Pearl Gouramis Shy - Possibly Being Attacked?

[Jonno]

Hi there,

I bought 2 female gouramis 3 days ago now and they don't seem to be very active at all. One is constantly sitting behind a rock near the substrate, the other behind all of my java fern. One of them appears to have shorter whiskers than the other (the one thats behind the rock), could they have been nipped off by my other fish?

Tank stocking is below. I have however read that they are compatible with my stock.

Jonno.

PS: my rosy barbs are quote boystress, perhaps these are to blame!?

 

[Andypalf]

I recently added a large male gourami to my tank. He did take about a week or so to settle in but he's fine now. He's not shy of me or the other fish and competes for food confidently. Although I haven't ever owned barbs but they could be intimidating them. My advice is to give it a few more days to see how they get on. I'm sure the gourami experts might know more.

 

[Ragtatter]

Pearl Gouramis, in my limited experience, tend to be very shy when first introduced to a new tank. I added two males and a female (accidentally mis-sexed the younger male--thought he was a chick) to my zebra-danio filled tank a while back, and they spent the first week hiding from the danios under the plants. However, after some time passed, they got used to their hyperactive tankmates and now float along at midlevel, completely ignoring the danios' antics.

I wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment. If they're still acting shy after two or three weeks, or their fins are starting to show signs of damage, then there's a chance that your barbs have been harassing them. Still, my advice is to give them a little more time to see if they come out of their shells.

 

[Majjie]

I'd agree that pearl gouramis are shy in new tanks. I had two males that were fighting in a 70 litre tank ... but when they were eventually transferred to a 300 litre tank and met a largish angelfish for the first time ... they both went and hid under the filter - together! They came out the next day - but were still wary of the angelfish for a couple of weeks.

Keep a close eye on them though. Stressed pearl gouramis develop more slime than usual and look as if they have a pale whitish covering over their scales. They can also rock back and forward on the spot when they're upset.

 

[confusion]

I had 2 pearls in a 55G tank for about 6 months, and they spent all day, except for feeding time, next to each other behind the filter discharge, out of sight. When I got my 125G tank, they are all over the place. I don't understand why they hid in the 55G tank and not the new one. I think they are very uncomfortable in some situations.