Ulcers

[Cdelmain]

Hello i have a gold Gourami, she has red open sores on her body. Last night they looked like scratches but this morning they look like ulcers. I took her out of the 29 gallon tank last night and put her in another tank with salt and melafix. I hope i am doing the right thing any suggestions will help thank you.

Ph 7.6
ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25
nitrate 5.0

29 gallon
Substrate is half sand on one side and gravel on other side
use aqua salt in tank

I have 2 gold female gourami, 4 corys, 2 mollys in tank. its a well planted tank. a nice piece of red lava rock and driftwood in tank.

 

[librarygirl]

How long has this tank been set up? With some nitrite the tank isn't fully cycled yet. How long has the tank been cycling with fish? Depending on how long ago nitrites and ammonia came down after they were spiking I'm wondering some sort of burns from the bad water quality (assuming you didn't just start cycling....?).

If ammonia and nitrite have been low for at least a week and this just showed up yesterday it could be something else. Trying the Melafix was a good idea; don't know about the salt. I hope she gets better soon.

Some info on sores: Federation of British Aquatic Societies

 

[Cdelmain]

its a fearly new tank, its been cycling for little over a week. i do daily 25% water changes cause i am new at keeping fish and im scared if i dont keep the nitrites at bay i will hurt them.

Oh also i have well water, i test the water only thing with it is the ph is high but with the driftwood in the water it keeps it at 7.6

 

[steez]

Good job on daily PWC (Partial Water Change). You should do PWC based on the test results.

Like: Ammonia or NitrIte are at .25 = Do a 25% change

Ammonia or NitrIte are at .5 = do a 50% water change

etc.


PWC's are determined by your test kit. I would test twice a day, if you have any traces of toxin's do a PWC.

Keeping the water clean is going to be very crucial while she has these sores.

 

[jlk]

Qt your sick fish is a good idea. As everyone has already said, make sure you are viligant on checking your water and performing pwcs to keep your amm & nitrites under control (esp the tank shes in). High amm/nitrites can cause burns as well as set a fish up for opportunistic infections due to stress and lowered immunity. Try the melafix for its recommended course of treatment while keeping a close eye on her. Hopefully, it will help. Ulcers, because they are open wounds, have a tendency to turn into bacterial infections. If you notice the ulcers turning white, inflamed and/or filled with pus, you may have to consider a course of treatment with a broad-spectrum antibiotic to clear the infection. Good luck and let us know how shes doing!

 

[librarygirl]

It's good you're doing daily water changes and testing. 25% water changes may not cut it for long though. Nitrites tend to spike very fast; steez gave you some good advice about the test kit dictating how much to do, although if it were me I'd do a 50% water change when it gets to .25 and a 70% water change when it gets to .5. Anything over .5 you'll need to do back-to-back water changes. Just test the water after a water change. If it's .25 or over, do another one, and keep going until they are under .25.