Dwarf Gourami died with fuzzy white spotted infection, spreading to other fish.

[kael]

Hey everyone, I recently bought 2 dwarf gourami and added them to the community tank. They were fine for the first 2 days and on the 3rd night we noticed that the power blue gourami had some white discolration with what seemed to be fuzz growing out. We went to get some salt to treat them the next day but by the time we got the salt he had already passed. We sadly found that one of our bristlenose pleco had also passed away and it seems to be spreading to the rest of the fish in the tank. Our 2nd pleco seems to have some discoloration happening on him now, the rest of the fish appear okay for now. We took the body of the passed away gourami to our lfs and they looked at it and said they had no idea what this was and had never seen something like this before, they were super interested to what it might be. They tested our water and called some knowledgable individuals but came back empty handed.

I attached a picture below.. its not the best picture as you cant fully see all the fuzz that is coming out of the discolration. This photo was taken as soon as I got home from work today and the fish was alive in the morning before I left.

I am worried that rest of my fish are going to get sick with this unknown disease and pass away, I turned up the temp of the tank to 82 F and treated with aquarium salt and im hoping that is enough. I would like to quarantine the pleco that is showing discolration but I dont have a tank available to do this at the moment.


1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.)

It started with the power blue Dwarf Gourami. It has since spread and taken out our Bristlenose Pleco, the second bristlenose pleco is showing signs of discoloration.

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.

0 ammonia, nitrites were at 1 ppm and I did a 50% pwc to clear it up and added some prime. nirates 5ppm, temp is 79 F and ph is 7.5

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

It is a 20 gallon tank that is about a month old and finished cycling about a week ago before we added our community fish in.

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.

Its a marina hang on back filter, the one that came with the 20 gallon kit. I have sponge and small rocks inside for the filter media.

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

Currently in the tank is 1 Bristlenose Pleco, 4 Molly fish and 6 Molly fry, 3 Guppies, 1 Dwarf Gourami.

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel?
How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

Today i did a 50% pwc, prior to this was about a 30% pwc a few days ago, each water change we vacuum gravel as best as possible without disturbing the plants.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?

We went out and got the 2 dwarf gourami about 3 days ago, they were fine for the first 2 days, last night we noticed that the power blue gourami had white discoloration with fuzz appearing to grow out of it, we thought it may be a fungal infection and went to buy salt to treat the tank today. When we got home we found that he had already passed away and it spread to one of the plecos and took him out as well.

Acclimated them by letting the bag sit in the water to adjust temp, put a cup of water into the bag and then after 30 min netted them into the tank.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

Nothing.

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?

Have not changed their diet - they eat flakes/pellets and bloodworms.

[Aiken Drum]

Can you get a clearer photo of an infected fish rather than a dead one? It kind of looks like a fungal issue, but there are what look like white spots too.

Its likely that whatever it is, the infection was brought in with the new fish.

Saying that, you arent cycled. Items #2 and #3 are contradicting. You have nitrite in the water, so you arent cycled. What did you do in that month to cycle the tank?

I suspect whats happened is you introduced the infection into the tank. Because you arent cycled the fishes immune systems are down and the infection can more easily take advantage of that and spread quickly.

PS. Do you have Dark Kael yet?

[kael]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

Can you get a clearer photo of an infected fish rather than a dead one? It kind of looks like a fungal issue, but there are what look like white spots too.

Its likely that whatever it is, the infection was brought in with the new fish.

Saying that, you arent cycled. Items #2 and #3 are contradicting. You have nitrite in the water, so you arent cycled. What did you do in that month to cycle the tank?

I suspect whats happened is you introduced the infection into the tank. Because you arent cycled the fishes immune systems are down and the infection can more easily take advantage of that and spread quickly.

PS. Do you have Dark Kael yet?

Find below a photo of our other fire dwarf gourami - he seems like he is starting with the same infection. There is a white spot around the back of his head that is quite large. He hasnt been acting odd that I have noticed however and it doesnt have the fuzz coming out that the first one died with. I am hoping that adding salt and melafix is calming things down. The pleco that I noticed looking a bid dull on his backside seems to be doing well and im not so sure if he infected or not today.

I think you are right it must have come with the new fish. Next time ill try and get a temporary isolation tank before adding to the community tank.


As far as cycling of the tank, I initially started by treating water to remove chlorine, then i added the live plants into the subtrate, followed by adding fish flakes daily to decay into ammonia. I watched the levels of ammonia spike to about 5 ppm, then the ammonia went to 0 and nitrtie went to 5 ppm. Lastly when nitrite went to 0 ppm I checked nitrates which were at about 5 ppm. I then added my fish as I assumed the cycling was complete.

When I added my fish however I think I may have added too many to quickly and also I was overfeeding them. I checked my levels and noticed the nitrite had rose so I did the pwc and slowed down on feeding. As of today the nitrite is .25 and ammonia at 0.

I hope the treatment I am doing is enough, I dont have another tank I can move the sick looking gourami too and im worried this disease appears contagious and may take out the whole tank. Not sure what the best way to proceed is. Currently just keeping a close watch on everybody.

[kael]

Ive been doing some research -- does this look like columnaris? Im thinking this could be what is going on

[danksters]

Yes, I've had the same thing happening to my gourami, no idea what it was. Can't properly see on the picture.

Will send a PM with an outside link for possible information.

It says that white mucus or slime is a disease so do not sick gourami to the community tank just in case.