Would These Be Compatable

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Dana C

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I have a juwel rio 180 which I think is about 50 gallons and has had fish in for about 3 months. I would like to get a couple of pearl gourami after somebody on here suggested them and then I saw them and thought they looked great.
I need to know if they will be ok with the fish I already have and if not what would be good instead.
I have
3 albino cories
2 platies
6 leopard danios
4 neon tetras
All comments would be good
Thanks
 
Sylvia is probably the best person to answer this. I believe the Pearls stay reasonably small (about 4inches) and are one of the more peaceable gourami. They like alot of heavy vegitation to play and hide in. You may find the danios could upset them if they are anything like mine as they're very active fish and prone to fin nipping. I don't think the pearls would munch the neons, but I may be wrong there. :S
Am sure Sylvia will come and correct my mistakes soon tho. :lol:
Hugs,
P.
 
Thanks for your reply, I have no idea which fish are compatable so the more answers the better.
 
:)

Your tank's 45 gallons (approximately).

If you get pearls, a trio would be best - 1 male, 2 females.

The fish you've listed are compatible with pearls (I suggest getting a few more neons though) but danios aren't realy the best fish to put in with top-dwelling species because they compete for space and can irritate some fish. Having said that, plant the tank heavily, add some floating plants, and they'll all get along. The tank's deffinately big enough for everyone :thumbs:.
 
Thanks for your advice, I'm glad I can get the pearls as they are really nice and wanted them as the main fish in my tank. Is it easy to tell the males and females apart then I can check before I buy that I get the right ones.
 
Yep - very simple. However, it can be a slightly trickier when they are young. With adult fish, males have an orange-red throat/ventral area, extended fin rays and a longer dorsal fin. Younger fish, or fish stressed at your LFS, may lack the bright orange and, if young, won't have the extended fin rays. They will have a longer and pointier dorsal fin, instead, however. You can also tell, by looking at body shape, which are males and which are females. females are deeper-bodied and look wider if you look down at them from above when compared to the slimmer, more stream-lined males. The 'fatter' bellies in the females become even mroe pronounced at maturity as the fish fill up with eggs. Also, mature males are larger than their female counterparts.

I'll look for some good pics on google.com and link to them in a minute :)

Here's a pic of relatively mature fish at an LFS. See if you can spot the males... Note that they are not as brightly colored as they would be if they were comfortably settled into their tank: http://www.aquarticles.com/images/Fish%20S...ourami%20d6.jpg
A pair of them: http://www.aquahobby.com/mleeri.html Note that females do not always have white throats and can often have quite an orange coloration (though not compaired to the males) and quite dark olive coloration.
A selection of pics: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/gallery/antiban/leeri.html First 2 are both males - note difference in color. The next is of a stunning pair. The next is of 2 females and the one after that another pair.
 
Good pics Sylvia. Ah tis a simple job really unless they're young. Am only really beginning to tell some of the 3 spot older males from females now. Mind you they are only 3 months old. :*)
Hugs,
P.
 
Thanks for your help, hopefully they will be able to tell the difference between males and females in the shop. Great pictures they are now definatly the fish I will be getting.
 
Warning - don't ever trust an LFS. Some are pretty good - most are not. It is highly unlikely that they'll be able to tell the sexes for you - even if they claim they can.
 
I will make sure I study the fish in the shop and see if I can tell the difference before I ask for help, thanks for the advice.
 

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