Loaches Online Forum

Hi all,
I posted a few weeks back since I set up my new 75 gallong tank. I ended up removing some fish and pretty much have the same crew I had before, only in a smaller tank.....but my gourami has developed some wierd pimple thing on his side, a tiny bit behind his gill! He's acting mostly normal, bossing everyone around, so I thought maybe he got into a fight with someone or something (he got into it with the algea eater before,) and tried to look up what this could be and what medication I need, but I really don't know a good place to research this stuff. Today, I noticed he's got darker spots on his head too.......they are blue, and he's an opaline gourami, so I'm not sure if his color's just off or it's actually something wrong. Can someone send me in the right direction? I've had everyone for several years they are treasured family members, so don't want my gourami to die and I'm worried about everyone else in the tank and know that loaches are sensitive to medications so figured it was best to ask here?

Could you post a picture? Might help with diagnosis.

Set up a hospital tank to medicate. This offers less risk to the main tank fish and bacteria and is cheaper to medicate a smaller tank (hospital tanks are often about 10 gallons).

For various 'spots' on the fish, look up
Lymphocystis
Parasites
Glugea

There are probably other things it could be, too, including injury from a fight, especially if the other fish had some sort of spine that could have poked the Gourami. Cats and Loaches have such spines.

Thank you for responding. I needed direction identifing the illness.
It turns out, it really just was a battle wound. My gourami's a bit of a bruiser and doesn't know when to stop. Last time the Chinese algea eater left a nice mark on his face.....I suspect this wound could have been one of my pleco's spines. In any case....it's healing up quickly and nicely and everyone in the tank is happy and healthy. Thank you for taking the time to respond though.