Greetings, New member here. I've been lurking for a while, and have gotten a lot of good info here, so thank you in advance for any help I receive here.

The reason I have joined today is because my dwarf Gourami has a sore on his head. I am not sure what it is, but he seems to be acting normal. He was introduced into the tank when I thought it had completed it's cycle. 2 days later my nitrites spiked. For a week now I have been doing constant water changes to keep nitrites lower than 2 ppm. Yesterday is when I noticed this sore, and as of today the nitrites are 0 ppm and nitrates ~20 ppm.

Here is a pic:
(please excuse the gravel color, it was my daughter's choice)



Thanks,
Kyle

Well if it was an oscar I would say hole in the head.
I am suspecting a parasite.
May be the others here have seen it before.

Welcome kyle,your very close to me!

As for the sore,do you have any sharp objects in the tank he may have brushed up against?

What size is his tank,what is the temp,and does he have tank mates?If so what are they?Do you have live plants or have you noticed flashing(scraping against objects)at all?How long and how did you acclimate him?Alot of silly questions but many things could have happened so this will help narrow down some things.

He looks pretty healthy except for that spot.And chance you could get us a better shot of it?

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

I'm hoping this is just an abrasion, but there are no sharp objects in the tank.

He is in a 25g Hex tank at 76 degrees along with 8 glofish, an algae eater and a snail. No live plants yet. I have seen him flash a couple of times now, but very very briefly. He was acclimated by floating the bag he came in and adding tank water gradually over the course of about :45- 1:00hr. The shot I posted was the clearest picture out of the ones I took, but I will try again tonight when I get home.

Thanks,
Kyle

Sounds good.Curious what type of algae eater?Please get a pic of him too,if possible.He could very easily have been itching and bumped his head but I want to be sure so if he needs it he can be medded.Do you have any aquarium salt?If not pick some up so you can treat the tank just to soothe him a little.A small dose should be ok with the snail,mine have always done fine with it.

__________________
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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

I will pick up some salt. How much is a small dose? The algae eater was just labeled "algae eater" at petsmart.

Here is another angle of the Gourami's sore. Not the best pic, but it does show the whole sore.



Here is the algae eater hiding in the treasure chest:

The spot looks more like a burn to me. And the algae eater looks like a cae.

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How exactly did you determine your cycle had completed? How long had it been that you introduced fish? 2ppm nitirites is too high. Change enough water to get you to at least 1ppm. Do 50% if you have to. Do you still have ammonia present? Are you using strips or liquid tests?

I put the dwarf gourami in about a week too soon. During that week, I was doing frequent water changes to keep the nitrites down. As of Monday, 11/14, the nitrites have dropped and stayed at 0. Ammonia is holding at 0 as well. I am using API liquid tests.

I bought some aquarium salt last night, and added less than a half dose. Will this be fine for the snail? Should I add more?

Thanks,
Kyle

How's he doing?

I'm a bit late on this, but you should google "dwarf gourami disease." Unfortunately treatment is usually (in my experience and that of many others) not successful, and it may not be what you've got, but it's good info to have anyway.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but the Gourami is doing well. The spot slowly turned to a darker color, then faded away. I don't know what it was, but all is well. The fish and I are very happy Thank you all very much!