My poor Dwarf Gourami

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi,

I have a male dwarf gourami that was bullied in his old tank. Both of his feelers have been nipped quite short. I want to know if I can use something like Melafix to help him get better, or should I just leave it alone? Will they grow back? I have Melafix on hand right now, and I can get anything else that might be better for him in the next couple of days. What is my best course of action?

 

[SPLiSH]

Do you mean the pectoral fins, the long ones under his tummy?

Personally, if it isn't looking infected or nasty, I'd leave it alone and just make sure you keep up with water changes, they'll heal naturally. But if it looks like he's in a lot of pain, or the fins look a bit suspicious, then yes, I'd go with some sorta med.

Hope he gets better!

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Not sure.

I think these feelers aren't fleshy, but rather some sort of bone. I have a male Dawf Gourami with a bent feeler, and he's had it for a long time now. It hasn't straightened out, and it doesn't appear to have grown longer.

From this experience, I probably say it wouldn't grow back. Unless someone can say something different from their experience?

 

[sylvia]

The 'feelers' on a gourami are modified ventral fins (the pectorals are those behind the gills) and are just simply fins that have been modified to act as tools for tasting and touching new objects in order to explore and see if they are edible etc. They should grow back normaly - though a bend like discribed rarely straightens itself out. IME, the fins will grow if the wound does not become infected and provided the fins weren't nipped off right at the base (this applies to any fin). Usualy they will not regain their full length however. The only thing you need to do right now is watch closely to ensure the feelers don't become infected. At the first sign of fungus or a bacterial infection or any kind of the fish become irritate/area becoming inflamed, isolate the fish if possible and treat according to whatever the symptoms indicate is the problem. If you aren't sure, use some salt (prefferably, but if you have scaless fish like cories this isn't an option) or melafix and follow the instructions on the container for how much to use.

 

[SPLiSH]

The 'feelers' on a gourami are modified ventral fins (the pectorals are those behind the gills)

Oh yeah! ) Sorry, my mistake everyone...