White fluff on my pearl gourami??

Yadja · Sunday at 10:50 PM

Hello everyone,
I have a 30gal community tank with a (very territorial) pearl gourami in it.

I noticed that she has not been feeling well for a few days. She stopped eating, she looks bloated and isn't interrested in any food. I tried peas, dried daphnea and even bloodworm as it his her favorite.

My main concern is some white fluff I noticed near her anus/little arms (sorry I do not know the name of these kind of whiskers) area. I believe she is sick but I do not know if it's bacterial, fungal or even a parasite. She has a missing scale on her left side and is taking a breath of air every few seconds. Has anyone seen this white fluff before? Please look at the pictures and let me know.

I introduced new cardinal tetra last week and all my other fish looks fine.

I'm worried, I hope she's not in pain.

Andy Sager · Sunday at 11:26 PM

The fluff is most likely some fungus on a wound. If you could get a closer pic of that area, that would help.

There is a possibility that the fish is eggbound which is why she's not feeding. That can be treated with some Epsom Salt baths or using Epsom salt in a hospital tank which acts as a muscle relaxer. If you have access to Kanamycin or Maracyn 2, those can help fight any internal bacterial infections. The pH of your water would determine which one to use. This needs to be done in a hospital tank as they effect your bacteria bed.
These actions need to be done quickly as the longer any internal infection are present, they can do damage to organs which can lead to the fish having Dropsy.

Hope this helps.

Yadja · Sunday at 11:37 PM

Thank you for the reply

Could you guide me on setting up an hospital tank? I have a 10 gallons that I can fill up but it would be new so uncycled water. Its a fluval flex, I have the filtering media and the pump but there's no bacterias established as it is empty right now.

I've been using melafix and pimafix for 3 days in the 30 gallons tank but I feel like they are not very strong product. I will look for your suggested product tomorrow and give her an epsom bath.

Andy Sager · Sunday at 11:50 PM

Yadja said:
Thank you for the reply

Could you guide me on setting up an hospital tank? I have a 10 gallons that I can fill up but it would be new so uncycled water. Its a fluval flex, I have the filtering media and the pump but there's no bacterias established as it is empty right now.

I've been using melafix and pimafix for 3 days in the 30 gallons tank but I feel like they are not very strong product. I will look for your suggested product tomorrow and give her an epsom bath.

You can find out about setting up a hospital tank here: Quarantine tanks and Hospital tanks, are they really different? at post #2 You don't need a cycled tank for what you are going to do since you won't be feeding the fish and the medications require water changes during treatment or after treatment. Have your pH tested and report back so you research the right meds.

Just an FYI, those " fix" meds are not really any good for once you have a condition. Better a preventative than a curative.

Yadja · Sunday at 11:55 PM

Andy Sager said:
You can find out about setting up a hospital tank here: Quarantine tanks and Hospital tanks, are they really different? at post #2 You don't need a cycled tank for what you are going to do since you won't be feeding the fish and the medications require water changes during treatment or after treatment. Have your pH tested and report back so you research the right meds.

Just an FYI, those " fix" meds are not really any good for once you have a condition. Better a preventative than a curative.

Thank you so much!

White fluff on my pearl gourami??

Yadja

Aquarium Advice Newbie

Attachments

Andy Sager

Aquarium Advice Addict

Yadja

Aquarium Advice Newbie

Andy Sager

Aquarium Advice Addict

Yadja

Aquarium Advice Newbie

Similar threads

Latest posts