my Dwarf gourami (to the best of my IDing ability - the woman who gave me the tank and inhabitants called it a rainbow gourami) has been in the same tank with same tankmates for a while, I was given the tank in October. Unfortunately she had it all emptied and cleaned when I came to pick it up, so it basically had to cycle all over again, with the poor fish inside. The other tankmates are a band of cardinal tetras and some young bristlenose plecos. The gourami was very shy and nervous for a while, but over the past couple of weeks has really come into his gourami energy and is boldly exploring, eating happily, chasing away other fish (no nips i have seen, just a charge), and staring me down when I come close. Yesterday I noticed that his chin looked strangely swollen, and a closer look seemed like maybe there was an abrasion? I'm hoping it looks like just a surface injury from running into something, but if it's a sign of something bigger i'd like to try to treat it right away.
tank parameters: pH 5.5, KH 80ppm, GH 75ppm, ammonia and nitrates 0, nitrates 20, temp 26C
70L tank, set up again in early October (2 months), hang on back filter
1 dwarf gourami, 6 cardinal tetras, 8 young bristlenose plecos (still trying to give more away - there was a mated adult pair and 18 of their babies when I got it)
Last water change was Friday, changed about 25% of water, and vacuumed the gravel. Waterchanges weekly.
nothing new has been added to the tank - plecos have been slowly removed.
food: tetra rubin flakes daily, and in a second feeding either tropical red micro color sticks or tropical tubi-cubi. The plecos get tropical green algae wafers, which the gourami nibbles. I have been only recently offering the red micro sticks more. For a while the gourami would only touch the flakes, but recently i tried the red micro sticks again and he gobbled them up, so I have been most often offering the flakes in the morning and then red micro sticks in the evening over the past week or two.
tank parameters: pH 5.5, KH 80ppm, GH 75ppm, ammonia and nitrates 0, nitrates 20, temp 26C
70L tank, set up again in early October (2 months), hang on back filter
1 dwarf gourami, 6 cardinal tetras, 8 young bristlenose plecos (still trying to give more away - there was a mated adult pair and 18 of their babies when I got it)
Last water change was Friday, changed about 25% of water, and vacuumed the gravel. Waterchanges weekly.
nothing new has been added to the tank - plecos have been slowly removed.
food: tetra rubin flakes daily, and in a second feeding either tropical red micro color sticks or tropical tubi-cubi. The plecos get tropical green algae wafers, which the gourami nibbles. I have been only recently offering the red micro sticks more. For a while the gourami would only touch the flakes, but recently i tried the red micro sticks again and he gobbled them up, so I have been most often offering the flakes in the morning and then red micro sticks in the evening over the past week or two.
