Should I be concerned? (Dwarf Gourami)

Hi guys - been a rough week in the tank this week. We had a silver shark sadly pass on us earlier in the week - our regular aquarist seems to think he may have knocked himself unconscious and then not come back around. We did a big water change just last week and another after the shark's death, daily test results have come back good since and we took a vial down for testing just the other night and it came back fine. We had to rehome our two big Opaline Gouramis as they had outgrown our 168L Fluval Shaker (they were HUGE) and two red rainbows who turned sour after the shark death and took a swipe at one of our guppies' tail - which we are now nursing back! (They had been been okay since we got them). Anyway - after a stressful week simmering the tank back down, I just noticed this on my Blue Dwarf Gourami. Minnie (we like to think she's a she, but could very well be a male) was one of the very first fish we got way back in November in our first tank and has always been one of our favourites - just trying to figure out if someone has had a swipe or if it's some kind of scale damage. She is acting as normal, tending to her plants, eating and swimming. If it is something more serious, what kind of treatment are we looking at?

Thanks in advance!

Matty

It is 100% a male. Could it be attacked ?

I've only had a red and white one once and I would have sworn the first stripe on her body was much darker in color than the other stripes so to me he looks 100% ok. When I've seen other fish attack - it was always a fin that they damaged, not a body shot, but I suppose each fish could do damage differently. You seem to have a lot of drama in your tank. Maybe too many frustrated males?

DoubleDutch said:

It is 100% a male. Could it be attacked

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A slight possibility but has always been a very peaceful fish that I've not once seen harassed - would have had to have been during the night. Maybe got caught on one of the ornaments but there's nothing too sharp in there! It's not gone pink or gotten any worse today, if anything, it looks slightly better than yesterday.

Jan Cavalieri said:

I've only had a red and white one once and I would have sworn the first stripe on her body was much darker in color than the other stripes so to me he looks 100% ok. When I've seen other fish attack - it was always a fin that they damaged, not a body shot, but I suppose each fish could do damage differently. You seem to have a lot of drama in your tank. Maybe too many frustrated males?

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Possibly yes - that's why we rehomed our two male Opalines as they were a bit stressed and had definitely outgrown all 168L! Our aquarist said it had been a long time since he had seen two Opalines that large! We went in to check on how they were doing and they've settled in well back at the aquarium! The tank has definitely been a lot more chilled out since Thursday. Peace has mostly been restored now the Opalines and Red Rainbows have gone.

Just a quick update! Minnie must definitely have had a damaged scale. Thankfully - healed up rather nicely! Thanks for the help!

Matt_Lam_97 said:

Just a quick update! Minnie must definitely have had a damaged scale. Thankfully - healed up rather nicely! Thanks for the help!

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Minnie is definitely a male. Females are almost an overall silvery grey. Single males can get bolshy with others.

At least he has healed up! ...but it's too late to change the name, lol! He was was definitely proving his territory whilst the Opalines were here, despite them being double his size, they were behemoths, lesson learned as for as Gouramis are concerned! Thankfully they are doing just fine back at the LFS! Thanks all.