Sick dwarf Gourami?

[jj90jj]

I have a red dwarf gourami that is either getting beat up or is sick. I bought two females one blue one red about 1 month ago. They are in a well planted 55gal tank with a number of smaller fish. I have seen the red one chasing the blue but never the reverse so I'm guessing it's sick.

There are three white spots about 1/8 to 1/4" in diameter on the red gourami's side. The spots appear to be getting bigger. Other than that the fish is still swimming like and acting like normal.

Any ideas of what it might be? If it is a sickness will it spread to the other gourami?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Leopardess]

Hi there Welcome aboard

Let's see...

Firstly, the vast majority (and probably the entirety, as far as I'm aware) or female dwarf gouramis are all a dull silvery gray color. For this reason, you will almost never see them for sale in a pet store unless it dabbles in specialty fish. I believe you have two males. They chase each other because male gouramis are territorial and often don't handle other males very well. Some get along, a lot don't. In a 55g, they should have enough room not to be in each other's face all the time and probably won't cause serious damage (as long as you odnt see missing scales, torn up fins, things like that).

However, your fish should definitely not have white spots. Your spots sound a bit bigger than ich...probably a bacterial infection or a fungal infection. Could be columnaris. More info will help. Are they slimy? Are they fuzzy looking? Are they red on the edges? What are your water parameters? pH, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia? What other fish are in the tank?

A picture would really help. If it is an infection of some sort, as it seems, it is possible it could spread to the other fish, particularly because these diseases are as a result of somewhat poor water quality.

Do you have a hospital tank you can put him in (alone)? A 5-10g tank would be perfect.

 

[jj90jj]

Leopardness..
You are right I had a brain fade..I meant to say two males. I have a bunch of little guys in the tank. one might say too many.

2-sharpe tetras, 5 zebra danios, 3 harlequin rasboa, 4 scissor tail rasboas, 3 corys, one loach, and 2 female mollies and the gourami's

The sick GUY is not slimy at all there was one small scale coming off yesterday. the spots are white no red discoloration.. I'll take a photo tonight and post it...

I do not have a hospital tank yet so I may stop and get a 10g hospital on my way home!