Gourami help

[Bruce410]

Hi this is my first post and not sure of etiquette.

My red fire dwarf gourami has something wrong. Unsure of what it is. I tried 2 weeks of pimafix ( with water changes) and it only made it stop. Now a took a break on it (3 days) and it's bigger. Idk if it's scaring over or what. I attached a picture if I can figure how to. He's acting fine and eating ok.
Water parameters are always spot on. Water temp is about 76 or 77 degrees.
Someone help because he's my buddy.

Thanks. Let me know if you need anything else.

(my fish and tank specs should be on my profile)

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[melosu58]

Moved to FW sick fish forum. More people will see it there. Welcome to AA

 

[Bruce410]

Moved to FW sick fish forum. More people will see it there. Welcome to AA

Thanks!

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[McLumpy]

Poor li'l guy. I have a Red Fire Dwarf Gourami too and would be freaking out if I saw something like that on him. Have you ever witnessed him flashing against any decor or have any decor w/ sharp edges? IMO it looks like a scrape that turned into a blister.

 

[Bruce410]

Poor li'l guy. I have a Red Fire Dwarf Gourami too and would be freaking out if I saw something like that on him. Have you ever witnessed him flashing against any decor or have any decor w/ sharp edges? IMO it looks like a scrape that turned into a blister.

No, he's always pretty chill. I have fake plants. Idk, it started a while ago with a faint white spot that barely noticeable and then got a tiny bit bigger and I treated for fungus. It stopped the growth of it and the white went away and then it turned red. So I stopped and couple days later it looks like in the picture. A little raised and doesn't look good. It got a little bigger since treatment. Poor guy.

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[McLumpy]

No, he's always pretty chill. I have fake plants. Idk, it started a while ago with a faint white spot that barely noticeable and then got a tiny bit bigger and I treated for fungus. It stopped the growth of it and the white went away and then it turned red. So I stopped and couple days later it looks like in the picture. A little raised and doesn't look good. It got a little bigger since treatment. Poor guy.

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That's odd that you mention your guy had a faint white spot on him. Before I began treatment w/ Melafix, (to treat spots on my Neon Tetra), I noticed the same type of spot on my DG. I figured it was caused by stress or it was a mild case of fungus. Low and behold, this is the 4th day of treating my tank w/ Melafix and the spot has disappeared!

I don't know if this would help, but you could always try a Melafix treatment. I also read on here that ppl have used both Pimafix and Melafix together for extreme cases. I've never used Pimafix, so I don't know if it would work alone for that or mixed w/ Melafix. But maybe you could read up on that, or someone can post their experience on here for you.

I hope he gets better soon!

 

[Bruce410]

I don't know if this would help, but you could always try a Melafix treatment. I also read on here that ppl have used both Pimafix and Melafix together for extreme cases. I've never used Pimafix, so I don't know if it would work alone for that or mixed w/ Melafix. But maybe you could read up on that, or someone can post their experience on here for you.

I hope he gets better soon!

Thanks. Yeah, I did melafix with pimafix and it just made the spot not grow. A halt basically. Idk just not sure. Just hoping someone who had this before knows a cure or if it is in fact scaring over. Idk what fish scars look like.

Thanks though! I may just start doing another dose after next water change.

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[McLumpy]

Thanks. Yeah, I did melafix with pimafix and it just made the spot not grow. A halt basically. Idk just not sure. Just hoping someone who had this before knows a cure or if it is in fact scaring over. Idk what fish scars look like.

Thanks though! I may just start doing another dose after next water change.

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Yeah, sorry I wasn't much help. I hope you get a response from someone who knows what it is and how to cure it. In the interim, starting the treatment back up should at least buy you some time since you stated that it halted the growth.

Best of luck w/ your little guy!

 

[Bruce410]

Yeah, sorry I wasn't much help. I hope you get a response from someone who knows what it is and how to cure it. In the interim, starting the treatment back up should at least buy you some time since you stated that it halted the growth.

Best of luck w/ your little guy!

No worries! Thanks for the response! Sounds good.

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[HN1]

The prognosis isn't good unfortunately. Hopefully this isn't it, but it usually is with this fish.
FAQs on Colisa lalia, C. chuna... "Dwarf" Gouramis of Many Names, Honey, Flames, Neon Blue,  Sunset Fire... Disease/Health

 

[McLumpy]

Excellent find, HN1! I hope that isn't the case w/ Bruce's fish either, but it sounds like it's a common issue w/ DG's, (which I was completely unaware of btw).

 

[Bruce410]

The prognosis isn't good unfortunately. Hopefully this isn't it, but it usually is with this fish.
FAQs on Colisa lalia, C. chuna... "Dwarf" Gouramis of Many Names, Honey, Flames, Neon Blue, Sunset Fire... Disease/Health

Thanks for the info.

Sad. But ill keep working at it since he's not in pain.

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[Bruce410]

The prognosis isn't good unfortunately. Hopefully this isn't it, but it usually is with this fish.
FAQs on Colisa lalia, C. chuna... "Dwarf" Gouramis of Many Names, Honey, Flames, Neon Blue, Sunset Fire... Disease/Health

Thanks for the info. Very informative and indeed a good find. I'll keep trying though since he's showing no signs of pain. He's been eating good so that's fortunate.

Thanks again!

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[dkpate]

Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus (DGIV)
The quality of the dwarf gouramis in the trade has steadily declined for years, with batches of fish showing significantly higher levels of mortality than 10 years ago. Historically, retailers and aquarists have blamed bacterial infections, such as fish tuberculosis (Mycobacterium marinum). In recent years, though, attention has focused on a virus known as dwarf gourami iridovirus or DGIV.
Dwarf gourami iridovirus is apparently specific to the dwarf gourami (Colisa lalia), including the various fancy varieties of the species, such as neon gouramis and sunset gouramis. Infected fish develop a variety of symptoms, including loss of color, decrease in activity and appetite, the appearance of sores and lesions on the body, abdominal swelling and finally death. This fish disease is highly contagious, completely untreatable and invariably fatal.
Dwarf gourami iridovirus is apparently very common. One recent study of fish exported from Singapore found that 22 percent of all dwarf gouramis carried the virus. Aquarists should never purchase dwarf gouramis from fish tanks containing fish exhibiting symptoms consistent with the dwarf gourami iridovirus, and all new fish should be quarantined for at least six weeks prior to being placed in the main fish aquarium.

From: Aquarium Fish: Fish Viral Disease


I am not sure it's the DGIV, since the gourami doesn't look swollen or emaciated. In the second pic he looks stressed though, and something IS wrong, since his head is so dark.
Do you have rocks or any other decorations in the tank besides the fake plants? Could he have possibly gotten stuck somewhere?

 

[Bruce410]

From: Aquarium Fish: Fish Viral Disease

I am not sure it's the DGIV, since the gourami doesn't look swollen or emaciated. In the second pic he looks stressed though, and something IS wrong, since his head is so dark.
Do you have rocks or any other decorations in the tank besides the fake plants? Could he have possibly gotten stuck somewhere?

He may be stressed but the darkness in picture was from him swimming along the glass and the overhead light was on the other side of him.
As far as other things I have a cave small column and a piece of wood. The tank is right beside my desk so I procrastinate and watch them a lot during the day but I know it can still happen without my knowing. I know the bottom of my heater is just above the gravel and maybe he got stuck under?
I want to keep the cave and stuff because I know it relieves DG stress to be able to hide.
Do you think the spot is healing or if it's something that's stress related? Thanks for the help!

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[dkpate]

From what I can see it looks like it's healing. See what you can do about moving the decorations away from the glass and eachother to where he can't squeeze in anywhere, and tip the heater a little sideways so he can't get stuck under it.
My DG's favorite spot to hang out was under this pile of silk plants that I had tied to the top side of the tank with fishing line. He didn't really like to be IN anything, he wanted to be UNDER, which is probably how he got himself stuck in the first place.

 

[Bruce410]

From what I can see it looks like it's healing. See what you can do about moving the decorations away from the glass and eachother to where he can't squeeze in anywhere, and tip the heater a little sideways so he can't get stuck under it.
My DG's favorite spot to hang out was under this pile of silk plants that I had tied to the top side of the tank with fishing line. He didn't really like to be IN anything, he wanted to be UNDER, which is probably how he got himself stuck in the first place.

Great idea! Makes sense! I'll give it a go. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks!

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[Bruce410]

Sooo, my DG is a little warrior. He keeps truckin even though he needs to go. He's getting the bulges and he pooping clear stuff and swims like he's on something. It has gotten worse and he just keeps hanging in there.

I don't him to keep suffering so I was wondering what is the most humane way to put him out of his misery? (to sleep)
I heard the bagging and freezing way was the most humane, but just want to see if anyone has other options. If not I know it needs to be done.

 

[HN1]

IMO, clove oil followed by freezing is most humane. Lots of debate surrounding euthanasia though.

fish euthanasia methods - Google Search

 

[dkpate]

I agree with HN, clove and freezing.

Put the clove oil in until the water turns milky, put fish in. The freezer means no chance of waking up. I had to do it with my DG too, not easy, but for the better.