Pearl Gourami In A 20 Gal

[alphabetic]

Will a Pearl Gourami be comfortable in a 20 gallon (high) tank? It's an Aqua One AR510, currently stocked with 6 Neons.

 

[scooterchick]

Not really. I had my male pearl (fully grown) in a nearly 20 gal as a temporary measure for a few weeks and he looked miserable and visibly too big.

 

[Biulu]

What is the length of your tank? Normally you can have 1 gourami/10 gallons. Theoretically you could have 2, but since it is a high tank, I would not do this. They like to swim horizontally, and not vertically. If your tank is at least 50 cm long, one pearl shouldn't be a problem.

 

[nion]

For what it's worth, I have a 20gal wide and a pearl gourami who seems just fine. He/she's been in there since late January/February.

 

[darkleo]

A friend of mine recommended having more than 3 pearls - he says they are a schooling fish.

 

[alphabetic]

Sorry for failing to reply, as I ruled this idea out shortly after. However, I'm anticipating a much larger tank in future, so I'm backtracking to some earlier enquiries. I saw several healthy and beautiful Pearls today at my LFS for the first time, and just adored them!

What is the length of your tank? Normally you can have 1 gourami/10 gallons. Theoretically you could have 2, but since it is a high tank, I would not do this. They like to swim horizontally, and not vertically. If your tank is at least 50 cm long, one pearl shouldn't be a problem.

The tank is 51Lx34Wx56H cm (height includes the hood - substitute that for approx 41 cm from substrate surface to water level, which equates to roughly 16 inches).

 

[Biulu]

That makes around 97 litres and with the substrate (15 cm seems quite a lot to me!) 71 litres. It is a pity the tank is not a normal lengthwise one, because the volume itself is sufficient for a trio of pearls, but because of the height, there is not enough horizontal space for them to lay out their territories.

In itself there is no problem in keeping 1 pearl by itself (of course with other fish!), but the male's orange throat gets so much more beautiful once there are females around! Darkleo's comments that they are shoalers is not true.

I think that for a high tank like yours, I would try to use optimally the 3 layers that you have. Such as a group of small loaches or cories for the bottom, a nice shoaler for the mid section including a pair of central american cichlids, and for the top some killis, hatchetfish or other topdwellers. In this way you can use the space of your tank optimally, and none of the fish bother each other.

If you have a tank of around 80 cms long or more, you would be able to keep a trio of pearls.

 

[alphabetic]

Sorry, I should have expressed myself better! The height of the entire tank is 56 cm - the hood itself is approx 11cm in height as it houses the lights and filter system. The water level sits just below it, hence the 41 cm estimate given (water level from substrate surface).

Thanks for the advice

 

[poopsydrew]

Will a Pearl Gourami be comfortable in a 20 gallon (high) tank? It's an Aqua One AR510, currently stocked with 6 Neons.

A pair of pearls in a 20 gal is fine. I would lose the neons as they might frighten them. Pearls are not a fast moving fish and do not swim about the tank much.

Drew

 

[kittycat12]

i got 2 pearls in a 80gal with some green severums and 2 silver dollars