Sick Gourami - Urgent help needed!

[squealor]

I got a pair of gouramis one week ago today. From the start, you could tell they were stressed out in the bag and then when I let them go, the female hid behind the filter most of the time. She was really shy, mostly only came out to eat, but didn't swim around much.
This morning when I woke up, she was dead. Now that she's out from behind the filter, I could see how sick she was... her fins were jagged and looked "eaten" and she had whitish sores on her body. I'm pretty sure the stress of the move made her sick or she was sick when I got her and never realized since she was always hiding.
On careful inspection, the male gourami looks like he's now starting to get the same type of whitish sore on him. He was perfectly fine until today. Other than that, he looks great (fins are great) and he seems happy enough and he's eating.
I ran out to Petco to get a quarantine tank, filter, etc., but I'm not sure how to treat it. If I had to guess (from looking at pictures online), she had fin and tail rot and body fungus. His fins look ok, but he looks to have two small spots of fungus. Thank goodness, the guy working at Petco today was the one who is pretty knowledgeable about fish and he showed me what to buy for a filter, heater, etc. He also gave me Maracyn-Two by Mardel to treat. I also grabbed PimaFix by Aquarium Pharaceuticals b/c it looked good, too. Which should I try (or did I get the wrong things altogether)? Also, should I put the heat up higher? He said to put it at 85.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Toirtis]

Use the Maracyn, and increase the heat slowly to 80ºF from whatever the gouramis current temp is....and add someaeration via an airstone. You will want to swap some filter media from your established tank into the new quarantine-tank's filter, or you will be subjecting your sick gourami to a cycle, too.

 

[squealor]

Unfortunately, the new filter is a small one (aquaclear power filter for a 5-20 gallon) and my normal filter is an emporer bio-wheel power filter 400. I did take gravel from the old tank and put it in the new... what can I take from the emperor for the aquaclear? I'm worried about the cycling...

The temp in the old tank is already at 80 b/c we are going through a hellish heatwave here in Boston (96, feels like 103)...

 

[Toirtis]

Do a water-change on your established tank, rinse the old filter cartridge in that water, then give the AC's sponge a good couple of squeezes in that water (and dip the new biomedia in it, too)...that should help.

 

[squealor]

Oh, great! I just did that, now I'm testing both tanks' water to make sure pH and everything is similar before making the switch!

Thanks so much!!

 

[squealor]

Ok, one more problem... after soaking the foam in the old water/filter rinse water, I've tested all my water levels. Everything is equal (temp, pH, etc, etc), but in the new tank, there is ammonia. About .25ppm... is this from soaking the foam without adequate bacteria to deal with it?
Should I move him over anyway? Or hold off treatment for a day or two?

 

[Toirtis]

Some ammonia is to be expected, since you could not swap in some actual cycled media.....do a couple of water changes and lay off feeding for at least 24 hours...that should help.

 

[squealor]

Great! Thanks so much... I'm going to transfer him soon and give him some meds! I'll let you know how it goes!