Electric Blue Ram - Gill Has Been Ripped Off

[SELINA]

Tank size: 60L
pH: 6.8
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0

tank temp: 23c

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
Bought a pair of electric blue rams sunday, all looked fine when we went to bed. Woke up yesterday and the gill is missing from one of them. The injured one is slightly smaller, but only marginally. We observed them and have seen them fighting, neither is bullying, they are both instigating it, so I think maybe they might both be males?

Frequency of water changes:
Approx. 40% weekly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
Did have carbon, have removed it to medicate with Melafix

Tank inhabitants:
1 juvenile sailfin plec, 6 juvenile green rasboras (bought sunday also) 1 assassin snail

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
1 small unlabelled live plant, 1 decoration, 6 rasbora and the 2 rams.
 
Exposure to chemicals:
Melafix. Thought it should help with the wound?
 
The gills are all exposed, although they seem undamaged in themselves, and the fish is behaving normally. Still eating and swimming fine. Will it grow back? I have separated the uninjured one in a small floating breeding compartment. While I understand this is not ideal it's really the best I can do. The aquatics store have offered to exchange either fish for a different one, saying it's probably a case of two males. I want to keep the injured one becuase I fear that if it were to become stressed through moving again it might take a turn for the worst. Also I am all attached to it now.
Any advice is welcome and needed.
Thanks

 

[the_lock_man]

There's a few wonderings in my head about this.
 
It's not often that one comes across an entire gill flap having been ripped off. It could be the two males thing. However, there's clearly something a bit awry with your testing, since you shouldn't have 0 ammo, nitrite AND nitrate, unless this is a brand new tank, or it is stuffed full of plants, which it doesn't look like it is.
 
You did bung 8 new fish in a tank with only one fish in it previously, and nothwithstanding that the previous inhabitant is a sailfin plec, that's a heck of an increase in bioload - I'm wondering whether your stated test of 0ppm ammonia is wrong, and it's actually ammonia that has done that to the gill.
 
I would strongly recommend that if you do return one of the rams, that it's the damaged one. Whatever it is that's caused the problem, it's likely it will have a severely shortened life span - it would be silly to return the healthy one, and have this one die in three weeks time or whatever.
 
One last thing, can you post up a photo of the plec? Not being a plec expert (is that a plexpert?) I think I'm right in saying that Sailfin Plecs grow stupidly huge (like 60cm), in other words way too big for a 60l, and if I'm right, it needs to be rehomed before it becomes stunted.

 

[SELINA]

There's a few wonderings in my head about this.
 
It's not often that one comes across an entire gill flap having been ripped off. It could be the two males thing. However, there's clearly something a bit awry with your testing, since you shouldn't have 0 ammo, nitrite AND nitrate, unless this is a brand new tank, or it is stuffed full of plants, which it doesn't look like it is.
 
You did bung 8 new fish in a tank with only one fish in it previously, and nothwithstanding that the previous inhabitant is a sailfin plec, that's a heck of an increase in bioload - I'm wondering whether your stated test of 0ppm ammonia is wrong, and it's actually ammonia that has done that to the gill.
 
I would strongly recommend that if you do return one of the rams, that it's the damaged one. Whatever it is that's caused the problem, it's likely it will have a severely shortened life span - it would be silly to return the healthy one, and have this one die in three weeks time or whatever.
 
One last thing, can you post up a photo of the plec? Not being a plec expert (is that a plexpert?) I think I'm right in saying that Sailfin Plecs grow stupidly huge (like 60cm), in other words way too big for a 60l, and if I'm right, it needs to be rehomed before it becomes stunted.

I have done a test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate. It comes up with different colours and they all looked as low as possible.
I should have mentioned that I had several other fish in the tank, some harlequin tetras, a pair of siamese fighting fish, a pictus catfish and two corys. My tank is fully cycled and has been for months. I only took the other fish back to the shop saturday so the increase is not even slightly drastic in comparison, its infact a decrease.
There's a picture of the plec in my DP. I'm aware of how large they grow, I've had three over the years, my last one was at 72cm when he died. I plan on upscaling my tank by the end of spring.

 

[the_lock_man]

Fair enough, that clarifies things somewhat.

I would still say that the injured fish is that one that gets rehomed, though.

 

[SELINA]

Fair enough, that clarifies things somewhat.

I would still say that the injured fish is that one that gets rehomed, though.

Yeah, sorry for being a bit vague on the details. I forget how many factors affect these things. I will be taking the injured one back, I've had a think about it. 
Thanks for all your help =]

 

[the_lock_man]