PLEASE HELP!!

[Stephmarie22]

Hi all!
This is my dwarf Gourami, and he's been acting weird for about 2 weeks now. I gave him a pure Epsom salt bath with one a tablespoon of Epsom salt per gallon of the tank water about a week ago. It didn't do anything. I just pulled him out again to do another one and he's looking much worse with his scales coming off and I noticed some holes on his top side. If anyone has any idea of what I can do for him or what's wrong, any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Obsessed with fish]

It seems to be that your gourami has dwarf gourmai disease, sadly there is no cure to this disease so you may want to concider euthanizing the fish.

 

[Stephmarie22]

Oh no . Okay, thank you so much for letting me know. What is the most proper, painless way to euthanize them? I apologize for the dark question, I just want to do it properly.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Oh no . Okay, thank you so much for letting me know. What is the most proper, painless way to euthanize them? I apologize for the dark question, I just want to do it properly.

Probably using clove oil, you can get it at most chemists

 

[Naughts]

Can you post clearer photos of fish in water with the white light on.

Can you test the water for ammonia, pH, nitrite and nitrate and let us know. Also, what is your tank maintenance routine, and how much water do you change and how often?

What was the reason for Epsom salt baths?

 

[Colin_T]

Epsom salt won't do anything for sores on the fish. You need sodium chloride (rock salt, aquarium salt, swimming pool salt) for that.

The fish has a bacterial infection in the skin. Try rock salt and if no improvement after a few days you will probably need something that treats bacterial infections, preferably not antibiotics but it might be required at this stage. But you can try adding salt and also add a broad spectrum fish medication like Waterlife Myxazin or something with Methylene Blue or acriflavine in. If they don't work then antibiotics. However, if it is the Gourami Iridovirus, the fish will probably die anyway. So try salt and maybe a broad spectrum medication and see how it goes over a week.

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You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

If 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.