Male Or Female Pearl Gouramis?

[Byron]

 

 

Found a seller on eBay for the water sprite that Byron suggests. I bought some but they are in melted. One plant(out of 4) has a couple of tiny sprouts. But the seller is sending me more.

He was really great to work with. I just hope these new ones come in better!http/www.ebay.com/itm/Broad-Leaf-Water-Sprite-Live-Antler-Fern-Aquarium-Plant-Ceratopteris-cornuta-/222167691144?
Also, water lettuce seems to be doing nicely in my tanks as well. I'm getting runners and the beginnings of root systems starting and it's only been a week! You may try that for floating. They have alot of that on eBay too(most call it dwarf water lettuce). Good luck plant hunting!

 
Leave the Water Sprite floating in a normal tank (by normal, I mean heated, light, etc) and it should recover.  This is a delicate plant and it does not like changes in the environment, but given time it usually re-establishes.  If you have success with Water Lettuce, your Water Sprite should be fine too.

Thanks Byron! The water sprite came in mostly melted. If it had come in green and melted in the tank I wouldn't have worried. hopefully the little sprout will survive and the new ones he is sending will survive shipping this time and begin to thrive once in the tank.
 


 
It does not like being shipped either.  I mailed some to a couple other aquarists in Canada, and although it looked gone when they received it, it did recover.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Awesome to know that. Thanks for the tips!

 

[BeckyCats]

So, enough time has passed to see that they are all male.
One of them was killed by the others I believe. He showed no signs of illness, just missing scales from where the others had pecked at him. So now I have 4 beautiful, grumpy pearl gouramis. The largest, the one I call The Boss, is quite the bully and stalks the others, not allowing them much rest. There are plenty of places to hide, but he periodically hunts through all of the hiding spots, rooting out the others and forcing them to flee. I don't think this a healthy situation for them. It looks different from the occasional chases of the tetras sorting out their disputes. This looks more serious to me.

I have been asking everyone I know if they have aquariums but no luck. There is an aquarium at work but there have been so many problems with illness in that tank, that I dare not bring any of my fish there to live. Besides, the water is much harder in that town than my water, which is very soft. Hubs is still not open to another tank (space issues - or at least he thinks there are space issues). So I am stuck with the options of keeping them all in their present 55g (208 liter?) or rehoming 2 or 3 of them. I could ask the folks at the LFS that I really like to see if any of the store employees want them. The fish people there are pretty good and I would trust any of them with my babies. I think that is what I will do. What do you think?

On another note, my water sprite has seriously taken off. It is HUGE now and has to be frequently pruned. Now that it is established, it is indeed fast-growing.