Very Shy Gold Gourami

[Jen]

My boyfriend has a 35 gal tank with 4 gold gourami, a few harlequins and a pretty standard clean up crew. It is nicely planted with a giant sword and a bunch of hygro. There is lots of hiding room, but also a decent amount of swimming room.

They have never been active since he got them about 6 months ago. Sometimes it's hard to tell he even has any in there...somehow they find ways to be invisible. In his words 'they are so skittish they scare themselves when they're not hiding. They only come out when there is nothing going on. They get scared over nothing and disappear again'.

It's not a water quality issue as he changes regularly, and they have always been like this. What could be another reason for them to be so shy? He is getting fed up with them and is getting to the point where he wants to get rid of them, which I would like to avoid as they are beautiful fish.

 

[Biulu]

I am very surprised to hear this as this type of gouramis is normally quite bold and known to chase sometimes other fish. First of all: what is the sex of your gouramis? Are they all in hiding or is there a so-called dominant one that comes out regularly?
Are the gouramis all in a different corner of the tank or do they huddle together? I guess they will do the first as these are territorial fish, and each will choose their own corner...