brown spot on gourami

[Loren]

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.

 

[Fruitbat]

Loren....

What you've most likely got there is Anchor 'Worms'. The 'very fine and short hair-like thing in the area' is a dead giveaway. Gouramis seem to be particularly susceptible to these nasty little parasitic copepods. That brown spot is the place where the copepod has burrowed into your fish. It will eventually develop into a bloody sore area. Since the 'worms' have probably already reproduced you can expect to see more of these disgusting little vermin attached to your gourami...and perhaps to some of your other fish as well. I had an infestation about a month ago and one of my poor gouramis looked almost hairy because it had so many worms on it.

I had outstanding success treating the anchor 'worm' infestation with a Jungle product called Parasite Clear. You can probably find this fairly easily in your lfs. Follow the dosing instructions carefully and I suggest you repeat the treatment a second time. The instructions say to have a 48 hour interval between doses with a 25% water change before the second dose. Good advice!!! My infestation cleared up within a week or so of treatment.

 

[Fruitbat]

Oh....you might want to take the snail out of your tank before you treat it. Parasite Clear will kill crustaceans like shrimp and crabs. It probably won't harm the snail (mollusc) but why risk it??

 

[Loren]

Thank you, Fruitbat. I'll definately look into that. One thing I wondered about...the hair-like thing is REALLY REALLY tiny...maybe 1/16" (or smaller), and fine as a spider's web silk. I thought anchor worms were more easily visible. I've never seen one, so I have no idea. Where do these nasty little critters come from...could it have hitched a ride in on my plant? And do they work that fast (no visible sign yesterday)? I appreciate all your input. Thanks again.

 

[Fruitbat]

Not all anchor worms are easily visible but you are smart to ask! There are a couple of other parasitic copepods that are similar to anchor worms but are a bit smaller. Yes...it is possible for the symptoms to show up that quickly. The brown spot with the little thread on it is VERY typical of the anchor worm. The brown spot (looked very red on my blue and gold gouramis) is subcutaneous bleeding and irritation caused by the 'worm' foot buried beneath the skin.

Give the Jungle Parasite Clear a shot....you should see improvement within a couple of days. If not then post again. I'll keep any eye on this post for any developments.

 

[Loren]

I couldn't find any Jungle products at my lfs, but I did find Coppersafe and another similar product. I have to get my snail out of the tank, though, and coppersafe says it remains in the water for up to a month. I thought I'd look around for a small tank I could put the snail in now, and use as a QT in the future. So, while I'm doing all this running around today on my fish mission, the spot on my gourami appears to be fading. If it is a parasite, and say it dropped off the fish for the next stage in it's development, would my fish heal at the infestation site? I wonder if it wasn't an injury all along? Maybe that teeny thing I saw was a piece of his own tissue (it was way too small to define in any way)? I'll watch the gourami while I shop for a QT, but I'm kind of hoping that it will turn out to be an injury rather than pestilence. I'm still going to look for the Jungle product (I might have to go to Wal-mart and pre-Christmas there is too crazy for me!), and I'm going to treat the tank with something...don't forget those pesky limpets!!! I hope if it is a parasite that taking the time to get a QT set up won't cause any harm, but other than the spot he's fine (no signs on the other fish at all, either)...so I'm thinking I have a bit of time. *crosses fingers*

 

[Loren]

I set up a little 5 gal tank for my snail two days ago, and treated the 10 gal with the Jungle Parasite Guard. The spot on the gourami's side is gone. Yay! Still have some limpets, though. If my snail is still doing okay at the end of next week, I'm thinking of keeping it in the small tank, and treating the big one with some coppersafe to get rid of the limpets.
Thanks for the tip on the Jungle product, Fruitbat.

 

[Fruitbat]

My pleasure Loren....I was really impressed with the way that product worked on my gouramis too! Oh....the limpets won't really hurt anything in your tank and can actually be classified as pretty good little scavengers. Unless they're really objectionable I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time trying to exterminate them.

 

[Loren]

Oh, they really are busy little cleaning machines!...and there aren't so many that I'd call them and eyesore. I was just concerned that they were the source of the parasite that got my gourami. However, I suppose that the parasite is gone from them as well as my fish