Hello all,
I have a 65g tank up and running, all was going smoothly until one day one of my dwarf gourami appeared with a lesion on one side of the body. It looked pretty ugly, like it might get infected. He also had some small bumps (looked like tumors) on his head. very irregular. Anyway, the next morning I wake up to find him on the bottom. He's still breathing, but I can see he's not going to last long. I scan the rest of the tank, and the only other dwarf gourami is swimming erratically. He swims to one side and I see that he's missing an eye. Something gouged/sucked it out, and it looks a real mess. By the time I get back from work both are dead, and three of four eyes are missing.
So basically who would be the culprit in the tank. The other tankmates are listed below:
4x small angelfish (2")
7xRosy barbs (1 1/2")
2xFiremouths (2" and 1 1/2")
2xOpaline Gourami (2 1/2")
1xBristlenose (3")
I have noticed no signs of aggression towards the dwarfs. The Angels occasionally chase each other and leave everyone else alone. The Firemouths are the most recent additions and are quite shy (stay near the bottom away from the Gourami at the top). They only chase each other and sometimes the barbs. The dwarfs were very active and would compete for food with the Angels in the tank. Strangely enough the Dwarfs were the biggest fish in the tank by bulk, and were one of the earliest additions, so were not too shy.
My suspicion is that the Bristlenose had something to do with it as i think he's the only one with sufficient power to remove the eye from a healthy fish. But I've never caught him being aggressive. Although he is more active after the lights go off, which might explain it.
So who do you think killed my Gouramii (plural of gourami?), and should I remove the most likely suspect before he does more damage? I'm a little worried for my opaline and Angels which are both big targets and quite slow.
I have a 65g tank up and running, all was going smoothly until one day one of my dwarf gourami appeared with a lesion on one side of the body. It looked pretty ugly, like it might get infected. He also had some small bumps (looked like tumors) on his head. very irregular. Anyway, the next morning I wake up to find him on the bottom. He's still breathing, but I can see he's not going to last long. I scan the rest of the tank, and the only other dwarf gourami is swimming erratically. He swims to one side and I see that he's missing an eye. Something gouged/sucked it out, and it looks a real mess. By the time I get back from work both are dead, and three of four eyes are missing.
So basically who would be the culprit in the tank. The other tankmates are listed below:
4x small angelfish (2")
7xRosy barbs (1 1/2")
2xFiremouths (2" and 1 1/2")
2xOpaline Gourami (2 1/2")
1xBristlenose (3")
I have noticed no signs of aggression towards the dwarfs. The Angels occasionally chase each other and leave everyone else alone. The Firemouths are the most recent additions and are quite shy (stay near the bottom away from the Gourami at the top). They only chase each other and sometimes the barbs. The dwarfs were very active and would compete for food with the Angels in the tank. Strangely enough the Dwarfs were the biggest fish in the tank by bulk, and were one of the earliest additions, so were not too shy.
My suspicion is that the Bristlenose had something to do with it as i think he's the only one with sufficient power to remove the eye from a healthy fish. But I've never caught him being aggressive. Although he is more active after the lights go off, which might explain it.
So who do you think killed my Gouramii (plural of gourami?), and should I remove the most likely suspect before he does more damage? I'm a little worried for my opaline and Angels which are both big targets and quite slow.
