasp or show any signs of stress. When I'm not near the tank he comes out and pokes about and nibbles his plants.

But whatever this is, it's not right and it's disturbing.

PS. I would upload a video but it won't allow MP3 or MP4. (Unless there's a way around it?)

 

[itiwhetu]

What was his old tank like,

 

[Stoopid_Fish]

It was an empty, 40ish litre bare bottom tank that was kept cycled for sick fish. I didn't see him when he came in. It had been empty for a while prior to that, and none of the other fish in that store were/are showing any signs of the weird eggs.
I do know he came in with a friend who died. (Unsure if he died from the weird eggs or other causes.)
He came straight in from the fish supplier before that.
I do know he's been like this for almost a month now. WTF.

 

[itiwhetu]

It was an empty, 40ish litre bare bottom tank that was kept cycled for sick fish. I didn't see him when he came in. It had been empty for a while prior to that, and none of the other fish in that store were/are showing any signs of the weird eggs.
I do know he came in with a friend who died. (Unsure if he died from the weird eggs or other causes.)
He came straight in from the fish supplier before that.
I do know he's been like this for almost a month now. WTF.

Yuck, got me stumped at the moment

 

[CassCats]

To me looks like trichodina parasite infection

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[Stoopid_Fish]

To me looks like trichodina parasite infection

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Yikes. Gross.

Thing is, it doesn't seem to have been going through any sort of cycle. They're just stuck, and not moving. I've been treating with Paraguard for a week so far, ich style, and he was being treated with BP Multi Cure before I got him.There's been no change yet.
The temp is at 28 degrees C.

Do you have any tips? I've never seen it before.

 

[CassCats]

I dont know, personally, just what it resembles to me.

How long has he been under treatment so far?

 

[Stoopid_Fish]

All up, maybe 4-5 weeks. I don't know how thoroughly he was being treated before I got him though. I think he was only getting meds maybe weekly when someone remembered, to be honest. His tank water was deep green from meds when I took him home.

I've been treating his tank daily with Paraguard for 6 days.

EDIT: It might only be approx. 4 weeks all up. I'm honestly not 100% sure.

I've just ordered some potassium permanganate as it's meant to be very good for horrible parasites. May as well try.

 

[itiwhetu]

To me looks like trichodina parasite infection

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Good diagnosis, now what do you do