Sick Moonlight Gourami

[Kirahn]

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 65g
How long has the tank been running? 2 months, but the canister filter, decor, sand, and some water came from the 54g it replaced.
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 78 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank?

10-15 Adult Guppies (and many fry)
15 Salt and Pepper Corydoras
12 Cardinal Tetras
4 Ruby Tetras
Several Snails (Nerite and Mystery)
1-2 Amano Shrimp
2 Siamese Algae Eaters
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Moonlight Gourami

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Just water sand substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API Master Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40
pH: 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Daily
How much do you feed your fish? I feed them only enough that they can finish it within a few minutes. I don't measure
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Several different brands (Fluval, Omega One. Serra and Hikari mostly). I feed two different kinds a day, of multiple types (Pellets, Flakes, dried brine shrimp
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Frozen sometimes, not recently though I ran out. Freeze dried yes.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 2 years
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 5 weeks
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Started as what looked like a small injury, red/white spot on his head. then slowly looked like it grew fungus
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Yes, I've been treating with erythromycin and Ich-X
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Appearance yes, he has a big fuzzy thing on his head. But behavior is a maybe. He seems a bit more skittish than normal, but he's still eating well.

Explain your situation in detail. A little over a month ago I noticed what looked like an injury on my gourami's head. It was a roundish discolored spot that was slightly red around the edges. I did a water change and added Stress guard to the tank to help with slime coat and watched it. It didn't seem to get better, then after a week I started seeing the white stuff growing on it, so I started a treatment of General antibiotic cure I went through the full treatment of that and it didn't seem to help. After that I did some searching online and I came across a blog post that said to try Ich-X and Erythromycin at the same time. I had ich-x and bulk Erythromycin from everything aquatic. I started dosing that a little over a week ago, and at first it looked like the fungus (if that is what it is) was starting to fall off, but now it seems to be coming back advice is to treat both Ich-X and Erythromycin every day, but I am hesitant as that doesn't follow the guidelines on either product so I thought I would post here to get some advice. I am thinking of combining the every day treatment recommended for 7 days with maybe adding in a 25% water change before each dose? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[tomiyama]

I'm a big fan of trying to improve the water quality of your tank (even though your parameters look pretty good). Are you able to increase the frequency of your partial water changes (let's say 20% every other day for a few weeks and decrease the feedings to once a day (50% reduction). Do not vacuum the gravel or change/clean the filter. Increase aeration in your tank as well.

Aquariums are a closed system so less stable and just minor tank changes can increase or decrease a fish's immune system. Your tank is still quite new so it is probably still trying to establish a strong beneficial bacterial colony....
KISS principle applies to aquarium care as well.

 

[cdianne]

If you're looking for other options of treatment, and if you're able to get methylene blue, I'd recommend giving it a try. I'd say it's my go-to starting point for health ailments. I do 30-60min baths. I'm not sure what the growth is - I'd agree it appears fungal. Meth blue is a dye, not an antiboitic so you'll avoid the medication stress. You'll still need to be careful when reintroducing the fish back into the tank as it can kill off bb. I do the dip then another quick bath in a container of tank water before returning to the main tank.

If you're able to get meth blue and after the initial bath it appears to help, I'd continue doing baths twice a day until it clears; all the while dosing stressguard to bind to the wound.

I hope he heals up soon. It's been quite a battle for you both.

 

[Kirahn]

Thanks for the advice, Meth Blue has been suggested by my LFS but anything that requires catching him out will need to be a last resort. He does not do well with being caught. Catching him and having him spend an hour in a bucket with an air stone to change tanks stressed him out so bad it might be part of what led to this situation.

 

[Kirahn]

Well I dosed Ich-X and Erythromycin last night before bed and this morning the fuzz had fallen off. Now it's just an angry hole but I am going to take that as a positive step and keep dosing Erythromycin every day for at least 5 days but I am going to start doing 25% water changes every day to keep the water really clean. I am also going to add in Stress Guard to help promote slime coat and healing.