I need diagnosis help...is this a disease or just a bite?

[zero2dash]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).

1 blue gourami, he has what looks like a hole/bite mark in the side of his head that has blood in/near it
edit: consequently I found my male betta dead earlier; no noticeable reason why ie he didn't have a hole/bite mark on his head but his belly was plump and white like he may have overate

Also I noticed a few more of my blue gourami have red marks near their eyes but they don't appear to have any holes or other trauma (ie bites)

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.

Last time I tested (a few days ago) everything was normal
edit: I tested again after posting -
pH 6.0
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 160ppm
Nitrates are high (obviously)

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

55 gal, set up for almost 1 yr at current address, 1 yr at previous address

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.

Whisper Power Filter 30-60

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

3 other blue gourami (roughly 3-4 inches ea)
3 gold gourami (roughly 2-3 inches ea)
4 round pink gourami (roughly 1 1/2-2 inches ea)
2 golden algae eaters (roughly 2-3 inches ea)
1 pleco (roughly 4-5 inches)
edit: forgot my 1 male betta, who (unfortunately) is now dead

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

Water change - today
Vacuum - never

How often? Water change - as evaporates. Vacuum - sparingly (2-3x / yr)
Added...mmm...5-7 gallons

edit: I added about 5% water today which had evaporated. Since posting I have vacuumed, removing 15% of water, then I removed another 15% and added 30% fresh water.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?

Had it for...probably 6 months

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

Nope not in 6+ months

9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?

No diet change.
Tetra flake crisps, Hikari dried bloodworms (what I always feed them and always have fed them)

*****

I don't know if this is a bite mark or a disease (HITH maybe?). (near the eye)
Can someone help me diagnose this and/or point me in the right direction what to do?

 

[talloulou]

When you say you do water changes as water evaporates....does that mean you are just topping off? If so that's not a real water change. You need to take out at least 10-25% of the water at the very least once a month. And I would personally recommend a lot more often than that. Part of the water change involves vacumming the gravel. This needs to be done way more than a few times a year.

You also mention the water was fine last time you tested but it would be helpful to have some actual numbers for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I would think your nitrates would be extremely high.

As far as the fish I can't really tell from the picture. But whatever it is the fish would benefit from improved water quality.

 

[talloulou]

Oh and try to vary the diet a little more as well.

 

[zero2dash]

When you say you do water changes as water evaporates....does that mean you are just topping off? If so that's not a real water change. You need to take out at least 10-25% of the water at the very least once a month.

I know most aquarium hobbyists do routine water changes, but what I don't understand is how you say that replacing evaporated waster isn't a water change; I tend to disagree. You're replacing old water with fresh water; whether the old water evaporates or is taken out really doesn't matter (unless on a molecular level there is a difference, and I highly doubt that...but I digress).

And I would personally recommend a lot more often than that. Part of the water change involves vacumming the gravel. This needs to be done way more than a few times a year.

I agree that vacuuming the gravel is a bigger problem here, but it's hard to vacuum a tank that is full of plants. The main reason I don't gravel often (if at all) is because it puts undue stress on the fish which brings about more problems.

You also mention the water was fine last time you tested but it would be helpful to have some actual numbers for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I would think your nitrates would be extremely high.

I tested the water after you posted.
pH 6.0
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrates 160ppm (high)

I know the Nitrates aren't fine now. Should be much lower than that, I know.

As far as the fish I can't really tell from the picture. But whatever it is the fish would benefit from improved water quality.

Ok, agreed...so this is what I did.

1) I read your post and googled HITH.
2) I tested the water (results above).
3) I removed everything out of the tank (minus fish) and vacuumed the gravel (which removed roughly 15% of my water.
4) I removed roughly another 15% of the water after vacuuming and added about 30% fresh water.
5) I changed the filter cartridges.

Now I'm just hoping and praying that no other fish die.
When I went to go #2 above (test the water), I found my male betta (which I previously forgot to mention) dead. No red holes in the head, but his belly was white and bloated. (Maybe he overate? I only fed them a little today.)

Anyway, this is my biggest issue (up until this point) that I will say:
I've had aquaria as a hobby for over 20 years. I've done the same things for all this time, and this is only the 2nd time I've ever had sick fish. I've never done routine water changes and I've rarely ever vacuumed gravel.

But...I'm going to change my habits (and start doing routine water changes). I read on a site that changing 15-25% of the water every three days a few times is the best way to lower nitrates so I think I'm going to do just that; in 3 days I'll take out another 25% and so on (probably do 25% 2x and then stop which'll be a grand total of 85% new water). As I go along I learn more about the chemical aspect of aquariums, and I now know that high nitrates is because of waste/dirty water...so I'm working on changing that and keeping it a habit to keep the tank cleaner.

 

[Toirtis]

I know most aquarium hobbyists do routine water changes, but what I don't understand is how you say that replacing evaporated waster isn't a water change; I tend to disagree. You're replacing old water with fresh water; whether the old water evaporates or is taken out really doesn't matter (unless on a molecular level there is a difference, and I highly doubt that...but I digress).

There is a considerable difference between the two....when you remove water and replace it with fresh water, you are also removing a number of pollutants from your tank....by simply topping up your tank you are just diluting the pollutants concentration in the tank water somewhat. For instance, imagine you have two 10 gallon tanks full of water into each which you place 10g of salt. If you remove 50% of the water from tank one and replace it with fresh water, the amount of dissolved salt in tank one is now 5g....but if you wait until 50% of the water in tank two evaporates and you simply top it up with fresh water, 10g of dissolved salt still remains in tank two...twice as much as is now in tank one.

I tested the water after you posted.
Nitrates 160ppm (high)

I know the Nitrates aren't fine now. Should be much lower than that, I know.

Yes, by about 80%+.


Ok, agreed...so this is what I did.

3) I removed everything out of the tank (minus fish) and vacuumed the gravel (which removed roughly 15% of my water.
4) I removed roughly another 15% of the water after vacuuming and added about 30% fresh water.
5) I changed the filter cartridges.

A good plan, but by replacing all the filter cartridges at once, you may experience a temporary rise in ammonia while your bacterial culture regains from the loss of the colonies in the cartridges....next time replace only one cartridge at a time to avoid this.

...so I'm working on changing that and keeping it a habit to keep the tank cleaner.

Good job...both you and your fish will be happier for it.

 

[zero2dash]

A good plan, but by replacing all the filter cartridges at once, you may experience a temporary rise in ammonia while your bacterial culture regains from the loss of the colonies in the cartridges....next time replace only one cartridge at a time to avoid this.

What is a good timeframe to do this? Should I change one cartridge then wait a week and replace the other? (Or wait longer...?) TIA