Pearl Gourami Very Shy

[neo83]

Hello Everyone

I have added a male pearl gourami 36 hours ago on sunday. He is very very shy and have never seen such a shy fish in my 2 months of fish keeping He was hiding at the bottom on the right side of the tank and he seems to be spooked by me even when i slight poke my head towards where he is two feet away. How does he even see my slight movement? Anyways, i shot a video of him last night and he seemed to move about a little at the back of the tank. Could you please have a look and advice as to if he is looking healthy or not please? He hasn't eaten yesterday as far as i have seen.

Tank Details:
Fluval Roma 125 - 125 litre - 33 US Gallons
0 NH3, 0 NO2, around 40ppm NO3 ( 35ppm from my tap water )
20-35% water change every week
Temp: 25 C
pH: 7.6
Filtration: Fluval 305 external filter

Plants: 4 Amazon Swords, 3 Crypt Wendtii, 1 Crypt Becketii, Red & Green Hygrophila, Vallis Torta, Java fern. java moss, pygmy chain swords

Other Fish:

1 Bolivian ram male
pair of apistogramma viejita
3 platys
4 guppies
3 otos (will add one more)
10 Harlequin Rasbora
1 pearl gourami (new addition)

Appreciate your time.

Thanks

 

[KittyKat]

He is a healthy fish, from what I can see, but it looks like the current in your tank is too strong for him. I used to have a 305 in a 200 litre tank with good results, but I would imagine that in a 125 litre tank it would be sweeping more delicate fish away. Most gouramis originate from relatively still waters, which is why they have developed the ability to breathe air directly.

By the way, I saw some harlequin rasboras in your video, but they are not in your stock list.

 

[neo83]

He is a healthy fish, from what I can see, but it looks like the current in your tank is too strong for him. I used to have a 305 in a 200 litre tank with good results, but I would imagine that in a 125 litre tank it would be sweeping more delicate fish away. Most gouramis originate from relatively still waters, which is why they have developed the ability to breathe air directly.

By the way, I saw some harlequin rasboras in your video, but they are not in your stock list.

Thanks Kitty kat. Can't believe i forgot to list the harlequins (added them now). I'm currently experimenting with the output nozzle on the filter making sure it's as low as it can be. It's half-way pointed towards to the side wall. The plants seem to be swaying slowly, but i'll sure keep an eye on the current and probably completely point the output towards the wall. BTW, harlequins seem to love playing in the output current. All ten of them go near the nozzle and they make an effect of fighter jets moving forward, climb up and sway back quickly in the current and fall back in line again. They are not doing this always though, so it seems they are happy playing in the current.

Happy the hear that the gourami looks healthy. I'm hoping he's just shy because he is new to the tank and hoping he'll eat tonight.

Thanks

 

[Carlovel1]

Its normal, when I got my trio of Pearl Gouramis, they were very shy. If I looked them, they would immediately realize and swim to the back of the tank. A few months later, they were much more confident and they would let me hand feed them. This applies to almost all species of Gourami. As for eyesight, Gouramis have excellent eyesight
Carl

 

[neo83]

Its normal, when I got my trio of Pearl Gouramis, they were very shy. If I looked them, they would immediately realize and swim to the back of the tank. A few months later, they were much more confident and they would let me hand feed them. This applies to almost all species of Gourami.

Thanks Carl. Glad to report that he is coming out a bit more when i watch from a mile away and he ate yesterday as well

As for eyesight, Gouramis have excellent eyesight
Carl

Sure he does. Even in the faint light of dawn, he seems to 'see' me tiptoeing near him

 

[umpsfar]

@ 38-39 seconds did i see a big white stringy poo?
i love pearls , he just looks a little lost and lonely , my pearl got on kinda well with my dwarf, but the dwarf was just a bit to aggresive sometimes, but when i added an extra pearl to alleviate that i really saw their personalities come out, they would chase each other very fast around the tank(no nipping or headbutting) after a month or two the dwarf got lonely from being left out.

 

[neo83]

@ 38-39 seconds did i see a big white stringy poo?

i didn't notice that till now . May be its the camcorder video which is washed out i dont know. But the apisto seems happy and will have a look at it tonight, assuming it will poo when i'm watching her.

i love pearls , he just looks a little lost and lonely , my pearl got on kinda well with my dwarf, but the dwarf was just a bit to aggresive sometimes, but when i added an extra pearl to alleviate that i really saw their personalities come out, they would chase each other very fast around the tank(no nipping or headbutting) after a month or two the dwarf got lonely from being left out.

I'm currently almost at my stocking level. I'm looking at giving away the four guppies i have as i'm not a big fan of them. Once i manage to do that, i'll get a female for the pearl.

Just to update though, he is not the shy one anymore and wanders everywhere in the tank. He goes over to both the apisto and bolivian's territories and more often than not will not budge no matter what the cichlids do

 

[Too Fast]

I'm sure your mind has been put to rest all ready but to add my story. I put a pair of Pearl Gourami's in my tank 4 weeks ago. They were increadibly shy until last week and are now coming around. I never saw them eat until a couple of days ago but I did put cucumber in overnight about once a week for my bristlenoses and knew that if the Gouramis were hungry enough they could always have some of that in the dark when i'm not aroundThey are reaaly starting to spend alot of time out on view now so i'm happy.

 

[neo83]

Thanks Too Fast. Yes, i'm very much enjoying my gourami since day 2 actually. After the initial day of extreme shyness when it started to eat the second day, i was at ease. He doesnt run away from me anymore and try to feel my hand by his feelers when i put some cucumber in the tank for the otos. He is such a lovely addition to the tank with apisto and bolivian. Luckily he is slightly bigger than the bolivian which gives him less stress i suppose when they try to chase him. He swims all around the tank and 90% of the time would not budge whatever aggression the bolivian or the apisto male show towards him. I'm planning to get a female for him once i can get rid of the guppies, but just a bit concerned that a breeding pair of gouramis, apisto and ram might cause an issue to the harlequins. Can anyone advice on that please?

Thanks