Thursday, July 30, 2009

Need some info. on gouramis' damaged tail..?

I have 2 male gouramis in a 10 gallon aquarium and one of them attacks the other one on occasion. The one that's being attacked has his tail badly damaged to the point where he has splits in it. I was just wondering will it grow back if the other one doesn't continue to nip at it? Will the damaged gourami be susceptible to diseases? Should I break them up and put them in their own aquariums (hopefully not)? Please let me know what I can do.
Answers:
I would suggest you split them up I'm afraid. The fighting will probably only get worse over time, not better. They are fighting over territory and when one startsw winning, he will push it to the limit, usually killing the other gourami.
The split fins will grow back with no problem at all and aren't really that much more prone to disease than normal, but it can be an opening for such things as fin rot or fungus. Keeping the tank nice and clean for the next few weeks will go a long way in preventing that from being a problem.
MM
Yes it will grow back in about 4 to 6 weeks and if you can get some melafix this will speed this up, I would split them up for sure and get them females as companions instead of two males, The one who is being bullied will be living a life of misserry being terrorised constantly, he will be more likely to get an infection but will probably be fine.

Yes you do need more neons for them to be happy.
Yes it will grow back if the fighting stops. You can try rearranging the decor in the tank. This will force them to get new territory and they may stop fighting over the same space. If they continue you will have to remove one of them. I suggest the aggressor. He is likely to attack anything else in the tank sooner or later.
A 10 gallon is really too small for 2 male Gouramis for that reason. Take out the Gourami that gets beat up and add a little salt to the injured Gouramis tank. Don't put the Neons in, they will likely have trouble with the salt. So the injured Gourami needs his own tank for a week, with a little salt in the water, this will help prevent infection. After a week, do a water change and stop adding salt. At this time, you can add other fish (Neons) without worrying about them dieing. Good luck!
Nosoop4u

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