# Please help me get my male pearl gourami to color up and be happy.



## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

What are your water parameters?


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

PH 7.5
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate changes through the week. But I have never seen a nitrate test read over 30 in the last year.

Normally I keep around 10-20ppm nitrates.
50-60% weekly WC with no exceptions.

Temp for the last year was 80 and now going to run 77 for this year. I changed the 3 degrees over a few days. 

He has been this was for probably 4-5months


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

There are pics for just moments ago.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Here are s a full tank shot as of today


----------



## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

What food are you feeding? Try feeding freeze dried krill and see if some red comes back. My koi respond very well to this, to the point where I stop feeding it because there is red popping up in white fish.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

What brand do you use?


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

His staple diet has been new life spectrum flakes


----------



## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Almost any decent brand will do. I like Omega one. They also sell a color enhancing pellet or flake if you would like a new base food. The other thing I didn't mention is that fish just change color. Often as they get older they become more bland.


----------



## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

It looks like in the pic you also have a 3 spot gourami in there , they are much more aggressive then the pearls he could be the issue


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I understand why you would think that but he is not the average blue gourami.

I rescudes him from near death (starvation and toxic water conditions) he was terrified. When I introduced him to the tank he wanted to be part of the group of pearl gouramis. At first they were hesitant to trust him but that quickly changed. He now hangs out with the group and there is literally no aggression from him at all.

My females bicker with each other sometimes, the largest female is the queen. She pushes the other girls around a bit. The male pearl and blue chill together 80-90% of the time.


----------



## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

onlycrimson said:


> What food are you feeding? Try feeding freeze dried krill and see if some red comes back. My koi respond very well to this, to the point where I stop feeding it because there is red popping up in white fish.


 +1 to krill.
Try frozen brine shrimp also.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

On my way home from class I stopped at my LFS and picked up some freeze dried krill. Also replenished my stock on some frozen brine, frozen bloodworms and frozen cyclops. In the past I only used frozen brine and the bloodworms. 

I now have a large variety of foods to offer, but unsure of a good approach. I was told in the past to avoid feeding too much frozen foods. I am thinking I can do my staple pellet diet in the morning ( light feeding ) and then in the evening hours I can do a rotation between veggies, algae wafers, frozen foods, and krill. Maybe something different t each night. Thoughts?


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I've noticed my male brightens up when the lights are out. I think intense light stresses them out so the red is washed out. Let you water lily grow floaters so the tank can get cover.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have the tank become completed covered with floaters before and didn't really notice a difference at all. So I don't think its that


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I feed some freeze dried krill today for the firsg time, and its a smash hit with all my fish . 

We will see if it helps with his color. How often should I feed?


----------



## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Give them a little daily but just as extra. Keep the staple food the same.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Will do.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

onlycrimson said:


> What food are you feeding? Try feeding freeze dried krill and see if some red comes back. My koi respond very well to this, to the point where I stop feeding it because there is red popping up in white fish.


Quick update:

I realized I may not have been feeding my fish an appropriate amount. I say this because I did a ton of looking around at other peoples pearl gourami and mine seemed think compared to many. Especially my 3 females which were very thin.

I guess being new to the hobby (1 year now) I always worried about overfeeding but may have been too cautious. I am now doing multiple small feeding's a day. 

It appears the fish are becoming more active and the male seems to be showing his colours more and more. He still has a bit to go but seems to be improving already.

If anyone has any other suggestions as to what might be causing the stress and holding back his colour I would love to hear it.


----------



## shloken38 (Aug 17, 2012)

Not sure on what might being going on with the fish's color, but it's not the feeding. I feed my fish once every 2-3 days. Been doing that for years and never had a problem.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Well its helping, it may not be solely responsible though.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

My fish need to put on some weight


----------



## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

I think he's pretty good looking, but I'm no expert. I remember hearing the Gouramis like floating plants as they use them to build the nests. Maybe? I would do penny wort or one of the vine flaoters. You put duckweed or one.of those in there and you will never get it out if you decide you don't like it.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I tried having the whole tank covered for weeks with mini water lettuce and it didn't change anything. I really do think it has a fair bit to do with the feeding.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have videos on my channel from months ago where he looked better.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

My plan is to keep up with the heavier feeding with a good mix of frozen and freeze dried food plus the staple for at least a month. If nothing else my fish go into breeding mode or they just plump up.


----------



## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

philipraposo1982 said:


> My plan is to keep up with the heavier feeding with a good mix of frozen and freeze dried food plus the staple for at least a month. If nothing else my fish go into breeding mode or they just plump up.


Maybe he just isn't a super colorful guy? Or was he more colorful previously? There are huge differences in German Blue Rams among pet stores and breeders as I'm sure you know


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

He used to be more colorful. This wash out of color is recent as in 3-4 months ago.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Although he was never as orange or red or some of the google pics that I have seen. But most definitely had more color.


----------



## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

My pearls are PIGS!
Compared to my GBRs they eat 4-6 times as much daily!
I myself was kind of surprised how much they can will eat.
I feed many flake(earthworm) and NLS pellets 2 sizes and they wolf down the big pellets(offered last).
Just watch your water as eaten food still contributes waste to the system(tank) and may need extra attention.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

yeah I am aware that the increased in feeding will provide more waste and so on. I am more than prepared to increase my wc freq or amount as needed.


----------



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Its odd, I don't do anything special and I've never had issues getting my pearl gourami red...

Maybe its just genetics (shrug).


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Your not the first person to say that either. The thing is he used to show more color.

It all started after doing a pretty big rescape to the front half of my 75g. After that I ended up losing my male ram to hith, and my male pedal stopped eating and loss some color and became less active. 

Finally he began eating again and now activity level is back up the color is still not back. I don't know what could of happened but something bothered my fish from that rescape.


----------



## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

I had a pearl g pair until the male died a couple months ago. I remember the male to be generally a bit weaker & delicate than the female and very picky about the food he ate. I remember I once dosed too much iron and he lost his orange throat color. You want to check that?

You female pearls should be fat by the way. Hows the growth rate? In my case I find the female I have left grows quite slowly despite a lot of water changes. She is 3 inches head to tail.

You're lucky your blue gets along with them. Gouramis are cool.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Sinc this is my.first time.keeping fish I don't know what good growth rate is for different fish (first aquarium) so its hard to say. But what you said about being a picky eater is 100% true. My pearls are the same way. My females are not fat at all, since i started feeding more they are getting bellies that I can now see starting to pop out their sides.

My pearls have also started to be a lot more interested in coming to.my.hands when I get to the tank to.feed. 

I don't dose iron directly, but I do add planted csm+b to the tank at a rate of 1/4 tsp once a week, sometimes once every other week.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Crypts love traces


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Oh really??


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

So it appears my gouramis were being under fed and since offering a greater variety and more food I have notice a big chance in my pearl gouramis. The male is still not showing his full color in the throat area but the rest of his body has improved greatly. Same with the females.

Hopefully in a month the or two of good feeding I can get my females plump and my male will show his true colors. I will provide an update in a month or so.


----------



## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Good work! I tend to feed pretty heavy. When I used to manage a lot of fish only tanks at a shop I fed a big variety and heavily. We just made up for it with water changes. The result was happy fish that looked great.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Update: the male and female pearls have been putting on weight and have been more active and showing better coloration. But even with the improvements the male pearl gourami is still not showing off the orange/reddish coloration in his throat. Although, the rest of his body seems to have nice color as it should be.

I can't figure out what is going on here...


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

notice his throat when the lights are off.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have and its no different. 

I have been debating adding another male pearl in order to create competition for the 3 females. I doubt this is why there is hardly any color in his throat but I figure another male might make him more eager to show off.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

He's probably still too young then. Wait a year for him to mature.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have had them for about a year. I have pics from 5-6 months ago where he was displaying his color normally. It wasn't super bold like a matured male but it was there and easily noticeable.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Try taking that spotted gourami out. There's usually a pecking order and he won't display if there's a more dominant gourami in there.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

He is the alpha, 100000% so its not that. The blue gourami has self confidence issues.


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Like gourami Dr. Phil up in here


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Yeah, maybe it needs counseling.


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

mistergreen said:


> Yeah, maybe it needs counseling.


I had a fish counseling practice once, didn't properly cycle the waiting room and my patients got sick...


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I don't think he is sick...


----------



## sadchevy (Jun 15, 2013)

I don't think others will say it but I know most think it. Have you tried leaving your tank alone and just enjoy it. Quit changing things. Quit chasing water parameters. The main reason fish loose colors is STRESS. I have followed your tank and all your problems. You are obsessed with having everything perfect and your attempts to get there are stressing your fish. I'm not criticizing your idea or your commitment to your tank. I commend you on your passion. There is no perfect tank, nor will there ever be. Let your tank mature without intervention and see how it goes.


----------



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Honestly, I second the above. Fish tanks are a bit like gardens; if you mess with them too much, you can never get anything right. Just do water changes, feed, keep an eye out for disease, and leave everything else alone for now.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

sadchevy said:


> I don't think others will say it but I know most think it. Have you tried leaving your tank alone and just enjoy it. Quit changing things. Quit chasing water parameters. The main reason fish loose colors is STRESS. I have followed your tank and all your problems. You are obsessed with having everything perfect and your attempts to get there are stressing your fish. I'm not criticizing your idea or your commitment to your tank. I commend you on your passion. There is no perfect tank, nor will there ever be. Let your tank mature without intervention and see how it goes.


Who said I don't enjoy it? I love my tank and my fish very much, can't imagine not having it. Its for that reason that I want to make my pets happy and healthy. Considering this is my first tank and its now over a year old and I have only had a few casualties while caring for more than 70 fish, I think I am doing pretty good don't you?

I have also maintained an pretty much algae free planted tank while have many plants thrive and flower in my tank as well.

The only maintenance I do is change water which is 20min each time and cut any old leaves once a month. Clean the canister as needed as well.

Maybe I am a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my tank and fish, but its better than being lazy and neglecting it.

While I do agree with you that messing around too much would cause fish to stress and be unhappy, I don't feel like that is the case here.

I don't chase water parameters either, I simply monitor it time to time and watch my plants and fish for indications of what might come next. People who simply just assume there water parameters are stable all the time are taking a big risk. 

Anyhow, I do appreciate the advice given and would really like to understand what is happening with my male but it may just be one of those thing that will fix itself in time.


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Betta132 said:


> Honestly, I second the above. Fish tanks are a bit like gardens; if you mess with them too much, you can never get anything right. Just do water changes, feed, keep an eye out for disease, and leave everything else alone for now.


That's really all I do. Unless you know something I don't..


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Update: after trying pretty much everything I could think of and still not getting the results I had hoped for, I decided to explorer the idea that maybe it has something to do with not having a reason to show off his colors. He has never attempted to build a bubble nest or show too much interest in the females. 

I decided to get another male pearl gourami and add him to the tank. I figured with some competition in the tank that it would promote some showing off. 

I got home with the new younger colored up male (very healthy looking fish). He is the size of my smallest female but he was the biggest they had at the LFS. After putting the bag in the tank to.float and acclimate, my existing male took interest in the new arrival. He was showing his dominance and was circling the bag, this is not behavior I have seen ever. After about 30 min, I could see my male was boasting some great color and the orange in his throat was starting to appear out of nowhere. 

Its pretty obvious that he simply needed some motivation to bring out his true potential. I think with a bit of time the new.male will create an atmosphere in which the existing male will feel obligated to have to show off every now and then. 

The new male is now been in the tank for at least and hour since acclimation was done. Everything seems to be going great so far. The big male checked him out as well as the other gouramis but no real aggression or anything.

I will keep you guys updated as the weeks go by. Photos to come.


----------



## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

Congrats on adding some competition. Should be arm-wrestling for the females soon.


----------

