HELP!!! Gourami with tail problem!!!

[ALBERTO DARÍO HIM LÓPEZ]

Hello everybody in this forum,

This is my first post in this forum, I'm relatively new to this hobby, I mean, I have had a 29 gal tank before without a problem but due to other activities I had to give it away, now I'm back to it with a small 20 gal high tank, inside there are 6 zebra danios, 1 Hawaiian platy, 2 sunset platies and 3 gouramis (2 pearl male and female and 1 blue female).

The gouramis are new, all of them are doing fine, they are eating well, they are swimming well and all of them are behaving fairly well, they have already acclimated to their new home.

Then, something came to my eye, the male had his tail bent in the upper part, this is new for me since I have never had gouramies before, you don't have to be knowledgeable in fish biology to know that this is not right, therefore I have to ask, is this an injury? was this caused during shipping or in the store where I got him? handling maybe? is it going to heal? or is a birth deformity?

the water parameters are great

pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
Temperature: 80°F
Water changes: 25% every week

This tank has been set up for at least 2 months and has never had an ammonia spike, I check it 3 times a week. I will attach some pics for you guys

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the fish did not have its tail like that when you got it, then it is either a protozoan or bacterial infection, usually protozoan.

If the fish's tail was like that when you got it, then it could be a genetic defect, but most fish sold in shops are not normally deformed. That doesn't mean it isn't a deformity, just most fish sold in shops don't have deformities.

I would monitor the fish for a few days and see how it goes. If the tail clamps up more, or if any other fins start to clamp up, or the fish gets any cream, white or grey patches or film over any part of its body, then treat the tank for protozoans. You can use salt or a commercially prepared medication from a pet shop.

To use salt you add 1 heaped tablespoon of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you add a second heaped tablespoon per 20 litres so there is a total of 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks. If you do a water change, add salt to the new water before it goes back into the tank. eg: you change 20 litres of water so you add salt to treat 20 litres of water.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need to.