A Very Shy Male Pearl Gourami

[Nosnibor]

Hi All,

Just need some advice on something.

I have in my tank 2 Pearl Gouramis as well as others (see in my sig), one male and one female. The only thing is, the male one is so shy. He constantly hides behind a large bog wood and is so watchful it's amazing really. I have been working from home a few times and whilst sitting down for a couple of hours working on my laptop or reading, I slowly turn my head and I see him some out and he and the female are so wonderful together it is incredible (see below). The male came out and the female chased him everywhere but you could tell he loved it - I managed to slowly grab my camera and bolt on the 150mm lens to get in as close as I could from so far away The sad thing is, as soon as he sees me or my partner looking he hides. He has the most amazing eyesight, all we have to do is just look around the side to where he hides and even when he has his back to us he will turn instantly and stick his rudders in reverse.

Anyway, my question is if there is any techniques for us to bring him out of this shyness? If we introduced another male would it help and bring out the male or would it make things worse, or even would the new male also hide?

Any advice from anyone would be gratefully received.

Thanks guys, and now the photos of the female in hot pursuit in the first 2 photos, chasing around in circles and finally doing an amazing kissing show. They weren't aggressive at all and very loving (if that doesn't sound too weird)

Cheers
Martin

 

[ArauraDiscus]

I have gouramies as well with the same problem. They are cptenoma accoustrie (sp?) Or african leopard gouramies. One will come eat out of my hand and the other will hide in an ornamnet the second I come near the tank. He almost never comes out. What I do is try to hand feed many of my fish, and as he watches them, he will see that I am only there to help. Eventually you can break his shyness. A way to help this is to remove the hiding spots for him as well and start feeding the other fish, he will be forced to watch you show that you are the bearer of food.

 

[TayTay]

Araura, I actually find that adding more hiding spots and plants helps break a fishes shyness. After I put in more plants into my 29 gallon, my pygmy cories started coming out alot and playing, when they used to just hide behind the plants all day. Oh well, either way, as long as your fish are healthy and thriving, then I suggest you leave them alone, but then that's just my 2 cents.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Yeah don't believe for any second that I am an expert on the subject of breaking a fishes shyness. I'm sure theres many ways and yours may work just as well or better. I was just throwing out there what I thought might work. It's always open for some tweaking.

 

[TayTay]

Oh, sorry if I came on a little strong there. I didn't mean to offend or anything..........

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Dont worry about it.

 

[fmervin]

Sorry, newbie here so not much help with your question

I managed to slowly grab my camera and bolt on the 150mm...

Just wanted to add that these are some amazing pics Just out of curiosity which camera do you use? Great pics

 

[Nosnibor]

Sorry, newbie here so not much help with your question

I managed to slowly grab my camera and bolt on the 150mm...

Just wanted to add that these are some amazing pics Just out of curiosity which camera do you use? Great pics

Why thank you very much sir, appreciate it. I don't have anything far too fancy, it's an Olympus E-500. I've been waiting for a Tripod (Manfrotto) to come available in ebay, I won it and it should be arriving any day soon. I will then be able to set up the camera with a slower exposure and just sit and wait.

I was lucky with the shots above as I was sitting on the sofa reading and just popped my head over the back. I could then rest the camera on the back of the sofa and didn't have to worry too much about camera shake.

The Olympus E-500 is a really reasonably priced camera, I couldn't offord much at the time so I bought the kit with just one lens and no battery charger etc, then I just bought the extras as I saved the money

There is a thread somewhere on the forum regarding taking shots of your fish and I'm planning on reading it again when the tripod arrives as it had some great techniques when I read it last.

Thanks again and hope the answer wasn't too long

Martin