Please Help Me Save My Fish

Robynwhite2014

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Hi everyone. This is my first post and I’m very desperate. I have something going on in my tank that I cannot figure out and I’m afraid I’m about to lose all my fish. For several weeks I’ve been trying to treat a honey gourami that has some awful white, cotton like growths that seem to be eating away at his flesh as well. I’ve treated with pimafix and melafix, I moved on to api super ick cure and general cure antibiotic as well. This seemed to help up until yesterday when my big guppy died. I thought at least the gourami was healing. Today I came home to find that the growths on the fish were bigger, protruding, and several new ones had developed. This is also spreading to the other honey gourami, but what’s baffling is that none of the fish have stopped eating or swimming normally. I am terrified that they’re suffering and that I will wake up to most or all of the fish being dead. I’m fairly new to all of this. I’ve had my tank set up for about a year, in it now are two Oscars, 2 grey gourami, 3 honey gourami, and two Cory catfish. No one currently in the tank is acting sick. The tank is about 55 gallons .
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much.
 

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Okay...please stop throwing in random medications. It's generally dangerous to put medications in a tank, when you don't know what it is that you're supposed to be treating.
Melafix has as many negative reviews as positive...well, actually probably more negative. It can also be surprising toxic to some fish and its interaction with fish seems to be very inconsistent.
Ditto for Pimafix.
Both use essential oils as their base and, as a practitioner familiar with the use of essential oils in the therapeutic setting, I retain a whole load of cynicism in applying these to fish.
You've then used an ich cure, when there's no ich.

Please do a 50% water change, with a water conditioner.
Because you're changing so much water, please make sure that the temperature of the new water is relatively close to that in the tank.

Next, you'll need to add some Aquarium salt at a dose of 1 rounded tbsp, per 3 gallon.
Aquarium salt will help your fish immune systems, help restore lost electrolytes and has anti-fungal properties.
Keep a close eye on your cory catfish and, if they seem seriously distressed and you can't place them in another small tank, then you'll have to do another water change and we'll have to look at another method.

To further reduce fish stress, keep the lights off.

Finally, have you been testing your water's parameters/conditions and how big is the tank?
 
Thank you. I’m sorry if my use of medications seems stupid but I have only used medications that I thought would help based on what I’ve been reading online from people with similar issues, which is the only resource I’ve had during this. My tank is 55 gallons and I have not been testing the parameters of the tank as it’s been set up for over a year with no issues or illness. These fish belonged to a friend for a number of years, when I got them the tank they were in was in horrible condition with no light and green/brown water. I have done all I can to keep their tank up and clean for the year that they’ve been with me. I will do the water change and see if that helps
 
Thank you. I’m sorry if my use of medications seems stupid but I have only used medications that I thought would help based on what I’ve been reading online from people with similar issues, which is the only resource I’ve had during this. My tank is 55 gallons and I have not been testing the parameters of the tank as it’s been set up for over a year with no issues or illness. These fish belonged to a friend for a number of years, when I got them the tank they were in was in horrible condition with no light and green/brown water. I have done all I can to keep their tank up and clean for the year that they’ve been with me. I will do the water change and see if that helps
You do what you can.
Whilst I hear you about testing and I know many here would say that they rarely test their water, if ever, now that their tanks are established...I'm still in the habit of a weekly-ish test, even if everything's appearing to be hunky-dory.
Others may test when they perceive that something maybe amiss. I prefer to try and get ahead of actual physical symptoms or behaviour changes.
Testing was a habit I cultivated, as many do, when my tanks were cycling.
I chose not to kick the habit...though I can do...whenever I want...honest! :p

It's true that medications have a role to play, but these should only be used as weapons of last resort. Most conditions can, surprisingly, be treated with water changes and/or increased temperatures.
 
I appreciate your help and advice so much. I feel like I’m still very new to this and I welcome any help. I think I’ll become a regular tester too because I never want anything like this to happen again if it can be helped. I’m going to try the water change and the salt and hope that helps. The fish are still eating and swimming Norma so I hope that’s a good sign. Do you think changing my tank filter could help or that it might be the cause of the problems. It’s not the most expensive piece of equipment and I’ve had it for about a year now.
 
I appreciate your help and advice so much. I feel like I’m still very new to this and I welcome any help. I think I’ll become a regular tester too because I never want anything like this to happen again if it can be helped. I’m going to try the water change and the salt and hope that helps. The fish are still eating and swimming Norma so I hope that’s a good sign. Do you think changing my tank filter could help or that it might be the cause of the problems. It’s not the most expensive piece of equipment and I’ve had it for about a year now.
What else is in the tank with the fish?
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

The yellow gouramis are gold gouramis, not honey gouramis. Honey gouramis are tiny (about 1 inch). The grey/ blue gouramis are the same species as the gold gouramis and they could be fighting.

The fish are covered in wounds that could be from physical attacks or bacterial infections.

General cure contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel and won't do anything to external bacterial infections.
Metronidazole is used to treat internal protozoan infections.
Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworm.


---------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 1 week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a week with daily water changes and salt, you will need a broad spectrum medication that treats protozoans and bacteria.


---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 
Thanks everyone! I cleaned the tank, did a 50% water change and added salt but my friend is only getting worse. I will clean the gravel and do another water change tomorrow. I’m confused about the salt treatment though. Do I need to treat with salt every day? Since it doesn’t filter out do I have to worry about it killing my Cory catfish?
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

The yellow gouramis are gold gouramis, not honey gouramis. Honey gouramis are tiny (about 1 inch). The grey/ blue gouramis are the same species as the gold gouramis and they could be fighting.

The fish are covered in wounds that could be from physical attacks or bacterial infections.

General cure contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel and won't do anything to external bacterial infections.
Metronidazole is used to treat internal protozoan infections.
Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworm.


---------------------
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 1 week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a week with daily water changes and salt, you will need a broad spectrum medication that treats protozoans and bacteria.


---------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
Thank you so much. I will try this and keep you posted
 
Thanks everyone! I cleaned the tank, did a 50% water change and added salt but my friend is only getting worse. I will clean the gravel and do another water change tomorrow. I’m confused about the salt treatment though. Do I need to treat with salt every day? Since it doesn’t filter out do I have to worry about it killing my Cory catfish?
I meant to add pics of my little friend today. He’s got deeper wounds, frayed fins and his gills are very red. I’m sure he’s getting worse, which is what seems to happen with each remedy I try.
 

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Do a big water change, gravel clean the substrate, clean the filter, add some salt (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres), add some broad spectrum fish medication that treats protozoa, bacteria and fungus. Use the medication and salt together.
 
Do a big water change, gravel clean the substrate, clean the filter, add some salt (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres), add some broad spectrum fish medication that treats protozoa, bacteria and fungus. Use the medication and salt together.
I will give this a try. Thank you so much !
 

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