Pearl Gourami lost 'feelers'

[Fox46]

My 3 remaining Pearls are coming up to 4 years old. Yesterday I noticed one appears to have gone darker along his back. When I went for a closer look I realised he had lost one of his 'feelers' with just a half inch length remaining. This morning I see that stub, plus the whole of the other one has disappeared. Is this likely to be a feature of him coming to the end of his life, and will he be suffering as a result of this loss? He's been less lively for a few months spending some time up in the corner of the tank but with fairly regular spells of activity and mingling with the others. The other possibility is overnight bullying - though I see no evidence of him being a victim during the day.

 

[Colin_T]

need pictures and maybe video of the fish

they should live longer than 4 years and they don't normally lose their feelers.

it could be a bacterial or fungal infection destroying the feelers, or another fish bit them off, or they got caught in something and were damaged.

 

[Fox46]

The vid wouldn't upload. Here's a still close up. I was wrong about his feelers, he still has one left and the stub of another. However, I now see he has a wound above his gill, (the silver leaf shape) and has lost the lower half of his tail. I'm thinking now it is bullying though I don't see it during the day, and I've moved him to a hospital tank. You can't see on this pic how the upper half of his body appears darker. I merged two communities last week and I think an isolated dwarf neon rainbow fish might be the culprit. However, the previously peaceful Black Widow Tetra community of 4 that I imported into this tank have had a few skirmishes with each other all of a sudden. Hoping things settle down - it's been a week now. I've got Myxazin - suitable for the wounded fish?

 

[Essjay]

Videos need to be uploaded to a video hosting site such as YouTube and link posted on here.

 

[Colin_T]

The black widow (skirt) tetras are more likely to bite fins than a rainbowfish.

Myxazin should be fine.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

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There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Calculator

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

 

[Fox46]

Thanks.