Sick gourami with lump

Nick03

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I noticed my dwarf gourami had grown this growth on the side of him and it almost looks as if the growth has a type of mold on it. I’ve had him for over a year and never had any issues. I checked the water and it’s perfect. I feel bad because he’s always breathing heavy. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what’s wrong with him before I go and waist money on chemicals that probably won’t work?
 

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How long has the lump been there?

The white stuff on the lump is probably Saprolegnia fungus and can be treated with salt.

The lump could be a tumour or an infection that is related to Fish TB or the gourami Iridovirus. There's no cure for any of those issues and you treat the symptoms that appear and let the fish live until it can't swim properly or stops eating. Then you euthanise it.

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SALT
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 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 1-2 weeks.

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.
 

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