Loren
Aquarium Advice Regular
Greetings and Happy Holidays!
I have a dwarf gourami with a brown spot on it's side, just behind the pectoral fin. It just sort of appeared today...I didn't notice it yesterday, at any rate. Looks like he's been singed, and I thought maybe he got trapped behind my heater. That's unlikely, though. Also on very close inspection, I can see a very fine and short hair-like thing in the area...it's only about 1/16 of an inch, and very hard to see (had to look down over him to view it). Behavior is normal, feeds well, is swimming fine and not hiding. It does seem to get the 'willies' though, when it touches something (with the unaffected side, though...go figure), does a little body shiver.
Tank history and parameters: NH3, NO2 and NO3 are low enough not to read from my test kit. Ph is stable at 7.5. Other occupants include 1 clown pleco, 3 otos, 1 ramshorn snail, and only lonely black neon tetra. Back in October I ran into a problem with a dwarf gourami getting all twisted up. He died. Tossed around TB as well as nutritional deficiency. I'm feeding a much more varied diet now. At that time, I also had 3 black tetras. Mid November, one of them got a bad case of fin rot, and what looked like columnaris and I euthenized it when it was hopeless it would recover (I treated with Maracyn). One of the other tetras began to bloat. Didn't look like dropsey, per se, as the scales weren't sticking out, and she tended to 'round out' every month or so. She died last week. The only other changes in my tank has been the addition of a java fern in November. At the time, I wasn't aware that I should be disinfecting plants before adding them to the tank. They've nicely attached to my driftwood, and have brought with them some guests...I mean pests....limpets. My gourami is doing well at keeping their numbers in check so far. He loves them.
So, I wonder what his brown spot could be? And could it also have hitched a ride on the java fern? Or do I really have TB in this tank, and if so, can I treat it? (I have gotten not less, but rather more confused about TB with all that I have read and been told).
If anyone has any help/advice it would be truly appreciated.
I have a dwarf gourami with a brown spot on it's side, just behind the pectoral fin. It just sort of appeared today...I didn't notice it yesterday, at any rate. Looks like he's been singed, and I thought maybe he got trapped behind my heater. That's unlikely, though. Also on very close inspection, I can see a very fine and short hair-like thing in the area...it's only about 1/16 of an inch, and very hard to see (had to look down over him to view it). Behavior is normal, feeds well, is swimming fine and not hiding. It does seem to get the 'willies' though, when it touches something (with the unaffected side, though...go figure), does a little body shiver.
Tank history and parameters: NH3, NO2 and NO3 are low enough not to read from my test kit. Ph is stable at 7.5. Other occupants include 1 clown pleco, 3 otos, 1 ramshorn snail, and only lonely black neon tetra. Back in October I ran into a problem with a dwarf gourami getting all twisted up. He died. Tossed around TB as well as nutritional deficiency. I'm feeding a much more varied diet now. At that time, I also had 3 black tetras. Mid November, one of them got a bad case of fin rot, and what looked like columnaris and I euthenized it when it was hopeless it would recover (I treated with Maracyn). One of the other tetras began to bloat. Didn't look like dropsey, per se, as the scales weren't sticking out, and she tended to 'round out' every month or so. She died last week. The only other changes in my tank has been the addition of a java fern in November. At the time, I wasn't aware that I should be disinfecting plants before adding them to the tank. They've nicely attached to my driftwood, and have brought with them some guests...I mean pests....limpets. My gourami is doing well at keeping their numbers in check so far. He loves them.
So, I wonder what his brown spot could be? And could it also have hitched a ride on the java fern? Or do I really have TB in this tank, and if so, can I treat it? (I have gotten not less, but rather more confused about TB with all that I have read and been told).
If anyone has any help/advice it would be truly appreciated.