Gourami Emergency!!!!!! Help!!!

ok, so my paradise gourami is usually a very peaceful fish, he’s very curious and doesn’t bother the other fish, however, I got a few cory catfish yesterday and I woke up this morning to one missing most of his wiskers and missing an eye, and he was swimming in the middle collum of the tank and not at the bottom. he did go to the bottom and ate a little bit and is swimming normal and all, and he actually is staying more on the bottom now, however he seems blind. my paradise gourami was the one who did this. he also grabbed another catfis by its wiskers but he got away with only a tiny cut near his wiskers, but it’s sad. the catfish seem to be fine aside from that however the issue is the gourami. he seems to be very curious of the new fish and is not trying to eat them or being territorial, but how do I stop this? I can’t return him to any pet store and I can’t set up a new tank either. the catfish right now are soooo all that they are easily hurt. they are only around a half inch long. the gourami never messes with any of the other fish. right now the gourami is in a bucket, but I’d not want him to get too stressed, so any suggestions on how to some how get rid of his agression?

so any suggestions on how to some how get rid of his agression?

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It cant be done, its in his nature.

Unfortunate but true, I've kept multiple types of gouramies in community tanks over the course of 5+ years. There are just some combinations of fish that the more aggressive fish will lash out against.
Best of luck.

I guess, idk why it’s just with the cory’s. I think my local petco will take him, and believe it or not the kauai petco really does take great care of their fish.

also do you know if the whiskers will grow back eventually? the catfish is hanging out on the bottom like normal and seems to kind of pick around for food, but seems to be blind.

From my experience yes? It may take a while, and you should be very careful about infection and additional wear and tear around the injury site but barbels and whiskers do grow back on most fish. To avoid infection and extra stress I'd keep an eye on your water chemistry to make sure it isn't too high in anything that will stress the poor guy out. Hope he does OK!

EDIT
I shouldn't say most. Corys I've owned have, and gouramis, catfish, loaches. I've also seen eye injuries recover well, though not always. Infection decreases the chance of a clean heal.

fishlover22346 said:

also do you know if the whiskers will grow back eventually? the catfish is hanging out on the bottom like normal and seems to kind of pick around for food, but seems to be blind.

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Sadly not. I am almost positive that fish do not grow back sensory organs as well as anything else on their bodies.

Corys do regrow their barbels. Not all sensory organs on all fish do recover from injury but corys are lucky. Sometimes, if the damage is done to their nerve endings there will be permanent damage, and they may never be as long or functional but they do grow back. Many other hobbyists have encountered this problem and seen corys who have worn their barbels down on rough and unsuitable gravel make full recoveries.

They should regrow, but they might not grow back to their full size.

Is this the 15 gallon tank you mentioned in another thread http://www.fishforums.net/threads/new-gourami-acting-strange.447286/ ?

The paradise fish and an unknown number of other fish were already in the tank. On the same day as a house move, the cories, a female 3 spot gouramis and some platies were bought and put in the same tank.

This tank is far too small for all these fish. The paradise fish and the gourami need bigger, separate tanks, and bigger than the 20 gallon upgrade mentioned in the other thread. Tanks that are too small and overcrowded will cause stress to the fish in the tank. And stressed fish usually become aggressive; even more aggressive than is normal for a species.

Keeping the paradise fish and 3 spot gourami together is a recipe for disaster. I would take the gourami back to the store if you can't immediately but a tank big big enough for her - and that means bigger than 20 gallons. And upgrade the paradise fish to the 20 gallon asap.

I believe a 5 inch gourami can live in a 20 gallon because for one, the bio load is relatively low, two, I have 3 filters for the 20 gallon, and the 20 gallon is quite a bit of swimming space, and it would be a planted tank too. also, the minimum tank size for a Paradise gourami is 10 gallons so a 15 gallons should be efficient. the paradise gourami is a male while the three spot is a female and they get along great. now once the fish are seperated into different tanks neither will be overstocked. the cory catfish, platy and three spot will be moved to the 20, while the paradise gourami and the few guppies I have will stay in the 15. I did all of the calculations on Aqua Advisor before I bought the fish too, and most of these fish are juvenile, and the few guppies I have are actually wild type and full grown they aren’t even a centimeter long and they have a small bioload. I am getting the 20 gallon out of storage sometime this year but idk when for sure. in conclusion once I separate the fish, there will only be 7 fish in the 20 gallon, and 5 fish in the 15, and all of the fish stay relatively small and have small bioloads. Here’s what Dr. Fosters and smith say about the three spot gourami. I trust them as they do use scientific evidence to find the tank sizes for fish. now I admit that right now my tank is overstocked but i’ll be getting a bigger tank for one, and two, In the near future I may even get a 100 gallon.

UPDATE: Guys this is super interesting, like very interesting. uh so I have a bit of a weird thing, I thought my tank was 15 gllons however I put in the measurements and it says it’s 19 gallons, fine with me. but i’m sorry for the confusion, not 15 gallons but 19 apparently.

Here’s what Dr. Fosters and smith say about the three spot gourami.

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Doctors Who and Who?The last place I would take advice from is a retailer.

Heres what experts at seriously fish have to say.

Aquarium Size
36″ x 12″ x 12″ (90x30x30cm)

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http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trichopodus-trichopterus/