I think my gourami might be injured

[mw2022]

Please see photo, is there anything I can do to help?! Sorry photo is best I could get

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of pictures showing the fish from both sides?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has the fish had the white bit on its back?
What other fish are in the tank?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

 

[mw2022]

Any chance of pictures showing the fish from both sides?

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has the fish had the white bit on its back?
What other fish are in the tank?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

Tank has been set up for 2.5 months. Fish have been in there for 4 weeks. This particular fish I got 1 week ago
2 gourami
3 Cory
3 platty (loads of babies)
Shrimp
Assassin snails

 

[mw2022]

Oh and only noticed it this morning

 

[Colin_T]

No idea, can't tell from the pics.

It could be an external protozoan infection or a small wound that is covered in excess mucous. Maybe a video will show more but I can't really tell much from the pics.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tank has been set up for 2.5 months. Fish have been in there for 4 weeks. This particular fish I got 1 week ago
2 gourami
3 Cory
3 platty (loads of babies)
Shrimp
Assassin snails

Can I ask what size the tank is, please?

Cories really need a school of six or more, they're a social fish, but it depends whether your tank size and shape can support that many - and what species of cory are they?

Is the other gourami the same species as the injured one? Can you get photos of both gourami please? I'm wondering whether they've been fighting for territory, especially if the other one was there first.

 

[mw2022]

Can I ask what size the tank is, please?

Cories really need a school of six or more, they're a social fish, but it depends whether your tank size and shape can support that many - and what species of cory are they?

Is the other gourami the same species as the injured one? Can you get photos of both gourami please? I'm wondering whether they've been fighting for territory, especially if the other one was there first.

Hi
It looks exactly the same to me. Photos attached, I bought them at the same time from the same tank at the shop.
Tank is 120litres My plan is to get 3 Cory more but with it being a new tank I was worried about adding too many fish at once. I think they are peppered Cory

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hi
It looks exactly the same to me. Photos attached, I bought them at the same time from the same tank at the shop.
Tank is 120litres My plan is to get 3 Cory more but with it being a new tank I was worried about adding too many fish at once. I think they are peppered Cory

Yep, they're the same species. I don't know much about gourami, I know @Essjay knows more about them. I do know that being surface hunters, the gourami would really appreciate some floating plants, as would the other fish. Makes them feel safe from predators above them (they don't know there aren't any!) and they like pecking around through the surface plants. Any will do, something like frogbit, salvinia, red root floaters, or water lettuce are ideal, and are also some of the best plants for helping with water quality.

Definitely good to only add fish gradually into a new tank, giving the beneficial bacteria time to grow to handle the increased bioload. If you post pics of the cories, we can tell you for sure which species you have. If they are peppered cories, bear in mind that they need a cooler temp than most tropical fish.

@Colin_T You can see a bit more of the wounds on the gourami on the last photo above. Looks like some scales missing, but not fluffy or infected looking (yet).

 

[mw2022]

Yep, they're the same species. I don't know much about gourami, I know @Essjay knows more about them. I do know that being surface hunters, the gourami would really appreciate some floating plants, as would the other fish. Makes them feel safe from predators above them (they don't know there aren't any!) and they like pecking around through the surface plants. Any will do, something like frogbit, salvinia, red root floaters, or water lettuce are ideal, and are also some of the best plants for helping with water quality.

Definitely good to only add fish gradually into a new tank, giving the beneficial bacteria time to grow to handle the increased bioload. If you post pics of the cories, we can tell you for sure which species you have. If they are peppered cories, bear in mind that they need a cooler temp than most tropical fish.

@Colin_T You can see a bit more of the wounds on the gourami on the last photo above. Looks like some scales missing, but not fluffy or infected looking (yet).

I have ordered some floating plants as I had some great advise here a few days ago! I just wish the people at the shop we more helpful!

I also had a nightmare with my filter today. Internal filter appeared to stop working (it’s new!!!) Luckily I had an external filter ready to go. I added a sponge from the old filter into the new and I’ve kept the old filter plugged in but I don’t think it’s taking any water in. Can I do anything else to help? I have been so worried. I didn’t realise how stressful keeping fish was

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have ordered some floating plants as I had some great advise here a few days ago! I just wish the people at the shop we more helpful!

I also had a nightmare with my filter today. Internal filter appeared to stop working (it’s new!!!) Luckily I had an external filter ready to go. I added a sponge from the old filter into the new and I’ve kept the old filter plugged in but I don’t think it’s taking any water in. Can I do anything else to help? I have been so worried. I didn’t realise how stressful keeping fish was

Oh man, I'm sorry your intro has been so rough! I went through a similar start, so you have my sincere empathy! Yes, there are a lot of moving parts, and it's a mini-ecosystem we're setting up, so there's lots of things that can and will go wrong, and sometimes it feels like a baptism of fire! But you will pick it up and get the hang of it, and then while you'll have the odd challenge, you'll be able to meet it

You've already learned the lesson never to trust the store staff, since they often give terrible advice. Sucks to learn the hard way, but it's sadly true that many will say whatever to sell you something, or bluff their way through and give you really bad advice that kills fish and has people feel like failures and quit the hobby. Never trust their advice unless it's a store/sales person who has proven themselves to be trustworthy. Have to do our own research, and always check the source, since there's tons of misinformation online too. Here even if one of us gives poor advice, someone else will be along to give another perspective, you know? We can challenge each other. Seriously Fish and Wet Web Media are also great and reliable sources of information. Written by scientists and authorities in the hobby.

The filters - moving the used media to another filter was the right call! So your instincts are good! My advice would be to firstly, only clean filter media (the sponges etc inside the filter) in tank water you've removed from a tank, never rinse under the tap, and never let it dry out. So to try to fix this, take some tank water into a bucket, put the filter media in the water, and take apart the internal filter, clean it out the best you can, especially the impeller (the twirly bit) in case something is clogging it up and stopping it working. Put it back together with the filter media inside, and try again to put it in the tank and plug it back in.

If that doesn't work, try the same method with the external filter. Let us know what make and model external filter you're using, and we might be able to help troubleshoot what's not working! If it's a canister filter, they can be tricky to get the hang of!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have ordered some floating plants as I had some great advise here a few days ago! I just wish the people at the shop we more helpful!

I also had a nightmare with my filter today. Internal filter appeared to stop working (it’s new!!!) Luckily I had an external filter ready to go. I added a sponge from the old filter into the new and I’ve kept the old filter plugged in but I don’t think it’s taking any water in. Can I do anything else to help? I have been so worried. I didn’t realise how stressful keeping fish was

I forgot to say, yep, those are peppered cories Corydoras paleatus . They prefer temps at the cooler end of this range ideally 72 – 78°F (22 – 26°C), would need to check the temp ranges for the other species you have as well, and try to find a temp that suits all of them if possible. More info about peppered cories here: https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-paleatus/

But that can wait, the filter is the more urgent thing Lets get those working properly so you have a working filter and a working back up filter that you feel confident with, in case you need it again in an emergency. We're here to help!

And as a fun fact, the colour type of the female platy in that photo is sometimes called a "santa mickey mouse platy" Santa because of the white and red, mickey mouse because the black markings on the tail look like a sideways mickey mouse and ears I used to have a couple of the same variety.