HELP!! My blue dwarf gourami looks like he has dirt all over him and his fins

[caymartt34]

hi there!

One of my blue dwarf gouramis is looking VERY weird. He literally looks like some one just threw dirt all over him and his fins. I shared some pictures of him in this post as well. His fins are also very odd right now and kind of look like fin rot but fin rot doesn't have any side effect of making the fish look the way mine does thats why I think it might be something else? I have read about the gourami disease that apparently is in like 20% of all dwarf gouramis but even those side effects aren't like what im seeing with my gourami. Hes still eating and sleeping and is acting completely normal. But my other blue dwarf gourami has been bullying the sick one and they usually are the best of friends so im confused as to why hes being like that towards the sick one?? I put in API Fin and Body Cure. And so now should I just wait and see what the next few days look like? Or is there anything else I can do to help him??

Thank you & hope someone can help me!!

 

[JBAwrench]

Stress.

 

[Emma and the angelfishes]

I would wait for @Colin.T to reply as he seems to know a lot about fish but I’m nowhere near a fish expert but it seems that if the other fish is bullying it could be down to stress I use Api stress coat in my aquarium when fish seem stressed and it seems to work maybe try that in the mean time

 

[Essjay]

What size is the tank, and is the other dwarf gourami also male?

The reason for asking is that male dwarf gouramis are at the more aggressive end of the gourami behaviour spectrum, and unless you have a very large tank with lots of decor to break up line of sight, one will bully the other one, probably to death.
If both your gouramis are male and the tank is not in the large category, you are probably seeing this fish being picked on by the other.

 

[caymartt34]

What size is the tank, and is the other dwarf gourami also male?

The reason for asking is that male dwarf gouramis are at the more aggressive end of the gourami behaviour spectrum, and unless you have a very large tank with lots of decor to break up line of sight, one will bully the other one, probably to death.
If both your gouramis are male and the tank is not in the large category, you are probably seeing this fish being picked on by the other.

Im honestly not to sure if there both males. I think one is a female and one is a male because of what I read on line about the males fins being more pointed and the females being more round edged. But like I said im honestly not quite sure. I have a 30 gallon fish tank and I have a lot of plants and decorations in there as well as 3 African dwarf frogs, 1 opaline gourami(male), and 2 mollys(females).

 

[Essjay]

1 opaline gourami(male)

This could well be bullying the dwarf gourami as three spot gouramis in all the colours (including opaline) are one of the most aggressive gouramis.

The way to know for sure is to sit motionless a short distance away from the tank until the fish forget you are there and start behaving normally. When they can see you they think 'food!' and stop their usual behaviour. If you see one fish picking on this gourami, you'll have found the culprit.

It could also be dwarf gourami disease, but I am not a disease expert I'm afraid.