Strange LFS advice on pearl gouramis?

[jm1212]

you shouldnt have any problems keeping angels with pearl, honey, or dwarf gouramis. bettas are another story.

its usually only gold gouramis (and the like), paradise gouramis, and kissing gouramis that are aggressive toward other fish. pearl gouramis shouldnt be aggressive, but there is always the odd fish out.

 

[finsNfur]

Well, thanks everyone! So far he's very well-behaved. In fact, it is one of my male guppies that keeps checking out the gourami, not the other way around. And the gourami's colors have really popped since bringing him home, he looked so "blah" at the store.

 

[jpappy789]

Good to hear! Any chance of pics?

 

[lilim10]

Gold gouramis can sometimes be nasty but I think pearls are generally pretty peaceful.

 

[irishspy]

I wouldn't worry about him. Pearl's are among the most easygoing gouramis, and 29g should be fine for a single male. The previous owner who gave him to the LFS may have had environmental conditions (such as crowding, or another male in too small a tank) that made him aggressive.

Now, if the LFS had been talking about a gold gourami (or its color morphs), then I'd take their warning more seriously.

 

[Lupin]

I never experienced aggresive pearls. Three-spots often are the ones that do get nasty including obnoxious dwarf gouramis guarding their bubblenests.

 

[DrNo]

Golds have a reputation for being 'fiesty' but if provided good male/female ratio and large tank they will usually keep to themselves.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

some somethings are not always true for all fish of the kind...... 2nd why even ask about what the lfs said lol

 

[finsNfur]

Good to hear! Any chance of pics?

Thanks for asking! He looked nearly white at the LFS. He does have a little rip in his tail, I'm hoping it will heal. It must have been from those aggressive gouramis! LOL I also included a pic of the whole tank. I am trying to find a taller plant to add to the background, too. And one of these days I want to toss that plastic thing in the corner and get another big piece of driftwood.

 

[jimmy mc]

I have a genus tank containing gourami (90 gal). It is well planted with a lot of hiding places. It is lightly stocked and most are females with only a couple of males. They all tend to protect their own area and in general seem to have a bad attitude with each other including the Pearls, one of which is a male). But that being said I have never seen any damage to other fish and they all seem to tolerate each other fairly well. On the hand I have in another tank (10 gal) just two Honey gourmis and they are constantly going at each other (male and female). I have not seen any damage done to each other though.