laritheloud

So this is super embarrassing, @Colu, but the small spots that I saw yesterday have shrunk and nearly disappeared. I'm now in a position where I'm not sure if the Ich X did it or if it was nothing (just stress/nipping), and can't decide whether I should continue with Ich X daily changes or just step back and observe. 🥲 I wish I wasn't so prone to panicking! But the more I think about it, the more I realize that with the addition of the electric blue acara the pleco has had more competition for food and I've seen the acara giving him some warning charges. Maybe the spots were from that? There were only about 5 or 6 on his body, if that, and they have noticeably shrunk, no spreading, no sick behavior. I did not start any antibiotics yet. I can also keep the flow higher in the tank and leave the powerhead in. The gouramis aren't getting blown around; they just hang around the far end of the tank when they want a break.

Thank you! I'll make sure it's tepid first.

Whatever it is, I caught it very early. He doesn't have many spots on him but it's enough that I see some that weren't there a week ago. No one is acting sick. I'm trying to stay calm because I have everything I need to treat this. ❤️

Tomorrow is fast day. I put Ich-X in the water and I'll change the water again tomorrow and add another round of Ich-X. I have medicated feed prepared (Kanaplex in Repashy + medicated flakes). Fingers crossed! EDIT: I also added a powerhead and increased the aeration/flow.

How did this turn out for you @SKAVENCLOWNLOACH? I know this is an old post, but my pleco is showing very similar spots and I'm about to start treatment after a water change tonight. @Colu do these kinds of spots look like epistylis for you? I figure I can do an active ich treatment while I'm feeding kanaplex in food.

Found a few spots on my bristlenose pleco and one spot on barb's fin but no one else. I'm going to go ahead and do epistylis treatment (Ich X in water column, kanaplex in food) starting today.

Thank you very much. I love them dearly! All of them are wonderful fish. Don't tell my other 4 tanks, but this 55 gallon is probably my favorite to watch right now. ❤️

Update: Fish are fine, spots have faded and healed. Thanks again @Tihshho for reassuring an anxious fishkeeper. I have to fight against it sometimes. I'm glad I waited it out!

Agree with @Tihshho. Amphibian skin is extremely sensitive; it absorbs everything that it comes into contact with, pretty much. I wouldn't risk applying meds to the frogs and move the betta to its own quarantine tank for treatment.

@SpacedCadette of course! I'd go on continuing to call her a lady unless she shows any compelling male behavior (chasing, patrolling the upper half / one corner of the tank). Most signs point to female except for the color of her back half after the injury. Good luck with your sweet gouramis!

@SpacedCadette No matter how many times I watch the video Lemon looks like they exhibit sex characteristics for both male and female. I'd just enjoy Lemon for what (s)he is. If they're eating and swimming and pooping okay, they're just a little bit quirky.

This is tough because it looks like one definite female, and one question mark. The other one I would think is male, but (s)he has a fin deformity or former injury that makes it tough to assess definitively. Color tells me male, mostly (it could be a sunset-variety female honey), but there's an orange rim to the front half of the dorsal that isn't in the back end. How does that fish behave? Is it dominant? Does it lurk near the top, does he chase the other honey gourami? They look so sweet together in the video. I'm glad you're giving that little fish a loving home, even with his/her healed dorsal. 🥰 Ah I just saw your videos! I see at least one definite female and one definite male, the third one I'm not sure. Fin and body shape look female, darkness of color looks a bit male. I would watch the third one and see if the fin elongates after she settles because she might actually be a sneaky male. That happened to one of my "females," lol! Regardless, they should be fine together. I love seeing them swim as a sweet little group.

Darker, more saturated color generally occurs in male thicklip gouramis, but the best tell is that males tend to have bigger mouths and a much more pointed, elongated dorsal fin. If you can find a home for the true honey gourami that will put her with other honey gouramis, that'll probably be best. Since she is a female honey gourami, she might end up being perfectly fine with your group of thicklips and not try to compete with the males, but it's no guarantee. I'm so happy you're enjoying the thicklips, though. They are still my favorite fish, so fun to watch them interact as a group and come up eagerly during feeding time every day!

At first I added it once a week, but now I just do it very occasionally. Diminishing returns with the product the more seasoned your tank becomes.

What everyone else said! In a 10 gallon tank I use only a tiny fraction of the scoop (not even half a scoop). Use your best judgment. It isn't really an exact science. Put in the equivalent of a generous pinch and dunk it into the flow, let it disperse. It'll look a little cloudy at first then clear as it sinks and settles.

Just the fins! This makes me feel MUCH better, actually. 🙂 Thank you for telling me this!

More pictures. You can only see them in certain lights and they haven’t multiplied…

You can only see them in certain lights and he’s vigorous/acting fine. Spots have not spread and continue to not show on camera. I’m going to just watch and wait and figure it’s nothing unless it gets worse!

Typically, yes @Atomicfish -- but I have a history of jumping the gun and being too careful. I have quite a bit of anxiety when it comes to the health of my fish and... how do I say this without sounding like a maniac? I do over-study them sometimes. I have never seen a real case of ich in my tanks before, nothing was introduced into his quarantine while he was in for five weeks, and I had just moved him over today. The spots are hard to see in different lighting; I don't know if that makes a diagnostic difference. I turned up the tank temp from 77 to 78 and I will take another close look at him tomorrow. If it is something serious, I will know soon, I think. But behaviorally nothing is wrong so I'm trying to stay calm and rationalize my processes (and convince myself I'm doing the right thing, lol; my initial panic was telling me to bomb the tank and/or pull him out again).

Not a bad idea. I miiiiiight sit on it a couple of days and see if it's actually a disease, first, or just a random anomaly I'm overanalyzing. If it spreads (either on the one fish or to other fish), I'll do something to stop it. If it's in the same pattern tomorrow and doesn't multiply overnight, I'll just wait and watch. I do appreciate the suggestion but I hesitate with stressing a fish more than necessary. He's already moved, so I'd be treating the whole tank if something did come up.

I'm truly unsure how it could be ich after having him in quarantine by himself for five weeks. I was thinking it'd be more likely to be epistylis if it IS a disease. The lights are dim in the tank right now and you actually can't see the little spots on his fins in this light, so I'll see if I can get a clear shot tomorrow (or if they change at all). EDIT to add: Anyway, without any earlier symptoms, I'm mostly hoping it's nothing and I'm overreacting with worry (as I'm prone to do). I've learned to take a more moderate/temperate approach with medication aside from the parasite treatments I always do in quarantine, but I do quarantine routinely for as long as 5 to 6 full weeks before I move fish to display. Let's hope it isn't failing me.

Hi, everyone! I need a little bit of reassurance while I choose to step back and let my EBA settle in my 55 gallon tank. Background info: I bought an EBA about five weeks ago. I put him through prazipro and levamisole, 3 rounds of the latter, 2 rounds of the former two weeks apart. He was in quarantine for all five weeks, eating vigorously, and grew from about 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches. He looked great! I decided to move him to the 55 gallon today. Then, of course, I noticed after putting him in that there were some tiny spots on his dorsal and caudal fins, and I start panicking. Logic tells me there is no way this could be ich, as he would have been flashing and acting much sicker by now after 5 weeks at 78/79 degrees Fahrenheit. There has never been any flashing. His appetite is good. He doesn't gasp at the surface. He did, however, get briefly postured at by my African Butterfly Cichlids when they saw a new kid was on the block, which I expected. He currently has a torn caudal fin to show for it and I figure things will settle now that he's staying out of their way. I took a video to show everyone how *subtle* the spots are -- subtle enough that they don't pick up on camera. Is it possible I'm looking at stress ich (like little acne spots) or random scuff spots? My mind wants to skip straight to "OH NO YOU SHOULD HAVE QUARANTINED FOR ANOTHER MONTH IT'S EPISTYLIS!!!" but I want to be rational and calm about this, as his behavior seems completely fine. https://streamable.com/hjhjo3

@Cinnebuns they'll adapt to the harder water, but there is some evidence that softer-water fish will live shorter lifespans in hard water. My own tap water is PH 8.0 to 8.2, KH 10, GH 1; I've had my oldest gouramis for about 13 months so far and they are doing well. My 29 gallon originally housed 3 honey gouramis and 1 thicklipped gourami. My thicklipped gourami was female. She became the dominant fish in the tank. She HATED when I added a male honey gourami and would chase him on sight. He spent most of his time hiding from her, so I moved her to my 55 gallon tank. I now keep her with a group of 4 other thicklipped gouramis and she's doing very well. So TL;DR I think your mileage may vary. If the two fish you have are working out together right now, they will probably continue to work out. I'm not sure if your thicklip will tolerate new honey gouramis, though. Make sure you have a backup plan if you try it.

I’m planning to get hatching eggs for any broody hens we get. We have a lot of farms around here and one of my friends would gladly take any Roos or extra chicks off my hands that we don’t have space for. (EDIT) Actually @Brandon p we did get a dog crate to use in case we need a hospital for a hen or for 'breaking' broodies if we absolutely have to. Is this the method you would recommend -- raised off the ground wire bottom crate for a day or two with food and water -- or is there a gentler method? I've been reading my options so I'm prepared. I know Australorps and Speckled Sussex are two breeds that can go broody!

I get it! Our babies are doing so well! We turned off the brooder lamp and switched to a brooder heating plate yesterday at their two-week mark. They're really starting to gain a lot of great feathers, and I've given them a hardboiled egg as a treat. All of them will eat out of my hands. Very friendly little birds!