A sickly gourami :(

[Siluar]

Thanks in advance for the help folks...

I have a large honey gourami who's in trouble. In the last 2 days, he's developed a reddish tinge to his gills and around the base of his fins. He's lethargic and hanging towards the top of the tank. Not interested in food. It does not appear to be a topical ailment, more of something internal.

I originally thought it was a wound of some sort (last week I added two smaller gouramis, and he's been beatin them up a little), and added a dose of Melafix for the antibacterial properties.

Could this be a simple stress reaction to the newer fish? They were replacing a longtime tankmate who recently died. The sick Gourami is by far the dominant one (the two new's are around 2", he's around 4) and none of the other fish in the tank seem to be affected, so I'm hoping it's not a bug the new guys brought in.

I read up on all I could find at Skeptical Aqurist regarding diseases and bacterial infections, and I can't find anything :(

[OrionGirl]

Gills are often the first sign of a parasitic infestation, and the new fish indeed could have introduced the bug. Without more specific symptoms, though, I'm hesitant to recommend medicating the tank--it's hard to draw the line between helping and causing additional problems with non-specific symptoms.

I'd watch the fish, and see if it's starts eating. The intruders are likely stressing it a bit, and the addition of the new fish may have caused a slight spike, further stressing the older fish. Do a few more water changes than you usually would, and see how it goes.