Would keeping only 2 males be an option?

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

Hi, I posted on another thread that one of my female pearl gourami died last night due to bullying of my other pearl gourami.

.The 2 males are now being very mean to the female so I think it might end up the same way as it did for the small female gourami that passed away. Would keeping 2 males be a good option? It's a 4ft tank (55 gallon) so they have space for territories . I would just be scared that they fight a lot when the smaller male will be mature, would this probably happen? It's weird how my 2 males get along together better than the males with the females. I will keep a close eye on the situation this week...

Salty&Onion · Jul 7, 2020

Two males alone will not get on well together, they will get territorial and aggressive to each other. Maybe its a sign that maybe pearls aren't for you?

Byron · Jul 7, 2020

This is rather odd, but perhaps understandable. The males are probably showing more interest in the females for obvious reasons, and if the females are not ready, not good. I can't see two males getting along at all, if they are both male (?). With all this trouble, it might be best to re-home all but the dominant male, and keep him. ?

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

Byron said:
This is rather odd, but perhaps understandable. The males are probably showing more interest in the females for obvious reasons, and if the females are not ready, not good. I can't see two males getting along at all, if they are both male (?). With all this trouble, it might be best to re-home all but the dominant male, and keep him. ?

I think you are right, if the males continue to harass the female I will rehome the small male and the female. I hope I won't have to but I think it's the best solution. Oh and yes the 2 males are defenitly 2 males, there is no hesitation.

PheonixKingZ · Jul 7, 2020

I’m sorry for your loss...

Will you please upload a picture of the two fish? Just so she can know for sure. (It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just always better to have a second opinion.

)

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

PheonixKingZ said:
I’m sorry for your loss...

Will you please upload a picture of the two fish? Just so she can know for sure. (It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just always better to have a second opinion. )

First picture is the dominant male (sorry, these are not good pictures)

Byron · Jul 7, 2020

Meg0000 said:
First picture is the dominant male (sorry, these are not good pictures)

I concur the first is a male, but photo 2 is a female, I'm fairly certain. If these are the two that "get along," that makes sense now.

Colin_T · Jul 7, 2020

I reckon the second pic could be a young male. Females have a rounded dorsal fin and the fish in the pic has a semi pointy dorsal fins. The anal fin is also bigger than it should be for a female and has little filaments on the edge.

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

Byron said:
I concur the first is a male, but photo 2 is a female, I'm fairly certain. If these are the two that "get along," that makes sense now.

Do females get bright orange chest? my picture is not good as I said so it might be difficult to see... I would really like if it turns out to be a female but I really doubt it, the dorsal fin is quite long for a female.

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

Colin_T said:
I reckon the second pic could be a young male. Females have a rounded dorsal fin and the fish in the pic has a semi pointy dorsal fins. The anal fin is also bigger than it should be for a female and has little filaments on the edge.

That's pretty much what I tought but would it even be possible for a female pearl gourami to look like that? when I compare to picture on internet, the fish looks defenitly like a male.

Colin_T · Jul 7, 2020

Females don't normally get an orange chest, although some females might show a bit of pale orange or yellow along the edge of the chest. But it is nowhere near as bright or cover as much area as the males have.

Females don't normally have long fins with filaments but in this day and age with Asian breeders mutating everything, there might be some females with slightly longer fins or more colour. However, going off original gouramis and what they used to look like 30 years ago, I would say they are both males.

If the fish are full grown (4-5 inches long), you might have a pair. But if they are small (2-3 inches), then you probably have 2 males.

Meg0000 · Jul 7, 2020

Colin_T said:
Females don't normally get an orange chest, although some females might show a bit of pale orange or yellow along the edge of the chest. But it is nowhere near as bright or cover as much area as the males have.

Females don't normally have long fins with filaments but in this day and age with Asian breeders mutating everything, there might be some females with slightly longer fins or more colour. However, going off original gouramis and what they used to look like 30 years ago, I would say they are both males.

If the fish are full grown (4-5 inches long), you might have a pair. But if they are small (2-3 inches), then you probably have 2 males.

Thanks for your help, the smallest is about 3 inch and the biggest 3 inch and a half so I really think they are both males. They are very agressive at feeding time and then they are really more agressive than usual for around 2 hours after. Is there a way I can help so they are less agressive because of food? I usually feed them all at the same place in the aquarium for around 2 min or a little less.

Meg0000 · Jul 9, 2020

In the last 2 days everything was okay, there was no constant chasing and I fed the fish at different places so there was less agressivity

Meg0000 · Jul 17, 2020

I can now say that my tank is relaxing! The last 2-3 months were quite stressful, some fish died, the gouramis were agressive, the corydoras were stressed because they were not enough and there was something wrong with my aquascape. I fixed the aquascape and I like it a lot! I can see how well it will mature and what details I want to add in the futur. All the other stressful stuff are now also fixed

I will attach a picture, the pennyworth on the left is there to provide shade to the java fern until the vallisneria grow over it and I have enough frogbit. I might also add a bigger peice of wood to the left with just a little bit of helantium tellenum on the foreground and more on the right side.

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Would keeping only 2 males be an option?

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