Pearl Gourami sick or injured?

Hey all, thanks for availing yourselves to my fishes plight. I hope for some urgently need help for those I've inherited about a week ago. The pictured Pearl has a missing left pectoral fin and what seems to be an injury or disease above the right side gil. Gulps air at surface and immediately bubbles come out of a hole in this area. What's happened and what should I do? Thanks in advance. Kind regards

 

Did this injury/disease occur before or after the fish came into your possession? If from before, what situation was it in? And current tank mates?

Can't tell directly if that is disease or injury (or disease after injury). But a whole missing fin is either major aggression or severe finrot.

Either way, I'd recommend quarantine for this fish with a general anti-bacterial and anti-fungal medication.

Breathing from the surface is normal for gouramis, its gills or labyrinth organ may be compromised meaning it needs to gulp air continuously until it's healed.

Good luck and hope this helps.

 

Hi Nirv,

We think that the missing fin may have occurred sometime this week because I'm sure I should have noticed it. However I must say that all the Gouramis, that is 2 x Pearls and 2 x unknown (white/silver, much larger species), all looked like they had some scale/fin issues.

The other 2 occupants, a "red tailed shark" and an algae eater, seem to be in perfect health. The tank situation prior to it being moved to my home(2 houses away), in my judgment, was optimal and I was assured all was OK.


However I did discover that the filter system was neglected and content was in the incorrect order. This is being gradually rectified as I don't want to shock/destroy the current ecosystem. The flow rate of the pump is good. Water from the tank was siphoned into a bucket which was then used to rinse/clean the current filter media (2 x sponges and 1 pack ceramic rings) and placed/replaced back in the following order according to manufacturer. Sponges x3, ceramic rings x1, activated carbon x1 and as many bio balls as would fit. Flow rate is now even stronger.

As a precaution I'm in the process of getting a "hospital tank" up and running and will treat both Pearls.

Thankyou, you've helped a lot by confirming some of my suspicions.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no deaths on my watch unless it's from old age. I hope all will return to good health and grow back missing limbs and scales.

Kind regards

 

Bro that's way too small tank for them

 

Thanks Christiaan, this is how I got them and I'll start making plans for a change. Is 90 litres too small for the individual species or the quantity of occupants?

 

What i can see is 4 gauramis and 1 red tail black shark.3ft atleast.

 

I would take everything out of the tank,clean and scrub everything,fill new 3ft+ tank with 75% New tap(Or Ro) water that's been cured with sachem prime,25% of the old water. Acclimatize them again.Dont clean filter as it is seeded. Feed them well as much as they willing to eat (bloodworm,brine shrimp,daphnia,tetra prima,ocean nitrution).Dont overfeed so that food gets left over(If you do you can always just siphon it up).Give them somerhing that would boost there immunity system (vitamins),not shure what's on the market,I have never had to use any of it.Maybe some other members has better techniques but that Is what i would of done.Chances are that the fish are allready so weak that they won't make it but you willing to try.

 

Yes.

Are the four Gouramis all the same subspecies?

I know that the two that are smallest, seem most inactive and sickly are Pearl Gouramis. Do the other two have another identifying name?

There's an illusion happening in the photo. Maybe due to the curved front glass of the tank. The red tail is only, at most, 12cm ☺

 

Thank you for your advice. I will take all you have said and find a middle ground with that and everyone elses. I've got to assess everything I do with the current situation in which the tank is and how the occupants are responding to my efforts. If there's any sign that things are turning for the worst I'll do all, within my power, as you have guided.

 

The two larger specimens are moonlight gouramis, Trichogaster microlepis.

The missing fin may be a result of the actions of the other tankmates. Gouramis are known to show aggression toward each other on occasion, and red tail black sharks may, too, nip at other fishes. A long, dangling fin may have been too tempting. Missing scales further indicate aggression somewhere along the line.

To best determine the cause, watch the behaviour of your fish. If nothing notable occurs, try watching them while the lights are off. I suspect you might see some chasing and nipping happening.

As for the injuries at present, keep an eye on them. Healthy fish in a healthy environment will heal up in time. Keep up with regular water changes (twice a week for the immediate future) and a good feeding schedule.

Let us know any updates as they pop up.

Regards,

 

Hi Denis, thanks for the feedback. You've taken some good precautions and I can see your heart is on the right place. Good call on the filter media, many people would not notice or not care about that.

It looks like you've bought a full system from someone selling/giving away, so kudos for taking the fish in. But as the other guys are saying, a larger tank is needed as all of these fish have a lot of growth left in them and aggression between 4 gouramis in a small tank is going to lead to unhappy fish and injuries.

I generally feel that with anabantids (gouramis, paradise fish, siamese fighters etc) it's best to keep a maximum of a pair of only one species, unless you have a very spacious tank with a lot of cover or carefully chosen species that are compatible. Sometimes you get lucky and your individuals are more peaceful (fish personality definitely exists), but generally there is a risk of trouble with a bunch of Trichogaster together.

Good luck and I hope you'll be able to get a larger tank. That bicolour shark looks to be healthy but does deserve a bigger tank. If you are unable, it may be best to find them bigger homes elsewhere, that tank still has potential to house smaller species and look great.

 

Thanks for this. I tried to find their name through Internet search references to pictures of these two but weirdly had no success ☺

 

Thank you all :

This procedure will be adopted ☺

Batfish's immediate assessment regarding too small a tank is 100%. As hard as it will be, Nirv, I'll have to find new homes. No space or budget for a bigger tank. If I had a year or two maybe but my immediate concern is for the fishes wellbeing and life.

 

You guys are going to hate me right now but sometimes it's just more cost effective to get new fish.My apologies but it's true.

 

No hating ☺ maybe honest truth? To each his own.

... fortunately the fish are already named and adopted as family so we will do what it costs to save their lives. I'm maybe a little overboard but happy with my choices.

Anyhow they are not nearly in such bad a condition, just neglected.

I'll keep you posted

 

Hey all
Gourami Meenie died this evening. So sorry
Hospital tank was not ready but I hardly think it would have made a difference. I'll never know.

I'll upload a post mortem photo tomorrow and maybe I can get closure and learn a lesson if someone can identify the cause, or at least surmise.

Night

 

The other fish seem fine, the death may have been too much stress due to the tank cleaning and the water change.

I hope I wake up tomorrow to find no other fatalities.

 

Morning,

All fish are alive

 

Good morning all,

Another day dawns and fishies are looking lively. Still not eating as much as prior to the major clean the other day.

Much more work still to do and I'm really anxious about putting stress on them while doing the cleaning and water changes. The gravel, in my judgement, is shocking. 20 litres later and I'd only manage to do maybe 1/4 of the area that needed to be done. This is the most amount of water I'm willing to exchange at a time. Any thoughts?

I'm also really concerned about the water temperature during these water changes.

So many small factors to take into consideration. I guess I'll have to use my own judgement in getting the balance right.

I'll have to do a gravel clean with the vacuum syphon that I have everytime I do a water change. Hopefully this is correct?

During all this cleaning at which point can I clean the first stage sponge of the filter?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks once again
Best regards
Sirris

 

Now onto the topic I'm avoiding.

Firstly, the gourami that died is not the one in question in this thread.

Sorry for any stress posed to sensitive viewers. I post the following photos for learning purposes only.

Side profiles seem to indicate a healthy fish on one side and a very hurt / unhealthy on the other. Any other observations from anyone?

I'll really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks