If Paraguard doesn't do the job... what next??

[milknhoney]

Don't have a hospital tank. I've started treating our tank with Paraguard as a matter of course whenever we get new fish and - happy days! - I finally have fish who have stayed alive longer than one week!!

Got two new fish on Sunday and one of them has been very lathargic from the beginning. Was hoping Paraguard would perk him up as it did for others, but today he now has that dreaded white growth on him. He also occasionally appears tilted in the gravel.

Maybe the Paraguard will still work with time, but I'm guessing that he wouldn't have started the growth in the first place if that were true. So... now what??

The other three fish in the 10 gallon tank appear fine.

 

[coralbandit]

Look into DGIV before you treat much more of anything..
Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus (DGIR)

About 10 years ago, aquarium dealers and hobbyists noticed a greatly increased mortality rate in dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) raised on fish farms in Southeast Asia and imported for the pet trade. The apparent cause is an iridovirus that causes necrosis of the spleen and kidney in infected fish. Symptoms are varied and include pale coloration, loss of appetite, lesions on the body, ascites (abdominal swelling), and a very high mortality rate. While other species of gourami do not seem to be as strongly affected, a food fish, the Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii), is susceptible to the same virus (Go, et al. 2006). As with other viral diseases, there is little home aquarists can do about it other than try to avoid acquiring infected animals. As this disease seems to have a swift onset, avoiding the purchase of any recently imported dwarf gouramis is the best course of action

 

[milknhoney]

Thank you, that's good to know before we go crazy buying new medication. One more reason to be frustrated that we only have the big box pet stores in my city.

Ugghh... just when I thought I'd finally figured out how to keep fish alive for longer than a week. We've been trying to get this tank going since last May. Well, at least I've managed three healthy fish. I hope DGIR doesn't pass over to other species?