Red Sores / Spots on Gold Barbs - Any ideas on what it is and treatment?

[Twood]

Hi Team - I've got two Gold Barbs that I recently put into quarantine. They were originally in my 75 gallon display tank. They have red spots / sores on them. I assumed this was some sort of bacterial infection, so I've run through two full courses of Maracyn. I've also tried salt - up to 1 tablespoon per gallon.  They've been in a 10 gallon quarantine for about 3 weeks now and don't seem to be getting any better even with these treatments. At best, they seem to be about the same. They still swim around and are eating.  Parameters are listed below. Any ideas on what this is and what I should do? Pictures also attached. .Thank you!

Temp: 74

Ammonia: 0

Nitrate: 0

Nitrite:0

Hardness: 100

Buffer: 80

pH: 7.6

Chlorine: 0

[Colu]

Possible viral infection it could have a bacterial component what would is treat with kanaplex it's more broad spectrum antibiotic treatment that predominantly treats gram negative bacteria and some gram positive were as maracyn predominantly treats gram positive  and some gram negative @Twood

[Twood]

On 12/26/2023 at 8:31 PM, Colu said:

Possible viral infection it could have a bacterial component what would is treat with kanaplex it's more broad spectrum antibiotic treatment that predominantly treats gram negative bacteria and some gram positive were as maracyn predominantly treats gram positive  and some gram negative @Twood

Thank you so much. I just ordered some Kanaplex, going to give it a shot. Appreciate it!

[nabokovfan87]

I was expecting some normal barb type of sores and stuff from mating displays or aggression, but when the photos loaded, it definitely wasn't that!  Those would be the situation where you'd use erythromycin (maracyn) and it's mostly just very common when your numbers are too low in the barb group size.

The gills don't look too hot and the redness/sores seen to be right around where the fin meets the body. 

I would double check temp, air, and add in some aquarium salt in addition to all of your other efforts.

Barbs want cooler water and high oxygenation. Temp is 74 and so I would want to verify it's actually 74 and not higher, potentially drop it down to 72 range which gives the heater +/- 2 degrees and a range of (70-74).
 

On 12/26/2023 at 3:49 PM, Twood said:

I've also tried salt - up to 1 tablespoon per gallon.  They've been in a 10 gallon quarantine for about 3 weeks now and don't seem to be getting any better even with these treatments.

You shouldn't need to go above 1 tbsp per 2 gallons for a lot of fish in most situations.  For something like this (gill redness) I stick towards lower doses like 1 tbsp per 3 gallons or 1 tbsp per 5 gallons.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish
 

1 Tbsp Salt per 3 Gallons of Water

Add 1 tablespoon (Tbsp) of salt per 3 gallons of water. You can pour the salt directly into the aquarium or hospital tank, but some people like to dissolve the salt in a small cup of water first. This level of salt is like using Neosporin topical ointment for a small cut (in other words, it’s not very strong). It’s used to fight mild cases of bacterial and fungal infection. Plus, it gently irritates the fish’s slime coat, causing the fish to make more beneficial mucus that can block some parasites and microorganisms from reaching its body.

We’ve kept and sold thousands of fish at our fish store, and this level of salt is safe for virtually all fish – except anchor catfish. Keep the fish in the salt solution for 4 to 5 days, and then increase the concentration if there’s no improvement.

Apart from verifying everything going on and trying a different medication as Colu advised above.... I would keep an eye on the gill redness aspects as well and the body redness.

From a brief bit of research the swelling/redness at the base of the fins can be a sign of fin rot.  Hemorrhagic septicemia is another disease to note and keep an eye out for in terms of comparison.  For fin rot, kanaplex is the go-to for that treatment as well as the mild dose of salt.

I hope that helps!