Siamese algae eater attacked?

[plastic candy]

I have a five gallon tank currently housing one platy, a dwarf blue gourami, and a siamese algae eater. I've had the algae eater for three months now (when I bought him I was worried about his size, being around ~4 inches, but I was assured he could live without worry in my tank size. Is this true? ), and just yesterday I purchased the dwarf gourami.

Though the new gourami is sofar very skittish and tends to hide exclusively in the plants, this morning I discovered my algae eater half on his side with red spots on his belly, which I'm guessing to be blood!

I have isolated him in my 10 gallon hospital tank, but I'm wondering -- could the new gourami have attacked him, or are the red spots not blood-caused at all?

For reference, the tank that housed him is a steady 77 degrees Farenheit, neutral Ph, and didn't test positive for any ammonia.

Please help!

 

[rykitten]

These spots on his belly . . . Are they holes, bumps or just spots? Anywhere else on his body? Any other discoloration?

 

[Feline]

What's the reading of nitrite and nitrate? Any abnormalities you can see on other fishies?

 

[plastic candy]

I haven't yet seen any abnormalities in the other fish -- they're all swimming and eating rather normally.

It's difficult for me to tell if the red spots are actual holes.. He's a skittish little thing, and hasn't rolled onto his side since I moved him into the hospital tank, so I'm working by memory. The "spots" didn't seem like some other damage/bites I've noticed on a previous fish in another tank. No other signs of spots or fin damage, and his colouring is otherwise normal. I'm really not sure what they are!

I tested the nitrite and nitrate levels just today. Nitrite read as 0.5ppm, and the nitrate level read as 220ppm.

 

[kerris]

Hello. I once had the same problem with my chinese algae eater. Turned out it was a SHE and laid eggs all over the glass in my aquarium. It took awhile but she recovered from this experience and healed without any problems. Could yours be eggbound ?

 

[plastic candy]

Hello. I once had the same problem with my chinese algae eater. Turned out it was a SHE and laid eggs all over the glass in my aquarium. It took awhile but she recovered from this experience and healed without any problems. Could yours be eggbound ?

Ohh.. that's very, very possible.

It's doing okay in the hospital tank and is eating algae wafers -- but I'll keep an eye out! Thanks for the heads up B)