Dwarf gourami disease identification - help!

M

miss jess

AC Members
Mar 25, 2010
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0
Brisbane, Australia
hi all,
i need some help IDing disease on my male and female dwarf gouramis. here's my tank info:

165litre/43g 3ft tank, 20" high
set up since january, gouramis added late feb
filtered with fluval 205 with fortnightly water changes
moderately planted

other inhabitants:
6 pristella tetra
4 zebra danio
3 juvenile indian glass fish

PH stable at 7.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 2ppm
GH 5
KH 3
(tested with liquid api kits)
heated to 26 degrees C
fish fed once a day with a variety of flake/granule and occasional frozen bloodworm/brine shrimp/daphnia

3 weeks ago i drained the tank to 50% and added one bag of ADA aquasoil underneath the gravel, as well as some laterite. i then planted heaps of plants. while this was being done (2 hours) i placed the dwarf gourami (DG) pair in a 21litre quarantine tank but left the other fish in.

a couple of days after the rescape i noticed the male DG had a small hole in the second 'spike' of his dorsal fin, so i started adding myxazin by waterlife at the rate of 10ml per day for 5 days. the hole got worse so at day 4 of the treatment i started adding 15ml of melafix daily as well. the fin erroded a little more but stopped and hasn't got worse. the melafix was added for 7 days.

after stopping the myxazin and melafix, i did a 50litre water change. then i noticed the male DG's lips started swelling up. they got large and very light pink in colour. a dark pink lump developed on the bottom lip. i started adding pimafix, 15ml daily. i'm on day 4 of treatment and part of his top lip has started to errode, here's some photos:

67285211.jpg

15464958.jpg


he is still acting normally and eating normally.
the female DG has normal lips, but below her lips (where her chin would be if she had one) there is a 1cm red rash/patch underneath the skin. no swelling. last night i also noticed she's developed a small 'hole' on one side. i couldn't get a photo of her as she's often hiding. her abdomen is a little swollen, i think with eggs as opposed to being illnesss.

these DGs were in fantastic condition when i bought them (from a reliable aquarium) and for the first 6 weeks. they were the healthiest DGs i'd ever seen. it's also worth mentioning that i have had 2 zebra danios die in the last month - no obvious signs of illness on one, a red tinge on the belly of the other. i also had two 5cm peppermint bristlenose die about a month ago, again no obvious sign of illness. all the remaining fish in the tank (bar the DGs) are looking and acting healthy. i've had the danios and the pristellas for many years with no problems.

i have no idea what's going on and feel like a fish killer :( after 9 years of fish keeping this is the first problem i've had with fish dying. can anyone shed some light on what's happening and suggest what i can do for my gouramis?
 
I think it is some Gourami disease. My dwarfs and honey gourami died suddenly with a huge hole in their sides. I read not to buy gouramies because of it.
 
At least still eating which is good sign.

I would avoid mixing any meds, specially ones made by different mfr unless specifically recommended. Personally Mela and Pima dont have space on my shelf.

Looking at the pic, I notice erosion of left upper lips. Is this correct? If so, has erosion continued?

Updated Pics?
 
Cerianthus said:
At least still eating which is good sign.

I would avoid mixing any meds, specially ones made by different mfr unless specifically recommended. Personally Mela and Pima dont have space on my shelf.

Looking at the pic, I notice erosion of left upper lips. Is this correct? If so, has erosion continued?

Updated Pics?
Click to expand...

he's still eating, she's not. she doesn't come out of hiding at all anymore, i fear she'll be dead soon.

the erosion hasn't continued and he hasn't gotten any worse since the photo was taken. he's still acting normally. i'm about to do another 50litre water change and i think i'll continue with the pimafix as it seems to have stopped the wounds getting worse (which is all i ever expected it to do).

i've spoken to the makers of melafix and pimafix before and they can be mixed. they work on different kinds of bacteria (one gram negative, one positive). but agree that other meds shouldn't be mixed.
 
PLEASE CAN'T ANYONE HELP?
i actually read the 'read before posting' topic and answered every question and provided photos. someone has to know what's wrong with my gouramis. every morning i go to the tank expecting to see them dead, as well as when i come home from work, yet they're still battling on. i really want to save them.

the male's lips have eroded further, so much so that he has very little of his lips left. he is spending most of his time near the surface of the water, above the filter intake where the current would be weakest. he's still eating.

female still has normal lips but still has the red and broken skin under her mouth, severe pop eye in one eye and a small wound on her side. she's not eating.

the only other thing i've noticed is in the last couple days they've both had thin, translucent poo. could this be from internal parasites? tonight i mashed up some garlic, soaked their flakes in it and then fed them - the male ate some.

two of my indian glass fish are acting a little ill now too. the remaining danios seem fine.

PLEASE help :( :(
 
Hi miss jess,

I'm not very experienced but I had some problem with my Dwarfs in the past, the female died but the male survived to what I thought was DGD. I used "Anti Internal Bacteria" from Interpet because I couldn't get hold of proper antibiotics here in UK (if I would have used Maracin II), however I must tell you that I never saw something like your pictures in the cases of DGD I saw on the net.

I also noticed a few times small holes in the dorsal fin of my gourami but usually it goes away in a couple of days... could it be a reaction to myxazin or melafix or primafix?
I would stop adding medications, add a water pump, perform 30% water change every 2 days, make sure the filter is doing a good job (clean it and possibly change both policarbon filters in your fluval with new one, one day at a time).

Or you could use your quarantine tank... could it be a reaction to the fertiliser?

Good luck, and keep us informed.
Cheers
Fabio
 
Cerianthus said:
How big is your tank?

pH of tap water?
Click to expand...

165 litres/43 gallons as stated in my original post.
tap water ph is 8, my tank is 7.4 because i have lots of driftwood, use indian almond leaves and aquasoil, sometimes top up the tank with demineralised water and it's moderately planted

fabiobruno said:
Hi miss jess,

I'm not very experienced but I had some problem with my Dwarfs in the past, the female died but the male survived to what I thought was DGD. I used "Anti Internal Bacteria" from Interpet because I couldn't get hold of proper antibiotics here in UK (if I would have used Maracin II), however I must tell you that I never saw something like your pictures in the cases of DGD I saw on the net.
Click to expand...

it's also hard to get proper antibiotics in australia, i actually don't know where to find any. i've never seen antibiotic food either :(

I also noticed a few times small holes in the dorsal fin of my gourami but usually it goes away in a couple of days... could it be a reaction to myxazin or melafix or primafix?
Click to expand...
the hole in his dorsal fin started before i started adding medications.

I would stop adding medications, add a water pump, perform 30% water change every 2 days, make sure the filter is doing a good job (clean it and possibly change both policarbon filters in your fluval with new one, one day at a time).
Click to expand...
what do you mean by a 'water pump'? as well as the fluval 205 i also have a HOB filter running that's rated for 60litres. i replace the sponges regularly (i get everything cheap!) and the fluval is packed full of seachem matrix and when i'm not using meds, purigen.

i'll bump up my water changes and see if it makes a difference.

Or you could use your quarantine tank... could it be a reaction to the fertiliser?
Click to expand...
i wondered about the fertiliser. i stopped using liquid fertiliser 3 weeks ago but maybe the damage was already done. i've been holding off on using my quarantine tank as it's only 21 litres.

Good luck, and keep us informed.
Cheers
Fabio
Click to expand...
thank you so much for your reply, i appreciate that you took the time to help me
 
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