Pearl Gourami

[Cinnebuns]

I just noticed this red spot on my pearl gourami's pectoral fin. Looks like an injury to me but idk. There is 3 of them in this tank. 2f and 1m. The male is the recent addition as of about 2 weeks ago. Recently they all colored up which I took to mean they were all in the mood. Maybe loving got out of hand?  I have also just now noticed that instead of hanging out with the ladies like he usually does, he is chilling in the upper right corner. Maybe avoiding them?  

Some background:  it is only a 29 gallon so maybe territory issues already. I have plans to rehome the trio. 2 of the 3 are not full sized so it's working for now but of course will not work forever. I got the full sized female several months ago. She came with another female and male who did not make it in shipment. She was very depressed until I got her another which was the young female about 1-2 months ago. Then, I was part of a rescue situation which involved this male. We thought at first he was young since he is small but the lady said she's had him for 2 years. He also displays some breeding behavior so I assume he's possibly stunted. 

Any ideas to help resolve this are welcome. Ty. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/8/2023 at 8:11 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Some background:  it is only a 29 gallon so maybe territory issues already. I have plans to rehome the trio. 2 of the 3 are not full sized so it's working for now but of course will not work forever. I got the full sized female several months ago. She came with another female and male who did not make it in shipment. She was very depressed until I got her another which was the young female about 1-2 months ago. Then, I was part of a rescue situation which involved this male. We thought at first he was young since he is small but the lady said she's had him for 2 years. He also displays some breeding behavior so I assume he's possibly stunted. 

Not something I'm familiar with, but I have seen others post fish with some sort of similar injury.  The pectoral fin looks like it has some freying on the edge.  I would monitor it, dose salt if you can (or move to QT and dose it there).

Something you mentioned, I saw a lot with my barbs, the subdominant male or females that were a little beat up did tend to stay away from the group until they could recover a little bit.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:21 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Not something I'm familiar with, but I have seen others post fish with some sort of similar injury.  The pectoral fin looks like it has some freying on the edge.  I would monitor it, dose salt if you can (or move to QT and dose it there).

Something you mentioned, I saw a lot with my barbs, the subdominant male or females that were a little beat up did tend to stay away from the group until they could recover a little bit.

Something I did learn from a gourami group on Facebook is that in pearl gourami, unlike some other fish species, the pecking order has to be established between all members, not just the males. Interactions I've seen before, the male and the younger female seem to be the ones trying to establish that order. Maybe something got out of hand with that and he lost. She does seem to be the one on top during most interactions between the 2. The larger, full-sized female seems very secure in her position and doesn't bother either one of them. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Cinnebuns