Help... Worried About My New Pearl Gourami

[fclslack]

Hi everyone and firstly thanks for reading my first post!

My partner and I have just started our first aquarium 3/4weeks ago and it was going swimmingly. We have a 125ltr tank, a couple of plants, 10 neon tetras, 5 male guppies and we introduced 2 pearl gourami, Cilla (F) and Graham (M) over the weekend.

Cilla and Graham were very shy all weekend and had upset the other fish who started shouling when previously they had been quite relaxed for the first 2 days. Today I've come home from work and every fish looks rather relaxed around one another however Cilla has what looks like a torn tail? Cilla and Graham act a little obsessed with one another... Graham likes to chase Cilla and when they calm down, Cilla will go back to Graham for more! They are constantly hugging with their feelings, nudging each others sides and I'm hoping (?) that her torn tail is an accident. I'm hoping that this is the case however I am concerned that she may actually be ill. We've only had them 3 days so I am panicking a little bit...

We've tested the water - results are: NO3 - 0, NO2 - 0, GH - 16d, KH - 3d, pH - 6.8, Cl - 0.8

Apologies if I sound a bit like a noob but I'm just so worried!

I've got a picture of her but not sure how to upload it... Ahh it worked!

Thank you very much for any help!

 

[KCB]

Does it look like a horizontal tear or does it look like the fin is eroding? Also, do you have a test for ammonia?

If it is just a slight tear then it'll heal on its own, you just need to keep the water very clean .

 

[jcabs100]

Guppys tend to be very nippy maybe they've been nipping at them especially since they're all male guppys

 

[fclslack]

Thank you! No real update today other than she's still with us but I'm a bit anxious. The pair of them are very withdrawn again, hiding behind the ornaments. Her tail looks exactly the same. We have moved some of the plants away from the filter as we had a random thought that she might have caught it in one of the filter grills when she's hiding there. It's so far discouraged her to go back to that corner. I've not seen the guppys getting close enough to nip unless they are doing it covertly - they tend to spend all their time together at the top of the tank.
I did the ammonia test and it was 0.6 - I'm thinking this is relatively normal for the tank at the moment?

 

[Flute]

Ammonia needs to be at 0ppm at all times- it's highly toxic and will cause problems very quickly. The extra stress from the ammonia can effect their immune system and will allow things like fin rot or secondary infections to set in. I recommend you do a large water changes daily, keep an eye on your ammonia, and hopefully in a few days she will start to heal. Feeding garlic soaked food should also help boost her immune system

 

[fclslack]

Cheers! I'm not sure I'm cut out for all this... Graham has now torn his fin. I'm thinking they have both done it on the filter as they have both lost massive chunks in one go and they have been hanging around it when scared. Honestly they are both stressing me out with this! Will do a big water change in the morning and see what the pet shop has to help their fins heal?!

 

[snazy]

The ammonia is causing this. Very common and looks exactly like fin rot. If you don't keep the ammonia under control(nearly 0) until the tank cycles(takes 7-8 weeks minimum from the first time the tank is setup), the fish won't recover, the tail will get worse, others can get affected and they can get a secondary problem like a disease outbreak from the weak immune system if they haven't already. The fish that are used for fish-in cycles tend to eventually not last their full life span afterwards, not all but some.

As for the guppies, personally I've never seen them nip other fish or each other and I've had them for years. I also keep just male guppies at the moment in one tank.

 

[Flute]

Once you get control of the ammonia and nitrite levels you'll do fine! We all make mistakes early on (god knows I made more than a few when I started out), don't get too down hearted about it

You need to be doing large water changes everyday, it is a pain but I promise you it will be well worth it once your tank stabilises and your fish are happy

 

[fclslack]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have to agree with you all - it's the ammonia level. Graham has now parted us - he went downhill very fast today. Become very withdrawn, stayed in one position for hours and then had a mad little dash and then fell to the bottom of the tank. We're not expecting Cilla to go on much longer now...

We've done a nearly 50% water change now and we're gonna keep a close eye on our ammonia levels til they diminish.

Thanks again everyone for the encouraging words!

 

[Flute]

If your ammonia levels are not dropping after this 50 %, I would do another 50% change again. To keep the fish safe, you need to be doing about 75% a day. The fresh water will very quickly help them feel better; it might be too late for Cilla, but it's worth a shot- I have seen wonders happen purely from daily water changes. Good luck!

 

[epic154]

keep the ammonia level on 0ppm at all times the ammonia doing all that check your ammonia level.