[AquaticLife] Angel fish with a bite mark or white spot?
Gourami’s certainly can be aggressive to conspecifics and sometimes to other top level fish but are usually less aggressive to tank mates unless they are guarding a bubble nest. They also get quite large, around 6″ long, 2″+ tall, so do not plan on any other large fish in your tank or you could be facing overstocking issues. You now have three 6″ fish and the angelfish which should also get to at least 6″ long by 9″ tall (not including fins). Wide bodied fish are counted as much larger fish compared to a 6″ torpedo shaped fish for stocking purposes. http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Trichogaster%20trichopterus.html
It could be an injury caused by the fish getting spooked and darting into something in the tank. Some fake plants, especially the plastic ones, can have sharp edges. It’s better to use silk plants when using fake plants.. plus silk plants usually look a little more realistic.
The reddish color would usually be associated with getting infected, rather than healing so keep an eye on it. Is the “injury” right in the corner where the dorsal fin meets the top of the fish? That would be more of the type of injury that could be caused by a sharp edge on a fake plant.
The Melafix may help but be prepared to treat it a little more aggressively. Do you have a quarantine tank you can use? If not, a Sterilite clear plastic storage box could be used (and then used for storage when not being used as a Q-tank). Big Lots sell them pretty cheap and I’m sure Walmart and K-mart have them at reasonably low prices as well. A low cost sponge filter or DIY filter can be easily set up in the Q-tank to handle biological filtration.
Last, but not least, if the injury is more on the head, instead of the crevice where the dorsal fin meets the top of the fish, read up on HITH (Hole In The Head) disease which can afflict large cichlids.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
