Pearl gourami poo

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BettaMan2000

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I was with a friend today who's bought a pearl gourami, however when he got it home from the petshop, it seemed to have left a great deal of excrement in the bag, is this normal, or is he ill?

He's also got some small fish, I think danios, when he fed them today the danios ate all the food but the pearl just seemed to explore the lower ends of the tank, not sure if hes ill?

I'm a bit confused how you'd feed two very different kinds and sizes of fish, one will probably eat all the food and leave nothing for the others?

What do you think guys?
 
In honesty, all fish poo quite a lot when you purchase them. It's normally due to stress from being in a plastic bag for the journey home.

Most fish don't eat when they are in a new tank because they have to get used to their new environment. Your friends gourami is fine.

I also would like to note that in a week or two he will be eating all the food. Gouramis are quite a greedy fish. Also what is your friends water dimensions and parameters? I wouldn't worry about feeding. When the gourami feels like it he will eat some food.


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Thanks for that, not sure on his water parameters tbh, its not a massive tank though, probably about 70 litres I'd think but not sure.
 
Its not a massive tank though, probably about 70 litres I'd think but not sure.

This has give me second thoughts. Pearl gouramis need a minimum tank size of 30 gallons. Your friends pearl gourami is probably struggling in the tank that's why the gourami is acting strangely. Tell your friend that he needs to take the gourami back to his LFS or move him to a 30 gallon tank.




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I think heā€™s already thinking the same thing after the pearl power slammed one of his danios from the other side of the tank, Iā€™m still surprised that theyā€™re that violent!

The one heā€™s got is still a baby no more than two inches in length!

Heā€™s thinking some dwarf gouramis instead!

Iā€™ve got a similar tendency but my tanks only 54 litres so donā€™t know if I could support them!
 
I think heā€™s already thinking the same thing after the pearl power slammed one of his danios from the other side of the tank, Iā€™m still surprised that theyā€™re that violent!

The one heā€™s got is still a baby no more than two inches in length!

Yes all gouramis are big bully's and very territorial if you get a male. Pearl gouramis are better with fish there size. Anything smaller and they feel the need to hurt the smaller fish. Gouramis are a bit like bettas very feisty. Since the pearl is still a baby he will be fine in the 70l (for the time being) but the danios will be attacked 24/7.
I would move the pearl to a bigger tank so no fish gets hurt and then I would get some fish around the pearls size.
~Karen


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I think the bullying nature of its put us both off these pearls, heā€™s just going to return it to the pet shop, itā€™s a shame very eye catching fish!

I wonder if I could get a dwarf rainbow gourami and some honey gouramis for my 54 litre
 
If the friend's tank is only 70 litres, he needs to return the danios as well. They may be small but they are such active swimmers that they need much longer tanks than you'd think from the size of them. Seriously Fish says 90 cm/3 feet as a minimum length, but I'd say they need bigger than that.


No to a dwarf gourami AND honey gouramis. Not together. One or the other. And in 54 litres, just 1 male and 1 female honey gourami.
 
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Male Pearl Gourami in breeding mode are one of the most beautiful fish in the fresh water side of this hobby, My vote would be to re home everything from the 70 l and keep the Pearl maybe get him a girlfriend
 
Male Pearl Gourami in breeding mode are one of the most beautiful fish in the fresh water side of this hobby, My vote would be to re home everything from the 70 l and keep the Pearl maybe get him a girlfriend

Weā€™ve tried the girlfriend thing today with a female golden gourami, and he just absolutely battered her!

Only two fish in the tank, pearls deffo going back to the LFS!
 
No to a dwarf gourami AND honey gouramis. Not together. One or the other. And in 54 litres, just 1 male and 1 female honey gourami.

My tanks got even smaller fish, cardinal tetras, will a dwarf be ok with those or is it likely to go an a rampage like this pearl monster has?
 
When Nick said to get the pearl a girlfriend, he meant a female pearl gourami (Trichopodus leeri) not a gold gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus). In general, gourami species should not be mixed, and definitely not in a 70 litre (18 gall) tank. (This is why I said earlier that you should not have both dwarf and honey gouramis together in your tank)
And are you 100% certain the gold was female? If a shop worker told you it was, that is not a good indicator. I've heard a shop worker say that a neon blue male dwarf gourami was the female of the striped male dwarf gourami.
But the tank is on the small side for pearl gouramis and fish behave more aggressively if they are stressed such as by being kept in a tank that is too small. The recommended minimum for pearl gouramis is 36 inches/90 cm long, and if this 70 litre tank is tall rather than long it won't have the surface area needed for pearls.
Fast swimming fish such as danios also stress gouramis, another factor to make the pearl more aggressive than usual. Gouramis should be kept with sedate fish - those that 'pootle' around rather than dash around.


Dwarf gouramis do tend to be on the more aggressive side of the gourami spectrum (and pearls on the less aggressive side, for gouramis) so no-one could guarantee that a dwarf gourami would be OK with cardinals. But cardinals are not other gouramis, so it could be OK.
I have kept honey gouramis with sedate tetras with no problems. I currently have some with Espei's rasboras (close relatives of harlequins) and daisy's rice fish (Oryzias woworae).

One point to make - you'll find that some shops label honey gouramis as honey dwarf gouramis. This is mis-labelling. Honey gouramis (Trichogaster chuna) and dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) are not the same species.
 
Agree it's one or the other. I would just like to say that most dwarf gouramis carry a disease that is incurable. Also, considering you have quite a big tank I would go for 3 spot gouramis and bigger gouramis.


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There are two tanks under discussion in this thread.

The friend's tank with the pearl gourami problem is 70 litres = 18 gallons. This is not nearly big enough for one 3 spot gourami in any of its colour forms let alone 3.

The tank with the cardinals and possible dwarf gourami is 54 litres = 14 gallons, again far too small for 3 spot gouramis.
 

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