Help me wouned gourami!!!

[SwedishFish]

Help my gourami tail got bitten and it is causing him to bleed the end of his tail/body is red. By the way its a golden gourami its full grown. This morning i woke up to see him completely vertical gasping for air ? I have 2 filters that make bubbles in the aquarium plus I have a huge amazon sword plant that gives off air also.. How can i treat my poor gourami he will act normal just a little differnt like hidng more often and gulping air... I put some aquasafe in every night cause it says it help to heal wounds. Can any one help me out ?:confused:

[KateA.]

Anytime your fish are sick you need to double check your water params first. That is an easy thing to fix if something is wrong. That determines what sorts of medications you could use. The gasping could be from excess nitrites and you might try some salt for that. Otherwise if the water checks out, a small water change wouldn't hurt then some Melafix. But again, start with the water tests: pH, ammonia and nitrite. Don't add anything else until the water is tested.

[SwedishFish]

he isnt sick he has been bit it has put him into a critical state. i moved him to a 10g with 2 plants and plenty of air but it is his wound that is hurting him not a disease... i hope he pulls through

[LMOUTHBASS]

what bit him???

[SwedishFish]

were not sure yet the 2 suspects are the lepornis fascticus or the red fin golden shark.... :(

[scott]

What is a filter that makes bubbles? A filter has an intake and passes water over media and then returns it to the tank. An air wand merely puts air bubbles in the tank. Are you sure you have a filter?

[SwedishFish]

yes i have 2 real filters on eis a aquaclear 150 the other is an aqua clear mini... but the one in the 10g that he is in has a aquatech 15 made for 10g or 15g . Any medicinesor home appliances that will help my poor fish :(

[scott]

The reason I ask is because I had a jack dempsey whose tail got bitten off once, he was never at the surface gulping for air. That is usually a sign of poor water conditions. Once the culprit was removed the tail grew back. The fish swam a little funny for a month but never showed any outward signs of stress once the other fish was removed.

I would treat with melafix (alot of people think its snake oil but hey, I think neosporin is snake oil) and keep the water clean.

I think Kate A was right though....what are your water parameters? Especially amonia and nitrite. And what is your tank cleaning regimine? I think the answers to these questions will shed some light.

[SwedishFish]

he has fungus lookin glike stuff hanging off his wound :( i went to my lfs non had melafix so i bought some fungus cure to get it off the wound.. i also put some tetra aqua safe in too it helps heal wounds and get protective slime coating... He is a labrynth fish they do gulp air ,oscars dont usually gulp air. I just hope he will pull through thankyou for your help... more advice would be greatly appreciated! BTW i would tell you the ph and nitrates but i dont have a nitrate testing thing. i have a ph tester i just lost the chart so i dont know what it could be.. i did add some fresh clean water to the aquarium.

[scott]

I would recommend changing the water not just adding, I think a twenty percent is usualy recommende before medicating.

[SwedishFish]

ok I will do so but one last question how should i feed him if he is always busy gulping air?

[scott]

I would skip the feeding for a couple of days, if he isn't eating it is just decaying in the water.

[Cloud-9]

I made the mistake of putting a male firemouth in the same tank with a pike cichlid once. The pike bit the firemouth's tail all the way to the meat. Anyway, I removed the firemouth to a 5.5 gallon hospital tank thinking it's just a matter of time before it died. Well, it was alive the next day but the whole back end of the fish looked like cotton. I treated the fish with AP's Fungus Cure (Victorai Green and Neutroflavine). After the 48 hour treatment, I redosed. The Fungus would not go away. I did a water change and added Kanacyn (kanamycin sulfate) and immediately the fungus went away. I followed the Aquatronics directions and treated 3 times. The fish started eating. I did a small water change, of about 1/3. The fungus returned immediately and the fish died within 12 hours. The directions said to continue the treatment if conditions do not improve. Well, to my mind it improved so I never repeated the treatment. That was the problem. Had I repeated the 5-day treatment, the fish would have lived even with the tail bitten all the way to the meat like that. Cichlids are tough.

Anyway, the point is that some fungus can be stubborn. Try something else if the first attempt doesn't work. I've heard good things about Melafix from the pet shops around my area. If it doesn't work, go for an antibiotic like Kanacyn.

I'm not sure how long a Gourami can last with fungus though. I would think not as long as a Firemouth.

[SwedishFish]

I just got home from my summer job to see my gourami dead on the bottom of my 10g:( ... thanks for your help everyone I will try to prevent such a death if it ever happens again. thanks for your help

[Cloud-9]

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes you have to just assume that a big injury like that will result in fungus, and then go ahead and put medication to prevent it. That way, you don't lose any time.