ill gourami, what to do?

[speakerpedal]

Hey I've got a flame gourami in my 20 gal and he seems to be a little sick.
It seems to stay at the top of the tank and has a small amount of white spots on him. Also from the top it seems to be a little wider than the other gouramis in the tank.
What would be my best choice? Should I get some over the counter drugs and if so what kind?

[Oscar_freak12321]

Sounds like white spot. Do the spots look like little grains of salt? If they do, it most likely is ich. The first thing I would do is raise the temp slowly each hour maybe 2 degrees, until you reach 80 or a little higher. Then keep it at that temp until the white spots go away, and keep it at 80 for a week. It should then be safe to lower it back going the same way you went up.

[Lady Hobbs]

We all treat ick a bit differently, I think. I generally opt for the medications so the temps don't have to be raised. Ick can kill quickly once it enters their gills and Ick Quard is said to kill it in a matter of a few days. Doesn't seem to matter how we treat ick because all methods add to stress on the fish. Some don't like salt, some don't like the higher temps and some don't like the medications so it comes down to personal choice.

If the spots are just white, cotton looking patches then it's fungus.

[DrNic]

My flame gouramis had that for a bit too when I first got them. I used Jungle Fungus Clear tabs and it went away in about 2-3 days.