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This morning when I turned on the light in my main 20 gallon tank, I noticed my male dwarf gourami was being attacked by my young (about one inch long) black molly. The molly has been peaceful ever since I got him- he must was put into the bag with my ottos by accident, I'm guessing- so when I saw him attacking and biting my male gourami I was shocked. I removed the molly and put him in the tank where I raise snails for my dwarf puffers (they're kept in my ten gallon, so I didn't dare put this newly carnivorous molly in with them.)

The gourami has a white spot on his head where the molly was attacking him and has been acting very odd. He spent most of his time this evening resting on the decor and the thermometer in the tank. He didn't display his usual appetite at dinner time either.

My tank params are:

0 ammonia
0 nitrite
less than 20 nitrate.

The gourami has been in the tank for over 2 weeks and has shown no previous signs of illness or problems adjusting to his new home. The molly has been in my tank since late last year when I picked up a pair of Ottos. He started out as a tiny fry and has grown up in the tank. He's never shown any aggression before to anything but food. I don't know what's going on here, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Last edited by Celtgirl at 07-Mar-2005 23:21

Hmmm... It sounds like the gourami might have gotten a small injury on his head, and then then the molly was just doing what fish do by "scavenging" the wound. All though we don't like it in our aquariums, healthy fish in the wild often pick off any sick or injured ones (even peaceful schoolers like neons will do it), because the unhealthy fish might attract more predators.

To help your gourami heal, do not add any meds unless you see the wound becoming infected (it will grow in size and/or have a fuzzy appearance if infected). Antibiotics, the only meds that are useful for treating the wounds, put a lot of stress on nitrifying bacteria, which in turn translates into more stress for your gourami due to less efficient biological filtration. Only treat the tank if his condition gets worse.

In the mean time, you'll want to pamper him while the molly is gone to help him heal quicker. Try buying some live foods just for him, such as bloodworms or brineshrimp. Try to keep the tank as quiet and relaxing as possible for him, and maybe even float some plants at the top to dim the light in the tank a bit. Once he is relaxed and eating well, the wound should heal in no time and you should be able to reintroduce the molly.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hmmm... It sounds like the gourami might have gotten a small injury on his head, and then then the molly was just doing what fish do by "scavenging" the wound. All though we don't like it in our aquariums, healthy fish in the wild often pick off any sick or injured ones (even peaceful schoolers like neons will do it), because the unhealthy fish might attract more predators.

I agree 100%, it is more likely that the molly was just helping him/herself to the already damaged tissue than actually attacking the gourami. I have seen it in neons as well in a Local Non-Fish Chain Store (LNFCS ), where a very sick neon with fin rot, missing half of its body, was being "picked at" by fellow members of the school and was unable to escape. It was quite disturbing, but the neons were only doing what comes naturally to them. I calmly informed an employee and had her "euthanize" the sick neon. Of course, I have never and will never buy fish from this store.

Anyway, I think Cory_Addict's advice is sound, just give the gourami time to heal on his own and return the molly to the tank when he is looking better. Feed good quality foods and keep your water quality perfect to aid in healing. I like to use Melafix to speed healing in cuts and scrapes. It doesn't have any effect on your biofilter and doesn't stress fish at all. A nitrate reading of 20 ppm is fine but you may want to step up your maintenance schedule to get it a bit lower while your gourami is healing, as any excess nitrate in the system will contribute to stress.

Thanks for your replies, but, sadly, my gourami passed on this morning. He was a fairly recent addition, but he'd become one of my favorite fish quickly, so he will be sorely missed. I hate losing fish, especially from something other than old age.

Thankfully my other fish all look fine still, so it was likely his injuries that killed him and not any sort of disease. I don't know how he could have injured himself, there are no sharp corners or rough decor in my tank. I removed a log decoration with a rough spot on it after one of my ottos was spooked by a cory and brained himself on it. I've been very careful about what decor/equipment goes into my tank ever since, so I don't think he could have hit anything to hurt himself. I'll just go through and check everything for sharp edges again.