I think my gourami has ich (ick?)

[clearlyxvague]

I fear it's true.

One of the gold gouramis that I have has a small white bump in the place where a black spot should be on one side of its body.
So far, this is the only visible bump - It was hard to notice even this one because the fish is white itself.

I tried to get a picture of it, but it was just too fast moving and all the pictures came out blurry or of the wrong side.

Is this ich? And if so, how should I treat it? How long does my poor fishy have before this becomes fatal??

 

[Danny-O]

How long have you had him? Have you recently added fish? Ich usually arrives on a new fish. That said, there's good info here on treatment. I used salt and heat.

 

[CaitxSith]

How long have you had him? Have you recently added fish? Ich usually arrives on a new fish. That said, there's good info here on treatment. I used salt and heat.

Note that you should only use salt after removing all animals and plants that are sensitive to it from the tank.

Saltwater and snails... just don't work together.

 

[Danny-O]

Very much agreed, Caitx. Not good for plants, either. I'm trusting the OP will read up on the method first before dropping in a salt block. Here's the article from AC:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88601