Have Questions About My Hurt Dwarf Gourami :(

[EricaGail90]

I have a 1 1/2 gallon aquarium, and two dwarf gouramis, Fish and Fiss. I've had them for a month and they are best friends. But this morning I went to feed my babies and Fish was hiding in the back corner. when i scurried him out so he would eat I saw that his tail is torn. I'm not sure how to explain it but he is missing a third of his tail. im not sure if maybe he got his tail stuck in a plant or under a rock or im worried that Fiss ate his tail.
Does anybody know if i can do something to help his tail grow back or if it will get better on its own?
Right now i have the two fish separated, they are each in their own bowl bc in case Fiss was mean to Fish he is in exile now.

Here is a picture of what his tail looks like...

 

[jacko32]

hi just a few questions so i can try to help you out
1st off am i right in thinking you have 2 dwarf gourami in a 1.5 gallon tank ?
if so then its because your fish are in a tank way too small they really need to be in a tank of around 20 gallon otherwise they will suffer from terratorial agression
also does your tank have a filter ?
and do you know the water stats ie AMMONIA, NITRITE & NITRATE ?
if theres no filter or the tank isnt cycled your fish will be constantly swimming around in ammonia and nitrite which cause nerve cell damage if so your fishes tail will never heal and most likely the fish will just die from infection

 

[EricaGail90]

hi just a few questions so i can try to help you out
1st off am i right in thinking you have 2 dwarf gourami in a 1.5 gallon tank ?
if so then its because your fish are in a tank way too small they really need to be in a tank of around 20 gallon otherwise they will suffer from terratorial agression
also does your tank have a filter ?
and do you know the water stats ie AMMONIA, NITRITE & NITRATE ?
if theres no filter or the tank isnt cycled your fish will be constantly swimming around in ammonia and nitrite which cause nerve cell damage if so your fishes tail will never heal and most likely the fish will just die from infection

yes, i have 2 gouramis and its a 1.5 gallon tank. And it does have a pump and a filter and i change the filter cartridge often along with changing all the water in the bowl.
so hopefully, his tail will be able to heal. now since i have two gouramis and this size bowl is obviously way too small, what do you think i should do bc i dont have room for a bigger tank?

 

[Twinklecaz]

Well one thing you should do is NOT change the filter cartridge. They don't need to be changed ever....until they fall apart. They carry all the good bacteria that keeps the fish/tank healthy. The filter instructions will tell you to change them once a month etc because they just want to make money. All you should do it wash them out in syphoned out tank water about once a month.

As for the size I can't help you there.......can you really not accomdate any bigger tank? It doesn't have to be 30gal> but you do need bigger that you have

 

[EricaGail90]

Well one thing you should do is NOT change the filter cartridge. They don't need to be changed ever....until they fall apart. They carry all the good bacteria that keeps the fish/tank healthy. The filter instructions will tell you to change them once a month etc because they just want to make money. All you should do it wash them out in syphoned out tank water about once a month.

As for the size I can't help you there.......can you really not accomdate any bigger tank? It doesn't have to be 30gal> but you do need bigger that you have

Thanks for the tip on the filter cartridge, bc the packaging actually says every two weeks and i thought that was silly for such a small tank..
well, i cant get rid of either of my fish so i used to have a 5 gallon tank so i'll try to find that for them. do you think they would be happy together in there?

 

[jacko32]

Well one thing you should do is NOT change the filter cartridge. They don't need to be changed ever....until they fall apart. They carry all the good bacteria that keeps the fish/tank healthy. The filter instructions will tell you to change them once a month etc because they just want to make money. All you should do it wash them out in syphoned out tank water about once a month.

As for the size I can't help you there.......can you really not accomdate any bigger tank? It doesn't have to be 30gal> but you do need bigger that you have

Thanks for the tip on the filter cartridge, bc the packaging actually says every two weeks and i thought that was silly for such a small tank..
well, i cant get rid of either of my fish so i used to have a 5 gallon tank so i'll try to find that for them. do you think they would be happy together in there?

not really really you need atleast a tank thats 24"x 12"x 12" and even then its not ideal keeping the fish in such a small tank is just going to result in 1 killing the other

 

[LondonguyJ]

Hi EricaGail90

And welcome to the forum. Many of us find these places when our fish keeping takes a turn for the worse and we look to those with more experience for advice. Thankfully you are in the right place.

The first thing you need to get hold of a liquid testing kit which at the very least tests for AMMONIA, NITRITE, NITRATE, & PH. And post the results.

Secondly a 1.5 gallon tank is grossly inadequate for two dwarf gouramies. My suspicions are that you have two males in your aquarium making the conditions even worse. Though I must stress that the situation is likely to deteriorate rapidly regardless of the sex as that aquarium is just to small.

Thirdly, you mentioned that you had been changing your filter cartridge every two weeks. Which leads me to believe you haven't cycled your filter yet. A process which is crucial to the health and wellbeing of your stock long term.

J