Red spot

[Chris.d514]

I just noticed red spots on both of my dwarf gouramis the blue has a hole with a red ring on his bottom fin and the red has a big red "rash on its side. I tested the water and the nitrates were through the roof. Just did a 80ish% wc. Any thoughts?

[Fancyfish]

Were they injured or did this just show up? If it just showed up, first thing I think of is bacterial infection or possibly 'hole in the head' disease.

The water change is good. Can you isolate them to treat? Are there other fish in the tank with them? And how big is the tank? :) Lots of questions, I know.

[Chris.d514]

Were they injured or did this just show up? If it just showed up, first thing I think of is bacterial infection or possibly 'hole in the head' disease.

The water change is good. Can you isolate them to treat? Are there other fish in the tank with them? And how big is the tank? :) Lots of questions, I know.

I don't believe that they are injured. I have a spare tank but no extra filter for it. There are 4 angels, 2 mollies, 5 blue tetras, a female ram, and 4 Corys. It is a 29 gallon tank with an ac30 and bubble bar running. Temp stay between 78-82.

[moganman]

I'm no expert but I have read that angelfish are very nitrate sensitive. Since you said they were really high, that sounds like the source of your problem. Not sure about the red spot.

[Sea-agg09]

If the nitrates are high, then you need to do water change. Also change your carbon if it is more than 3 weeks old. Reducing the nitrates and keeping them down is 99.999999999999% of the issue. Nitrates stress fish out, and just like us, when they get stressed, they get sick. I would do a few 15 gallon WC's then add some melafix to heal any wounds quickly. That seems like the "least drastic" approach. If the wounds don't heal after a week or so, then I would try something else. If the wounds don't go away on their own, then it may be a bacterial or fungal infection, in which case you will want to treat to prevent it from spreading to other fish.

Check the wounds, if you see white puffy stuff around the wound, it is probably a fungal infection. Fungal infection also spread in an a-symmetrical way, so the wound will look all jagged or "wierd". Bacterial infections grow generallysymmetrical. There are broad spectrum anti-bacterials and anti-fungals that are pretty cheap, and will prevent the infection from spreading to other fish.

[mnemenoi]

I would dose some Melafix or another general treatment and watch your parameters closely. Filters can be a nitrate sink, especially if they get overloaded with 'gunk'. At your next water change, fill a bucket with tank water and try to clean it (not absolutely, but just clear up the sponges and swish the bags about to clear off and accumulated gunk) and it should help if it is the culprit on your rising Nitrates.

[LooksLater]

+1 to SeaAgg. WC and melafix for now, watch the wounds for signs of healing or getting worse and go from there...

What's your WC schedule like? Might have to step it up. Do a big WC, vac the gravel well, then test every couple days for a week-or two- and watch how fast the nitrates rise. Set your WC schedule to avoid nitrates getting too high- then keep testing, to confirm you're WC often enough.

I wouldn't think you've got a nitrate sink issue with that filter, you haven't had it running very long, right? What kind of media do you have in it? But yeah, if you have carbon in it, definitely remove it.

[Chris.d514]

The filter has been running for close to three months it still has the initial media that came with it. I tend to rinse the media as Roy suggested about every 3-4 weeks. I will go get a new carbon here later today to get that changed. I think the wc i did last night was about 25ish gallons. I'll grab that melafix as well. Here are some pics of the spots.
IMG_1455.jpgIMG_1457.jpgIMG_1458.jpgIMG_1459.jpg
I also should note that I lost 2 rams in the past month both bloated up then stopped eating, got very lethargic, and died.

[Chris.d514]

Dosed melafix and changed carbon.

[moganman]

Whenever I medicate with metro, I remove carbon altogether for the duration of the time needed for the medicine to work. Carbon absorbs everything, good and bad.

[troy tucker]

There are 4 angels, 2 mollies, 5 blue tetras, a female ram, and 4 Corys. It is a 29 gallon tank with an ac30 and bubble bar running. Temp stay between 78-82.

Chris IMO. you have a high bio. loud on that tank. 29g tank with 18 fish. If they were all small fish you would be Okey. but angels are not small fish and they will fight for food.
This over load will cause high nitrates and stresses the fish.

I agree with every one on the action but do your water changes more often. about 1/4 water change 2 times a week.

[Chris.d514]

I was on a solid wc schedule before our vacation (I was doing 75% once a week). I am hoping to upgrade to a 2213 this next weekend. I'm trying to get my wc schedule back as well.

[Chris.d514]

So the spots are still getting worse the one on the red gourami now has white on it.

[LooksLater]

Sorry to hear. I agree with Troy also, you might start thinking about lowering the bioload on that tank and stepping up filtration and WC in the meantime. Try to get some better pics of the spots, maybe someone can help you try to ID whether it's bacterial or fungal and help you save the fish...

[Fishmaker]

i know melafix works well for red open sores and wounds/ infection like this but it can take up some time to fully take effect. if you want a more intense medicine i say got with binox, its a stronger medicine but can cause some stress on the fish. binox is a broad range treatment for both bacterial and fungal infection and from my personal experience in fish keeping, it has been very effective. follow the instructions in the back label of the binox bottle and it should be able to help your fish. Just remember to always remove carbon in the filters etc, so it doesnt remove the medication away as said by moganman before. good luck and let us know how your fish is doing.

P.S. also make sure to turn down your temp in the medication, because fungus grow quicker in hotter temp, by turning it down the temp, you'll slow down their growth process. thus giving more time for your fish to fight off the infection.