Honey Dwarf Gourami losing his color

[JeffNebraska]

One of my three Honey Dwarf Gouramis is slowly turning white in the back two-thirds of his body. His behavior is somewhat listless, but not too bad and he continues to eat. He also seems a little itchy, which implies a possible skin parasite.

I'm thinking about putting him in a hospital tank, but, at this point, I wouldn't know what to use to treat him.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciate.

 

[Terry]

It is possible that your gourami has skin disease which is a parasitic and the whiteness that you see is a build up of body mucus. This condition is sometimes brought on by stress through adverse water quality ie. nutrogenous waste or overcrowding, but i would check your ammonia/nitrite/nitrates. I think that if you use a treatment for parasites and raise you temperature to about 84-86 that might help. I would also treat the whole tank to stop the rest of your fish getting it.

HTH

 

[Allivymar]

*nods and agrees with Terry*

Def get those nitrogenous waste levels; it may be a factor. Personally I would move him into QT, although if it turns out to definitely be parasites you may have to treat the main tank as well. Can you get us a pic?

 

[JeffNebraska]

I may be able to get a pic. You can see the original state of one of his tank mates in my gallery.

It is not a cloudiness, body-slime issue, as I have seen that before and know what it looks like. I also do not have any nitrogenous waste in the tank and never go more than two weeks without a water change.

I have had some kind of parasite causing different fish in the tank to have itchy skin at different times. I am always very reluctant, however, to treat the whole tank, and I wouldn't know what to treat with in this case.

No change in this fish's condition, btw. Continues to eat and behave almost normally, with a little sluggishness. But his color is definitely not what it used to be and not that of his tank mates.

Keep the advice coming.