Please Help - Gouramis In Bad Bad Shape

[EX1EY]

I need to be breief with this as im at work. Cut a long story short, did a 100% water change at the weekend so I could re-scapre my tank. Added a coupke of new ornaments, a coupkle of fake plants, 3 khuli loaches and 2 angel fish.

Up until this point my gouramis had been flourishing (female dwarf). She was ther boss of my tank. Anyway, got home from work last night and couldnt see her all night. Eventually spotted her hiding away and thought nothing of it.

Got up this morning before work and she wasnt hiding anymore but there is a horrid whiteness on her back like a crust/fungus looking thing and her tail fin is all manky and deteriorating. Im propper gutted! Anybody know what this could be and what I can do. Will my tank be okay?!

Cheers

 

[afremont]

I need to be breief with this as im at work. Cut a long story short, did a 100% water change at the weekend so I could re-scapre my tank. Added a coupke of new ornaments, a coupkle of fake plants, 3 khuli loaches and 2 angel fish.

Up until this point my gouramis had been flourishing (female dwarf). She was ther boss of my tank. Anyway, got home from work last night and couldnt see her all night. Eventually spotted her hiding away and thought nothing of it.

Got up this morning before work and she wasnt hiding anymore but there is a horrid whiteness on her back like a crust/fungus looking thing and her tail fin is all manky and deteriorating. Im propper gutted! Anybody know what this could be and what I can do. Will my tank be okay?!

Cheers

Well, definitely check your ammonia and nitrIte levels. Gouramis are especially prone to high nitrItes and this could severely stress the fish before other fish start showing any signs. Is this just a coloration, or is it a buildup of material on the fish that is sticking above its normal skin surface? If it's just turning white, could be columnaris. Google up columnaris in the images section and see if that looks like it. Dwarf gouramis are particularly prone to bacterial infections when stressed.

 

[EX1EY]

I literally saw it for 30 seconds before i left for work this morning. But it looked like something growing on the its back as opposed to just a colouring of the skin. Also as i say, the tail fin looks like being 'eaten'...i dint believe it to be from any other fish as i havent witnessed any nipping whatsoever between the fish

 

[afremont]

I literally saw it for 30 seconds before i left for work this morning. But it looked like something growing on the its back as opposed to just a colouring of the skin. Also as i say, the tail fin looks like being 'eaten'...i dint believe it to be from any other fish as i havent witnessed any nipping whatsoever between the fish

Fin rot is usually bacterial as well. Was it just on the fins, or on the surface of his skin? You might try treating with an antibiotic like kanamycin. Check this page out:
http/www.petfish.net/kb/entry/331/

 

[EX1EY]

I literally saw it for 30 seconds before i left for work this morning. But it looked like something growing on the its back as opposed to just a colouring of the skin. Also as i say, the tail fin looks like being 'eaten'...i dint believe it to be from any other fish as i havent witnessed any nipping whatsoever between the fish

Fin rot is usually bacterial as well. Was it just on the fins, or on the surface of his skin? You might try treating with an antibiotic like kanamycin. Check this page out:
http/www.petfish.net/kb/entry/331/

Thanks, looks like it could be the early stages of that. Bad times, where would one pick up anti biotics that you can put in a fish tank? Would it just be a good idea to put her out of her misery?

 

[snazy]

I literally saw it for 30 seconds before i left for work this morning. But it looked like something growing on the its back as opposed to just a colouring of the skin. Also as i say, the tail fin looks like being 'eaten'...i dint believe it to be from any other fish as i havent witnessed any nipping whatsoever between the fish

Fin rot is usually bacterial as well. Was it just on the fins, or on the surface of his skin? You might try treating with an antibiotic like kanamycin. Check this page out:
http/www.petfish.net/kb/entry/331/

Thanks, looks like it could be the early stages of that. Bad times, where would one pick up anti biotics that you can put in a fish tank? Would it just be a good idea to put her out of her misery?

I don't think anyone will give you an advice whether to kill your fish or not.
If the fish does have columnaris, chances are the whole tank has it and you need to medicate regardless of what you are going to do to the first victim.

 

[EX1EY]

Ive had a look again now im home and ithink its columnaris. Where do i get the meds? LFS?

 

[afremont]

Ive had a look again now im home and ithink its columnaris. Where do i get the meds? LFS?

That's going to be the quickest place. I live in the US so I don't have any idea what antibiotics you can get. You can have a look here:
http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/columnaris.htm
"Copper sulfate, Acriflavine, Furan, and Terramycin may all be used externally to treat Columnaris."

Here is another good resource on various fish medicines to help associate a brand name with a particular drug or chemical:
http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html

 

[EX1EY]

Too late, woke this morning and shes dead

 

[afremont]

Too late, woke this morning and shes dead

Sorry to hear that, but that falls in line with how fast columnaris can operate. It's also reportedly highly contagious, so you may want to go ahead and find some meds for the other fish you have and treat the whole tank to be safe.

 

[EX1EY]

Too late, woke this morning and shes dead

Sorry to hear that, but that falls in line with how fast columnaris can operate. It's also reportedly highly contagious, so you may want to go ahead and find some meds for the other fish you have and treat the whole tank to be safe.

I got some tetra medica general tonic from the store today. Probably not even the right stuff but it does say it treats a wide variety of common diseases etc. Its turned my water green which im pretty pissed about