wounded/sick gourami??

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fishyfishyfishy

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Messages
48
Location
Massachusetts
Help!

I noticed that my dwarf gourami had been spending a lot more time than usual hiding amongst the plants. I thought it might be a water quality issue, because i know these fish can be sensitive and I missed my last weekly water change. However, I got a good look at him as I was changing the water just now, and he has some type of wound on his body. The area around the wound is swollen, so I'm not sure if it is cause by something internal or external. Other than hiding, he does not seem to be swimming irregularly and he is still eating.

What should i do? buy some melafix??

pH 7.0
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates around 20-30

tank:
35 gallon freshwater, unplanted
5 serpae tetras
5 ornate rainbowfish
3 blackskirt tetras
4 cories
1 clown pleco
1 wounded dwarf gourami :(
 
I would get him in to a hospital tank, if you have one. Either way, I think Melafix is a good idea for an initial treatment, and watch him very closely because you might need to go right away into antibiotics if it does not improve. Usually Melafix is best for minor wounds and fin rot, but you might be able to heal this if it has not become infected. If it is showing any signs of worsening while treating with Melafix, abandon that and go right to broad spectrum. That can damage your biofilter, though, so you'll really have to watch water params. Melafix will not impact your biofilter.

Could he have gotten stuck somewhere? Serpaes are zippy little fellows but they would not injure a DG, nor would any of the other tankmates, IME.
 
Dwarf gouramis are sensitive fish and will fall prey to water quality issues...but that does not seem to be the case here, since the params are fine...
i had two dwarf gouramis die when i first started off...they showed similar swollen wounds...do not treat it with melafix...gouramis have a labyrinth organ which gets messed up by the oil in melafix...i committed the same mistake...
but tg is right on the broad spectrum...its probably caused by bacteria...
good luck
 
I have used Melafix for my DG's with no problems at all, but I know the betta experts strongly recommend against it.

I do not see any problem at all in going straight to a broad-spectrum antibiotic, though, since a wound is a wound and you might as well treat it. I am just very curious about how he got it.
 
thanks for the replies... I am also very curious as to how he got the wound, as the only decor I have in the tank is plastic plants and an artificial rock formation which has pretty smooth edges.

I went out and bought some melafix while waiting for replies to my post-- now I don't know if i should use it, after hearing mixed reviews about it's safety with Dwarf Gouramis.

Where would i get an antibiotic, if needed? Any brand names i should look for??

Thanks again for all your help, I'd hate to lose this little guy... :(
 
i may have come out too strong against melafix...come to think of it, i used melafix when probably it was too late...so the stress might have been too much for the already stressed DGs...
u could always monitor the first hour or so after using melafix and do a few water changes if they show any discomfort...that should bring things back to normal...

besides TG got good results on her DG (or is it because they rhyme? ... :wink: )
 
:(

well, my dwarf gourami was dead this morning... I had been using melafix for three days and i thought he was improving, but then again I don't really know what fish look like when they heal from wounds. His wound had turned from a fleshy pink to a raised white-ish. I thought it was "scabbing", but maybe it was getting worse??

I wish there had been something more I could have done for the poor little guy :(
 
Hey everybody!

I was looking on the net to find some advice or help on my dwarf gouramis because they seem to have exactly the same or very similair symptoms to mine!

1 has it worse than the other, the worse off gourami has 2 small but noticable blotches around the middle part of its body and a small whit dot in his eye!

I really want to do something now to treat them but i dont know what?! Ive read about the use of melafix and i dont know wether i should use it.
Judging by my two's symptoms it might be early on.

Any help will be greately appriciated, I would also hate to loose 1 let alone 2!!!
 
sorry that first line is a bit confusing ive just noticed! (what a way to start! haha)

I'll rephrase it...

I was looking on the net to find something i could do to help my dwarf gouramis and i came accross this site and more specifically fishyfishyfishy's gourami's symptoms they sound very similar to mine
 
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