gourami problem?

[gaya]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if my gourami is having a problem or not because I don't know these fish very well.
I had two in quarentine in a 10g for six days. I moved them into a 29g (w/2plecos) early because they started to fight and I thought the larger space would be better for them (this was yesterday). Upon watching them today I noticed some weird formations (?) on their heads. One gourami seems to have what looks like a scratch by his nose but it's not red or pussing, it's like a dark outline and marks that look like open pours (sp?). i thought maybe hole in the head but maybe these fish just have natural markings that I've never seen b4. kind of like depressions. I can't find a pic on the web of a facial closeup. There dorsal fins are a bit clamped as well. Maybe they have just beaten eachother up a bit while in quarentine? They have only been in their new water for a day and maybe they are not comfortable yet and that's causing the fin clamping?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

water specs ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate .2
not sure of hardness, temp 78-80 F, ph 7.2
-do 15% water change weekly
-
thanks
gina

 

[CathyG]

Not sure about the markings without a picture, but a good idea would be to make sure you have some tall plants for hiding space and perhaps consider dosing the water with Melafix for a few days Good luck!

 

[gaya]

thanks and interesting that you recommend (sp?) that because that is what I am currently doing. When I put them in the 29g I added a couple of fake floater plants (cuz my plecos have been munching on my tall swords) and melafix. I tried taking pics but they all came out blurry. The markings look almost like they are supposed to be there but I'm not sure. In some places they look like pin pricks. They are swimming around ok though one tends to swim back and forth across the back of the tank and the other does the same at the front of the tank. Is that normal?

thanks
gina

 

[impur]

Sounds normal as far as the swimming. I would just keep an eye on them and make sure the water parameters are in check. Gouramis are semi-aggressive and don't get along too well with members of the same species. I would consider removing one of them if they continue to fight.

 

[rykitten]

Hi Gaya,

Are these dwarf gouramis? If so, mine have little depressions that look like tiny dark crators, almost the equivalent to pores.

As impur said they are semi-aggresive and territorial. You can try adding a lot of plants, they like to hide. If that doesn't work you should seperate them.