Is A Pearl Gourami Suitable

[Andypalf]

My new tank has had fish in it for about two weeks now and I think the next addition is going to be a Pearl Gourami, but I have a couple questions I hope someone can help me with.

The tank is 125L and I currently have 6 guppies and two very young Ancistrus. I wanted to get one/two fish that are larger than the others and hopefully a bit more stunning that your average. After looking around I think the most suitable is a Pearl Gourami. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Can I get just one male pearl? Will be be happy without any females to chase/impress? IN the future I'm hoping to get a couple Zebra Danios and I think then my community will be complete. How does this sound to everyone?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Biulu]

No problem keeping a pearl gourami on its own. Your tank however is big enough to keep a trio (1 male:2 females) if you would like too. Even with a school of zebra danios you would still be on the safe stocking side.

 

[SouthernCross]

Not to mention if you get some girls in there, your male will work really hard to impress them - which means extra-brilliant colours. Well worth it in my experience, I really noticed a difference when I added females.

 

[Andypalf]

Can I get One male and one female? Simply because I have ideas about other fish I want to stock that tnak with.

 

[SouthernCross]

You can, but she will be chased by him a lot (although I don't think pearls are as nasty in that respect as other species - my boy does like quite a bit of time to himself in his corner). The idea of having two females to a male is to divide his time between them so just one isn't getting constantly harassed - each gets a rest.

 

[Andypalf]

Well it looks like Pearls Gouramis are definately for me. I'm going to pop to the LFS this week and get one male and one female. I'll see how they get on for a week or two and if the poor girl is getting hounded non-stop I'll add another female.

Before I do, does anyone have any alternative suggestions. I'm always keen to hear peoples ideas.

Cheers