Majjie
Fishaholic
I have three pearl gouramis - I was aiming for two females and one male but the ones available in fish shops are so small, it's difficult to tell the difference, and I think I've ended up with two males and a female.
I originally had aggressive Minnie (in my avatar) and wimpy Malcolm who were bullying each other relentlessly. I got Mabel to spread the aggression (as recommended by Sylvia - the unreliable books all say to keep pairs
) - but Malcolm died (I think he had other problems than Minnie - he had three ventral fins/feelers and was always very skinny). Minnie then bullied Mabel mercilessly - so I got Michael, a young but assertive male. Everything went well for a while with Michael in charge - but then Minnie
succumbed to a mystery bacterial infection that caused quite a few deaths amongst my fish in the summer.
That left assertive Michael to bully little Mabel - so I got Myrtle - and everything seemed fine for a while ......until I decided that I'd better rename Mabel - he's now called Marty!!
This is Michael
This is Michael chasing Myrtle
This is Myrtle
This is Marty
This is their tank - it's 70 litres (18.5 US gal). I've let the plants overgrow a bit in the hope that it'll reduce the aggression.
Michael has established his territory in the top left of the tank and chases the other two out of it. Marty seems to take pleasure in irritating Michael by constantly straying into this territory (you can just see him approaching in the pic). Myrtle (wise girl) tries to keep out of it by staying under or behind the bog wood. All come out at feeding time and seem quite healthy and happy (much more active than Minnie and Malcolm were). Michael gets very very angry - but at the moment takes out his anger on the platys and the guppies. He charges at them releasing lots of bubbles from his gills. If the room is quiet you can hear him attack - even when you're not looking. The platys and guppies don't seem to be suffering though - they just get out of the way.
My questions are:
Are Michael and Marty both boys? They both have frilly ends to their anal fins (especially Michael) and long dorsal fins but neither show much colour (in the way that Malcolm did) and Michael has quite a deep body.
Is it usual for a pearl gourami to be so agressive to non gourami tank mates?
I'm planning to get a bigger tank and introduce two more females - but it won't be for a while yet. Are Michael and Marty likely to start some serious fighting soon?
Any opinions and suggestions welcome. Thanks
I originally had aggressive Minnie (in my avatar) and wimpy Malcolm who were bullying each other relentlessly. I got Mabel to spread the aggression (as recommended by Sylvia - the unreliable books all say to keep pairs


That left assertive Michael to bully little Mabel - so I got Myrtle - and everything seemed fine for a while ......until I decided that I'd better rename Mabel - he's now called Marty!!

This is Michael

This is Michael chasing Myrtle

This is Myrtle

This is Marty


This is their tank - it's 70 litres (18.5 US gal). I've let the plants overgrow a bit in the hope that it'll reduce the aggression.

Michael has established his territory in the top left of the tank and chases the other two out of it. Marty seems to take pleasure in irritating Michael by constantly straying into this territory (you can just see him approaching in the pic). Myrtle (wise girl) tries to keep out of it by staying under or behind the bog wood. All come out at feeding time and seem quite healthy and happy (much more active than Minnie and Malcolm were). Michael gets very very angry - but at the moment takes out his anger on the platys and the guppies. He charges at them releasing lots of bubbles from his gills. If the room is quiet you can hear him attack - even when you're not looking. The platys and guppies don't seem to be suffering though - they just get out of the way.
My questions are:
Are Michael and Marty both boys? They both have frilly ends to their anal fins (especially Michael) and long dorsal fins but neither show much colour (in the way that Malcolm did) and Michael has quite a deep body.
Is it usual for a pearl gourami to be so agressive to non gourami tank mates?
I'm planning to get a bigger tank and introduce two more females - but it won't be for a while yet. Are Michael and Marty likely to start some serious fighting soon?
Any opinions and suggestions welcome. Thanks