gourami help please

[gearbox22]

been treating gourami for 10 days now turned temp up to, but i seem to have a stubborn case if ick, and now the dwarf honey has nipped half of the pink gouramis fin tail away just did a water change this morning should i start ick treatment again and put pink gourami seperate from other fish and how will i treat the tail fin . the rest of my fish are all ok, and the ick has only affected 2 pink gourami, but i am concerned for the poor fishes tail fin, any suggestions please thanx in advance

[kimmers318]

Stubborn cases of ICK are a pain. Did you follow the entire course of ICK treatment? I personally have not had any luck with using and ICK meds on stubborn cases. If caught early a regimen of frequent water changes, increased temps and stress coat has worked for me. The stubborn case I dealt with was with clown loaches, they were the only ones affected, and treatment did not work.
To start, what size tank do you have these 2 in? Fish that are stressed or ill are much more susceptible to ICK and don't bounce back from it very easily, if at all. What are your water readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Is this a new tank? Did you fishless cycle or are these guys living in a cycling tank? What is your water change schedule like? All of these things can affect whether a fish can pull thru this or not. As for one nipping the other, that could be due to the fact that he is weak and ill, the strong will survive, and the strong will also attack the weak. Clean water goes a long way towards letting fins heal. Some melafix can help also.
Get back to us with the information and best of luck to you.

[gearbox22]

hi kimmer thanx for reply tank holds 130 litres 13 gourami 5penguin tetra 5 zeba dannio and 2 catfish which i think are called pictus i checked all the following this morning ph nitrite ammonia ect, and al were correct i do water change every 2 weeks, gravel clean once a month, filter change weekly, and do the pump head monthly, check temps and fish daily, i was going to try salt and temps but i heard it will stress tetras out so didnt bother. i did a 15 % water change today, and i was going to start treatment in a couple of days again for ick and try and get seperate net for the injured fish what do you think is my best option

[gm72]

Whoa, WAY too small of a tank. 130 liters=about 34 gallons. Your fish are far too crowded in that tank.

The pictus alone need more space than the 34 gallon tank.

[gearbox22]

the local store is to blame for the amount of fish i have then ,they said it would be fine to have at least 25 depending on size of fish , how many fish do you think is appropiate for this size of tank and is this why i am getting ick disease thanx

[gm72]

Your fish are stressed, so yes, they are more susceptible to ich. Fish shops often don't know what they are talking about, so it comes as no surprise to hear they misguided you. Glad you found us here though!

What kind of gouramis do you have 13 of? How large are the fish currently?

[gearbox22]

hi gm72 ,i have 4 pink kissers, they are 2ins , 3 dwarf blue, they are under 2ins,
2 pearl they are 2 ins, 3 dwarf honey they are under an inch, and 2 dwarf red flame thet are an inch and half, i know the largest in there is the kissers and i will have to get rid of most of my fish now , and i will certianly be giving fish place a piece of my mind, if they dont no what there on about they shouldnt be workin there should they, you try an do every thing by the book an end up worse off, dont they know they are dealin with fishes lives, any how gm how many do u think my tank should actually hold

[gm72]

Those pink kissers will get upwards of 7-8+ inches, I would get rid of them. The dwarf variety should stay around 2 inches, so I'd keep them. The pearls will get about 4" or so. The pictus are agile swimmers and won't ultimately be very happy in that size tank. I would get rid of the pictus.

Before we determine your final stocking, what filter are you using?

[gearbox22]

hi gm thanx for that advice, i have an aqua one 620t tank all i know is the filter ststem is built in the hood my hubby says it is a descent one plus i have bubble curtain and i have removed the cabon cartridges for now as i was treating tank with ick. the fish you mentioned gm should i get rid in the near future or wait a while thanx

[gm72]

I would pass them along now to decrease the stress on the other tank mates.

I would recommend your final stocking to be:
2 pearl gourami
2 dwarf gourami
3 honey gourami

Now, to that stocking you could add a few more gourami, like blue, gold, snakeskin, platinum, opalescent, etc. Or maybe a small variety pleco like a bristlenose?

Basically with gouramis in that tank I would stock about 30" of fish, accommodating their full-grown size.

[gearbox22]

hi gm thanx so much for all your advice, i will follow your advice, but i dont think i will be taking anymore advive from local fish shop, and i will accomadate tank accordingly and hopefully i will have a much happier bunch of fish so thanx again gm

[gm72]

We will be here for you should you need any more help!