I have been observing my female gourami and I think she has come down with something. One of her gills are partially open at all times and now this morning I noticed a brownish black spot on the top of her head I did some research on the internet,but like some input from you. I read that perhaps she has monogenetic trematodes and diplostomulum(fish worm?). I want to be sure that I treat it properly and the guide on one of the sites say to use parasite gaurd. Is that what I should use? Is the diagnosis correct? I am not sure.
gourami question
- Thread starter Carlene
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It is a dwarf female,the temp is 78,not showing any signs of breathing difficulty,she is eating fine, swimming around fine, the other 2 gouramis though,are chasing her away more than usual. Water perimeters are fine.Tequila;1834419; said:Questions:
1. What kind of gourami is it?
2. What is the water temp now?
3. Is the fish showing signs of difficulty in breathing?
Sounds like it could be 2 different types of parasites.
Carlene Hartshorn;1834441; said:
Start by raising the temp to 82F. Aside from the other Gouramis what other fish are in the tank with her? What size tank you have them in and do you have another smaller tank to use as a hospital tank if needed? And how long have you noticed this black spot andher gills open?
I have a 29 gal. tank,temp. at 78, other fish I have with them are now down to 4 danios(one somehow got out of the tank,maybe my fault. Found him this morning.) 2 peacock gudgeons, and added my 2 bolivian rams last night. I do have a hospital tank and I did move her into it last night. I feel badly because she is all alone. I fed her a little bit of bloodworms and she is eating fine. The open gill problem I noticed for about a month,she didn't show any kind of stress so I just continued to monitor her for any changes. A couple days ago I noticed the brownish black spot on her head.
Carlene Hartshorn;1837045; said:
I would raise the temp in the hospital tank too 82 and start a precational parasite treatment in the hospital tank. I'm not sure of the what the spot on her head maybe but the gill problem sounds like a parasite. Keep feeding her the freeze dried worms and also try giving her some leafy green veggy like lettace. Treat her for 5 days and see if there is any change in the gill plate opening and or her head.
I would also do a 50% water change on the 29 gallon tank and raise the temp to at least 80F and keep and eye on the other fish especially the gouramis for any7 changes.
But most gourami are very hardy fish and as long as there feeding regularly shouldn't have any real adverse effects from the medication. I once had to treat one of my RTGG's for fin rot after a battle with another male. Though the fish eventually ended up loosing 80% its dorsel fin it still thriving to this day and is now the largest male in the tank.
Thanks for the advice. I will turn up the heat in the Q.T. it is at 78 right now. As far as the main tank, I've been doing so many water changes because of a ph problem I had,but is better now with the crushed coral. I also change out 4 gal. every other day, but I am thinking to slow it down a bit. The temp on the tank is 79. I am absolutely keeping and eye out on the others for any changes. I hope not! The last 2 weeks have been a stressful one.
I had posted a ph problem last week where it dropped from a steady 6.6 for 5 months to 6.0 or below. I did a major amount of water changes and it was not doing any good niether were my peacock gudgeons. I asked for help in my thread,but only got a few responses. So I went ahead and decided to use the coral,and many water changes to finally bring it back up(slowly),no baking soda or anything else. I started off with just a couple of teaspoons and gradually increased it until I saw some changes(3 tbl spoons). Left it,tested it,I monitored it and now it is at a steady 6.6 again. As soon as I see more of an increase I will slowly take out the crushed coral the same as I put it in. My ideal ph level is 6.6 which is where I would like it to stay. Happy, healthy fish!
Carlene Hartshorn;1841128; said:
Just too touch on your PH problem, did you check the water straight from the tap? Also did you have something in the tank causing the tank to produce a large amount of Ammonia?, because the main thing that causes PH to drop time and time again is a high Ammonia level. Which yes coral will help to raise the PH level again but it will drop again if there is something in the tank causing even as little as 1.5 PPM (parts per million) of Ammonia level in the tank. Also your fish can start to show signs of stress from Ammonia at that level and many fish can start to die off at 5 PPM.
You are positive that there isn't a dead rotting fish or invert somewhere in the tank causing high levels of Ammonia? Because the problems your having with the gourami can be caused by Ammonia too. Can I ask what type of filter your using and more importantly what are you using a filter medium? Please be specific.
HAve you started treating your gourami yet?