Pearl Gouramis

[Ally555]

With the help of many tff members I recently restocked my 90 litre tank. (See my other thread here.)

My worry now is that I may have 2 male pearl gouramis. I was told to get either 1 male and 1 female or 2 females. I thought I had 2 females, but I'm now thinking that they're both males.

My current stocking is:
2 pearl gouramis
7 glowlight tetras
5 bronze corys
(Need to get another glowlight and cory)

There's a pic on the other thread of the 2 pearls and I'll try to get some updated pics soon.

If you read the last page or so of my other thread you will see the problems I'm having with my pearls.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Hi Ally... those are 2 very young Mosaics (Pearls) you have there & it is hard to tell at that age.... At a guess, I'd say the front fish is a male and the rear one... well.... could be anything.

Pearls are one of those Gouramies where you can rely on the dorsal fin "telltale" method of sexing them. The male has a definite elongated dorsal fin in comparrison to the females', but then they should be about adult to distinguish.

 

[Ally555]

Thanks for your help. I will try to get some more pics up later today. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pics of the pearl in the back.

 

[Ally555]

Here are some more pics. They aren't the best quality, but I doubt I'll be able to get any better ones. The first pic is of the pearl that you thought was a male and the second is of the other one.

The male (???) pearl gourami

The unknown pearl gourami (the one that's fully in the picture, not the one that is half in it)

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I'm inclined to say this is a female.

 

[Ally555]

I'm inclined to say this is a female.

Does that mean you think it is a female? If it's a female then why is the male chasing it constantly?

 

[Ally555]

The smaller pearl (the female - if that's what it is) is still getting chased by the larger pearl (the male). Will the male stop chasing the 'female'? I am afraid that 'she' might be getting stressed.

I've noticed that when they go near each other they both stick out their bottom fin (don't know what it's called, but the one that is getting orange colouring on it). It's kind of hard to explain, but they make the fin look bigger by stretching it out. As I said it is hard to explain, but it sort of reminds me of the way betta's flare.

I'm not sure if that made any sense, but hopefully somebody will know what I'm talking about.

 

[Ally555]

I need somebody's opinion. My gouramis are still not getting along. The larger one (male?) is chasing the smaller one whenever it's in view. So the smaller pearl is forced to sit on the gravel all day behind plants. As it's constantly hiding it doesn't really get the chance to eat anything. I'm thinking that it would be better to just take the smaller one back to my lfs, where someone else would hopefully be able to give it a better life. What do you guys think?

 

[AdamM]

they could very well be both male, and the larger one is asserting its dominance, if this is the case either:

A. Take one of them back

or

B. Get more (males only) to spread the aggresion and form a pecking order


just my opinion...

 

[Ally555]

they could very well be both male, and the larger one is asserting its dominance, if this is the case either:

A. Take one of them back

or

B. Get more (males only) to spread the aggresion and form a pecking order


just my opinion...

Firstly, thanks for the reply. I appreciate your opinion.

I think I will be taking one of them back, because although I love them, I don't really want any more pearls. My larger one (male) isn't aggresive towards other species of fish, or at least not towards any I currently own, so hopefully he'll remain that way.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ally555

I can well understand your dilemma. Getting rid of a fish is a difficult decision and one I wouldn't suggest lightly.

Male gouramis do tend to be much more aggressive toward other males, females, and sometimes even toward other fish in the tank. If yours is behaving that way it is not likely to stop. Adding another male might just compound the problem. If you decide you must return him, get another female rather than a male. They tend to be peaceful toward each other. While they do not develop quite as much color as the males, they are beautiful nonetheless.

 

[Ally555]

Hi Ally555

I can well understand your dilemma. Getting rid of a fish is a difficult decision and one I wouldn't suggest lightly.

Male gouramis do tend to be much more aggressive toward other males, females, and sometimes even toward other fish in the tank. If yours is behaving that way it is not likely to stop. Adding another male might just compound the problem. If you decide you must return him, get another female rather than a male. They tend to be peaceful toward each other. While they do not develop quite as much color as the males, they are beautiful nonetheless.

So you're thinking I should get rid of the male and get a female? My only problem with that is I don't know which ones are females because they are quite young at the lfs. I don't even know for sure that the one that's being bullied is a female. I don't want to buy another one if the situation might end up the same way.

I do like you suggestion but what I was thinking of doing was: getting rid of the fish that's being bullied, keeping the male, but not getting another pearl. The male does seem to be peaceful to other fish besides the pearl. Do you think your idea would work better?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Ally555

I doubt that there's an entirely good answer to this, at least short of getting another tank. Have you thought about getting rid of the male and waiting until they get another batch and hoping you could tell the genders then?

 

[Ally555]

I haven't thought about that, but I still don't know if I'd be able to tell the gender. I'm thinking that I'll just keep one of them.