Blue gourmi hurt... cant treat with melafix... what to do???

[sudz]

Hey guys. I have 3 small blue gourami's in a 15 gallon, and one (the Alpha) was attacked, (either by my small angles, or my other Blue gourami's. Now, hes still agressive, but his wound is getting worse.

Attached is a picture. BTW, this happened 3 days ago. The picture was taken right now.

Temp at 80, 15 nitrates, 0 nitrites/ammonia,

 

[An t-iasg]

Do you have a QT tank for him? I would be cautious about Melafix. The active ingredient can irritate a betta's or gourami's labyrinth organ. I treated a betta once with Melafix and he fell straight to the bottom of the tank. This is not to say you can't try it and see - just be very careful and be ready to do a large water change if necessary.

Some other good treatment choices would be Maracyn 2, or Jungle Fungus Eliminator. I would be concerned about a secondary infection settling into the wound, so I would try an antibiotic. The Jungle product has an antibiotic in it also and has worked very well for me.

 

[fearlessfisch]

Oh, that poor baby. That is a mean wound.

I would also go for an actual antibiotic with a wound like that. I once treated a wound successfully changing water very frequently and using just half-doses of antibiotics (since it would have been expensive to treat full dose every time, changing the water so much). The combination of very clean water with just a low dose of antibiotic in there seemed to work. The wound I was dealing with didn't look as bad as your fish's, though.

Lately my fish-saving attempts have not been so successful, though, so your mileage may vary. Good luck. I'll be rooting for the poor little guy.

 

[sudz]

I've started with FURAN-2, because its what i have. It says its good for Tail and Fin rot (which i gather is an infection? It doesn't seem to be having any immediate effect. (other than turning the water green) I've been doing 25% water changes daily. I'll keep everyone posted. I'll be going to big al's tonight to see if they have any of your recommndations.

Thanks

 

[petunia100]

For what it's worth I also had a bad experience with Melafix and gourami, it definately messed with the labrynth organ of mine. You could see him struggling, it was not nice. I don't think I will ever use Melafix with labrynth fishes again, although I have used it fine on those fishes without a labrynth. I second the water change, antibiotic route, I've had success with it before. I've never used furan 2 and don't know much about it, but have used maracyn 2 with success. I don't know if the two can or should be mixed or not, someone else may be albe to help you with that. Good luck.

 

[sudz]

Well, Most fish medications cannot be used with clown loachs. I ended up going with a direct application of a medicine. I can't remember what its called, but i use a super fine painters brush, and just let a bit of this red-dye'd stuff touch the wound. The fish seems to have calmed down, hes less agressive to the other fish now... Hopefully thats because he's no longer in pain!

I'll keep you posted.

 

[sudz]

He's looking a little more healthy now. It could just be my imagination, but the wound is turning a darker color, and seems to be getting less "messy" and slightly smaller. When i first apply it, It dyes the whole fish pink, Including my hands. Then when the red goes in the water... it turns into neon green wisps... a cool effect!

I think the product works well enough to warrant the stress of removing the fish from water, holding it, and applying it directly. Thumbs up from me! (but we'll see if the fish pulls through)

 

[An t-iasg]

How is the gourami doing now? It sounds like he's getting better.

 

[sudz]

Well, i was away all weekend, and he didn't get his "painting" but he appears to be hanging in there.