Hi,

I'm having problems with a couple of my Gouramis which materialised in the last week. One has already died and another is heading the same way.

It started off with a white fecal string, followed by lesions on the skin and then abdominal bloating. The symptoms point to an internal bacterial infection which gouramis appear to be very susceptible to. It doesn’t appear to be dropsy as there wasn’t a pine cone effect of the scales.

I'm using Interpet Internal Anti-Bacteria treatment. Is there anything else I should be doing?. I want to ensure this doesn't spread to my four remaining healthy gouramis. I also have 6 corys, but they seem fine.

I have a 65 litre tank. Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrate is 10. Ph is 7.8. The tank has been set up for about 10 weeks at this stage and has been fully cycled for about 6 weeks.

Is the pooh white and stringy or white and solid.

White and stringy can be spironucleus Vortens.(not sure if Anabantoids are subseptable).

Solid white can be intestinal worms. I sell Flubenol 15 which I import from Devon discus and it kills intestinal worms/flukes and all Helminths.

A lot of members here have bought it from me. Its 10 euro plus one euro p+p for one 400 litre dosage.
If you want some I have some at the moment.

Send me a pm if you want some. I am on the northside of Dublin.

It's white and stringy, so I don't think it's worms. Unfortuately he disimproved significantly today and I decided to euthanise him. I couldn't watch him suffer any more.

The other four look ok bar one that had the fecal string yesterday morning, but I haven't seen it since and isn't showing any other symptoms.

Hopefully that's the end of it. I'll do a major water change tonight, but not sure if I'll continue with the Interpet treatment. Problem is, I'm not sure what I'm treating.

Ken,
I can vouch for the effectiveness of the Flubenol but don't have much faith in the Interpet stuff, I used it some years ago and still lost the fish I was hoping to heal. Unless, of course, they have changed the formulation of it?
As to the former, I bought some young Corydoras recently and within 36 hours all but three were dead, I moved the remaining ones to a different tank with Flubenol in and lost no more of them.
I'm sold on it, maybe it won't work with the stringy faeces complaint but I'd be inclined to try it anyway.
I fear that with many Anabantids sourced in the far east you don't only buy the fish...likewise it seems with Angels too.
John

Thanks John. I just sent Anthony a PM to get the Flubenol. I think it is worth a try. The remaining fish look ok at the moment so hopefully I may have seen the end of the problem.

Are the fish eating.

I recon its Sv but usually the stomachs should look like this )( instead of () aftera few days. Are they eating.

Octozin can be mildly effective if caught early. If not get down to the vets and get ome Metronidazole. 500mg per 10us gallons every 8 hours followed by 50% daily water changes.
Carry out this treatment for about a week.
Have you fed them Bloodworm recently or Tubefex worms. These can carry parasites(Sv is a Flagellete). Its possible to get a bad batch.
If so bin the bloodworms/tubefex and get a new batch and soak them in a solution of Metronidazole. Can`t remember the exact amount.(A while since I was a Discus freak) but I think they come in 250mg tabs. One tab added to a cup with 2 blocks shoulb be ok. If I remember its ok to over dose a little.
Feed them this 3 x daily.
Normally its not a good idea to feed fish bloodworms afetr an SV attack but I cant think of something that will uck up the meds.
Beefheart usually works but will they eat it?
Red wriggler worms contain natural anti SV meds.(not sure of the right word).
Purge the earth woms over night and feed these to the fish when they recover for a few weeks.
After treatment of Metro and water change, treat tank with myaxzin or interpet no.9 as the fish intestines are sensitive and easy prey to a bacterial infection.

Keep us posted.

All the fish are eating at the moment. The two that died were eating until the late stages. Symptoms were initially white fecal string, followed by bloating and red/white lesions on the body. After a couple of days this was followed by listlessness, not eating and death.

I can drop into Lissenhall in Swords tomorrow and get some Metronidazole. I'm not sure vets in Ireland are used to treating fish. I've had budgies in the past and anytime there was a problem, vets didn't seem to have much interest. Cats and dogs are more their thing.

Thanks for the help.

Could be an internal infection with a secondary costia external paracidal infection.

Has you ph dropped any significant amount.

I've been checking the water over the last few days. PH has stayed steady at 7.8.

BTW, yes, I have fed bloodworm about twice a week for the past few weeks. It's the frozen type. Is it still possible to get parasites from the frozen type?