"scabs" on my ol' blue gourami

jmandrews1 · 09-06-2008, 06:01 PM

Back after a long time - Tommy Gun helped me get the ammonia level of my tank under control (took a while, but it worked). Now the sole survivor of that challenge, a blue gourami, is dealing with health problems of his own. He's been around for a couple of years, is about three inches long, and has been pretty hearty. Now he's developed, for lack of a better word, scabs on points of his body. He's got about three or four spots where the scales seem somewhat disrupted. The tail fin is showing a little discoloration and deterioration, as is the dorsal fin. What might it be? Old age? A battering from the other fish? Something treatable?

RJRofFL · 09-06-2008, 06:39 PM

Hi jmandrews and welcome back. Sorry it's under these circumstances.

It's really difficult to diagnosis fish illnesses, and if you could, a picture would indeed be a great help.

Meantime, just a few questions to toss around:

Is he eating normally?
What are the other fish in tank?
Are your water parameters right on the money? What are they?
Is he sluggish or is he swimming in circles?
What size tank & how long been running?

I know it sounds like a lot, but as much as you can share, the more we can offer help.

You might want to also spend a little while watching your tank at night after lights out. If there is any aggression that would be the time to spot it.

We'll do our best to help you..

Bob

jmandrews1 · 09-06-2008, 07:01 PM

Thanks, Bob - I'll work on getting the photo, but in the meantime:

Is he eating normally? - seems to be - I feed once daily using TetraMin
What are the other fish in tank? - it's a 29 gallon tank with one opaline gourami (about the same size as "blue," but only had for about six months), one angelfish (also about the same size), a male and female swordtail and a very small bala shark and a dwarf fire gourami that have only been in the tank about three weeks.
Are your water parameters right on the money? What are they? I've got the ammonia down to around .5 ppm and no traces of nitrite. My ph is a little low - around 6.8
Is he sluggish or is he swimming in circles? he really doesn't seem to be acting much differently at all
What size tank & how long been running? It's a 29 gallon tank and I run two Penguin filters (a Bio-Wheel 150 and a Bio-Wheel 170) and it's be running for years - at least five years now. It did get out of cycle for a while, and only added new fish around six months ago.

I'll be watching tonight after the lights go out. I've not really noticed anything aggressive.

Any help/suggestions would be great!

RJRofFL · 09-06-2008, 08:11 PM

Hey jm,

Thanks for the reply.

IMO, I would start with a 20-25% water change.

There really is no such thing as a "safe" amount of ammonia in a tank. I don't think there is a safe amount of carbon monoxide in a home either, and I certainly wouldn't want to live in one. Get my point?

Your ammonia should be zero. Ideally your readings should be 0=ammonia, 0=nitrite, and <20 nitrates. That is a sign of a fully cycled tank.

Perhaps a recent acquisition temporarily overloaded your bioload, or something caused a mini-cycle. I don't know.

Since your Gourami is eating normal, that is a good sign. Not swimming in circles is another good sign.

At this point, I think the best thing you can do is indeed water changes and monitor your water parameters often (daily). The bacteria (good one) will adjust to your bioload in time, and consume the ammonia and nitrite and you will be left with nitrate, which will not be dangerous unless allowed to accumulate. Thus water changes are necessary.

I'm not saying this will be a cure-all, but water changes never are a bad thing.

That's the best I can think of at this time. The picture will be a big help.

Meantime, I will try to research further. Others, I'm sure will jump in to help.

And while you are monitoring your fish, look for signs of gasping for air or consistent swimming to the top, in which case lower the water level to create more oxygen. Just another thought.

Take care.

Bob

jmandrews1 · 09-07-2008, 10:53 AM

Bob, finally found the camera, so hopefully I can do this correctly. I've got four photos that I put up in photobucket. They are:

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...uramileft2.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...ramiright2.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...uramiright.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...ouramileft.jpg

This is the first time I've used photobucket. They give you a choice of four types of links from which to choose (email and im, direct, html and img) - I picked the direct link. If this isn't right, let me know.

I did a 25% water change yesterday even before contacting you. I try to do it every week, but sometimes it slips to every two weeks.

Again, thanks for your help.

jmandrews1 · 09-07-2008, 08:50 PM

Tommy, thanks for the idea. I think I have seen him brushing against the "plastic made to look like rock" ornament in the tank. I'll watch him a little closer and see if that is, in fact, what he's doing. Do I need to worry about any harm to the other fish in using the treatment you suggest? About how long would it take to see any change? Is there a risk of this spreading to the other fish? Do you think one of the fish I added to the tank about three weeks ago could be a "carrier?" Just like before, you guys are great with your help.