Peg

Hi,
I have a 55 gallon. Fish are a blood parrot, a pleco, 3 gourami's, and 2 angel fish. The last time I added new fish to the tank was about 6 months ago (the 2 angels). A couple of weeks ago I noticed that one of the gourami's had a wound on the top of it's head. I thought maybe it had scraped itself on a rock or something. But now it's quite a bit larger and it's obvious that someone is eating at it. The fish exhibits no signs of being in distress. It eats and swims just the same as it always did, and I've not noticed any of the other fish being aggresive toward it so I don't know which one of them is doing it. I'm going to set up a sick tank today and move it in. I'll siphon water from the big tank into it so the water conditions will be the same. Should I add any medication or do you think this will heal OK without help? I've never had this problem before.

Blub

Peg

Thanks for the advice. I use a water conditioner called AquaSafe. It's supposed to promote the slime coat as well. I just went and read the bottle and it also claims to help heal wounds and abrasions. Do you think it would do the job? I read some reviews on Prime and it sounds like a great product. I'll get some next time I go to the fish store, but it is quite a drive from where I live so I was hopeing to avoid making the trip this weekend.

Butterfly

Are the Gouramis fighting among themselves? What kind of Pleco do you have?
Doing extra water changes and keeping the water extremely clean will help him heal.
Carol

Peg

The pleco is just a common pleco. At least that what I've heard them called. The cheap ones you can find anywhere. It's about 9" long now. I have 2 blue gourami's and 1 gold. The bigger blue one chases and picks on the smaller blue, but I've never seen it chase the gold which is the one with the wound. The bigger angel chases the smaller angel, but doesn't bother the others. The blood parrot doesn't bother any of them. I figure it's the big blue and I'm just not looking at the right time. I'm not planning on adding any more fish to this tank, but didn't think it was overstocked as HatchetHaven said. Do plecos put more of a biological burden on the tank then the other fish?

susitna-flower

A common pleco will get too big for a 55 gallon tank, up to 18"! , it adds more waste than your tank can handle. A better choice would be a bristlenose pleco, they are great tank cleaners, but don't grow too big. The reason others have asked and are concerned is that all that waste can really raise your nitrates, causing stress on fish, and it will be hard to keep them healthy.

JUST in case the gourami has Hole-in-the-Head, you should use vita-chem . HIH is caused by a vitamin deficiency. It won't hurt to use it on a regular basis of about once a week for all your fish.

COBettaCouple

Vita-Chem and Fish Protector are both excellent for aiding a fish in healing up.

There's also a medicine called Bio-Bandage for wounds like that:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...2&pcatid=12102

All 3 of those probably would have to be ordered online unless you've got some good local stores.

Keeping the water extra clean will be a big help and NovAqua+ could help some also in healing.

Blub

Peg

Not in the UK....Georgia, USA.
I guess I'll eventually have to find a new home for the pleco. I've had it longer than any of the others, and I really like it. It's fun to watch. I hate to get rid of it, but I guess I need to think about the health of the others.
Thanks for the great advice everyone. I'll definitely look for the products mentioned.

Blub