Please - Urgent Help Needed Today

[Deleted member 55926]

OK, I am starting a new thread for this because it has become quite urgent and I'd like to treat it as a separate case from my other vague thread detailing lots of things.

I'm away from tomorrow for 3 days and need to take immediate action if possible tomorrow, before I go. Otherwise I fear I will lose this gourami.

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Tank size: 110L / 29 gal
pH: Normally about 7.8 but has risen to a possible 8.2 in the last couple of days.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Tank temp: 25°C
Volume and Frequency of water changes: 30% weekly

Tank inhabitants:

1 other dwarf gourami, 2 german blue rams, 3 otocinclus, 11 neon tetra, 4 zebra danios.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Interpet No.8 anti fungus and finrot added over a week ago to treat 2 zebra danios with mouth fungus. One died a week ago, the other's small mouth fungus has neither grown nor disappeared with the meds (I don't know if it 'wears off' or disappears after the 7 day period).

Fish Symptoms:

Last 7 Days

• Hanging at the top of the tank or in corners.
• Barely moves at all.
• Looks pale.
• Doesn't eat.
• Pelvic fins sticking out in front of him at all times. I think he is possibly atempting to hold onto something because he is weak.
• Doesn't seem visually aware of anything around him.
• Has some small faint gold or bronze coloured spots on his back fins. I don't know if these are natural markings that have become more visible through him being pale and losing colour, but I can't see any on my other gourami.

Last 2 Days

• Tail fin looking ragged and thin. Bear in mind the other gourami has been bullying him.
• White patch of scales appearing on his left side.

Update: He has just sunk to the bottom where he is resting on the gravel. Gives occasional feeble pushes up but doesn't really get anywhere. He then got bullied back to the top and is very slowly sinking again, over the course of about 5 mins.



This photo shows his ragged fin better, and you can see a sort of white patch of scales forming by his pectoral fin. Note in the photo above, showing his right side, he has a similar patch in the same place but this has always been there since I got him, and the patch on the left side is definitely new.

 

[chrischeyne]

i think he looks a bit bloted outher than that. i would sick some fin rot or some bactrea meds in to see if it helps
someone will be a long sortly with more

 

[WILDER]

Also got to find out why your ph has risen.
What test kit are you using.
Name everything you have in the tanks from substrate, rocks, bogwood, ornaments, etc.

|The yellow golden spots could be velvet so need to rule it out. Seen as some of your fish are flicking and rubbing.
Turn tanks light out and shine a torch on all the fish, to see if you can see, any golden spots, dusty coloured varnish, gold dusting.


Added any new fish or live plants in the last week.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

Well, sadly he has just died. I deeply regret not doing something earlier to help him, only I didn't know what was wrong with him until he had begun to look as dishevelled as he did in the last day or so. I am quite upset about this one.

FYI, the water where I live in London is terrible, and the pH from the tap can fluctuate a lot. Usually though, the tank has been 7.8 consistently, even though the water from the tap is often 8.2. I should say that the tank pH was 7.8 as usual earlier in the week and was only 8.2 today so I don't believe that is the cause.

I added nothing to the tank before he got ill, and there doesn't seem to be any significant event that preceeded his illness.

Do you think the gourami may have had velvet, judging from the photos? I would like to know if there's any harm in dosing meds as a precaution? i.e. If the fish don't actually have velvet, will it harm them if I were to dose velvet medicine? The ram I had that I saw rub once or twice appears to have stopped, but I still have one zebra danio breathing rapidly and although often going to play with his friends, he is spending a lot of time nearer the top of the tank, staying stationary near the flow of water.

I don't know why my fish have died. I know my zebra danios came with columnaris from the LFS (didn't realise at the time) but my water quality is always so good.

 

[WILDER]

Velvet far worse than whitespot, and harder to get rid off.

On the fish that are flicking, and the danio who breathign rapidly, do they have any yellow golden spots, gold dusting on them, or a rusty coloured varnish on them, or a dusting of talc on them.

Turn tank lights out and check also with a torch.

Yellow spots can be velvet, yellow grub, sometimes columnaris can come in yellow patches, but not spots I think.

 

[WILDER]

Was the fish kept with any snails.

Yellow Grub

Symptoms:

Infected fish exhibit small yellow spots approximately 2 millimeters in diameter. These yellow spots can be found anywhere on the body and fins. Cysts may also be present in the internal organs.


Cause:

Larvae of digenetic worms, Cercaria and Metacercaria. The yellow spots on the fish�s body and fins contain larvae of di-genetic flukes. The larvae are introduced into the aquarium or pond by fish-eating birds who ingest fish infected with the parasite. Once ingested, the parasites mature in the intestines of the bird, where they produce eggs. The eggs are then deposited into the water with their droppings, where they infect the livers of aquatic snails. The snail allows the parasites to develop into a second and third larval form before migrating to a fish host. Due to this parasite�s complex life cycle, it is most common in pond-kept fish.


Treatment:

First remove all snails from the aquarium or pond so as to end the cycle of infection. Treatment is rarely necessary. Minor infestations tend to clear without treatment as the larvae will eventually die and be absorbed by the host's immune system. In severe cases, however, treating the water with Copper Sulfate may prove helpful.