Bump/tumour On Female Dwarf Gourami Lip

[funkycat]

I received a pair of dwarf gouramis about 2 weeks ago from a friend who was downsizing his collection.
They went in to a ten gallon with only a couple of zebra danios and true to their character were quite skittish. The male settled in quite quickly actually and i had a bubble nest within a couple of days. However he mercilessly chased the female, so i seperated him. I also bought another female as they're supposed to be kept in trios correct?

anyways a couple of days ago i noticed a small bump on the original females lip, which seems to be getting bigger.
I havent noticed any change in her behavior, though she feeds and swims normally. SHe is actually getting bolder thanks to the absence of the male.

When i first put them in i had a ton of tiny snails, however now they are all gone. i dont know if that means anything, and i've never heard of gouramis eating snails.

i was eventually hoping to have them all in one twenty gallon. My goal isnt to breed them, i just think they look nice.



PS. Sorry for the crappy picture quality. Until i reluctantly used the flash all i got were silver blurs, and the nervousness of the gourami didnt help either.

 

[sylvia]

Yes, firstly, getting another female was a good idea.

As for the snails, did you treat the tank with anything or introduce some kind of loach? Gouramies sometimes pick at snails but they can't actually eat them.

Now the 'bump' - I can't actually see it in the pics but this kind of thing happens a lot with dwarf gouramies. There are many possible explanations. First it could be an injury inflicted by the male earlier but this probably isn't the case. If he has anything to do with it, it'll be as a result of stressing her out and making her more susceptible to infection. Another cause may have been the new female, if she was carrying something and the older female contracted it. Either way, it's probably some kind of infection.

Can you describe it? Is it red and sore-like? Has it changes size or shape since you first saw it? If it's getting larger, it might be the beginnings of an ulcer and needs to be treated ASAP. Is anything white or fluffy developing on it? Secondary bacterial or fungal infections are common with things like this - even if it's only an injury (an injury simply require clean water, a stress-free environment and healthy foods to be overcome).

Also, what's the tank's temperature? And do you know whether the gouramies were kept at a lower or higher temp. before you got them?

Edit: I should add that a tumour is extremely unlikely (though possible).

 

[Biulu]

welcome back, Sylvia!

Yes, firstly, getting another female was a good idea.

As for the snails, did you treat the tank with anything or introduce some kind of loach? Gouramies sometimes pick at snails but they can't actually eat them.

Now the 'bump' - I can't actually see it in the pics but this kind of thing happens a lot with dwarf gouramies. There are many possible explanations. First it could be an injury inflicted by the male earlier but this probably isn't the case. If he has anything to do with it, it'll be as a result of stressing her out and making her more susceptible to infection. Another cause may have been the new female, if she was carrying something and the older female contracted it. Either way, it's probably some kind of infection.

Can you describe it? Is it red and sore-like? Has it changes size or shape since you first saw it? If it's getting larger, it might be the beginnings of an ulcer and needs to be treated ASAP. Is anything white or fluffy developing on it? Secondary bacterial or fungal infections are common with things like this - even if it's only an injury (an injury simply require clean water, a stress-free environment and healthy foods to be overcome).

Also, what's the tank's temperature? And do you know whether the gouramies were kept at a lower or higher temp. before you got them?

Edit: I should add that a tumour is extremely unlikely (though possible).

 

[funkycat]

The bump has gotten slightly bigger...i cant tell if its an open sore or not but it looks like a sore. As for colour is blends in quite well with the female gourami actually although it is a bit more beigh? beise? (no clue how to spell that word....bay-sh). Theres no growth or whitish things growing on it, so i'm just doing water changes more often...hope the clean water helps.

As for the snails, i found them. it appears they had just evacuated the glass but are still multiplying in the plants.

As for the female gourami she's doing wonderfully, now that hte male is gone her and the new female are out and about much more often. Apart from the bump, behavior wise she's improving.

i'm almost reluctant to put them back with the male. Would the trio be ok in a twenty gallon?
I would rearrange everything, and add the females first then the male after they had gotten comfortable.

i found my male got really aggresive, even with other fish when he got comfortable.
Especially when he built a bubble nest, he chased all fish in sight (good thing danios are fast)
is there any way to keep him more calm...i dunno stop him from building a bubble nest??