# Horrible experience with Pearl Gouramis...impossible to sex them



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

From what I have seen, most of the time it is uninformed folks putting their fish into tiny tank what leads to aggression. Some fish are territorial, and if their territory happens to be the entire tank (not their fault!) there is no happy end.


----------



## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

It is a 75 gallon


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Even the females are territorial. I have 2 females in a 75G. The one bullies the other but no major injuries. They stay on the opposite ends of the tank.

I'd recommend 2 females or one male for your tank.


----------



## tamsin (Jan 12, 2011)

We had a problem with a very aggressive male (50 gallon tank) awhile back. He harassed the female, then moved on to everything else it the tank (standard community tank). In the end we shifted him in with our catfish/silver dollars where he was the smallest guy in the tank, which seemed to settle him a bit. 

We now have a pair that are just fine, same tank, no aggression at all.

If you google there seems to be quite a few people with issues with aggression. I've no idea what triggers the difference though, maybe it's just potluck and down to individual fish.


----------



## Inkling (Feb 11, 2011)

Gouramis are always tricky. The staff at my lfs never seems to be much help when it comes to sexing them...So I had to learn to do it myself.

One thing I have found since I've started keeping them, the females are territorial too. I have two females that are constantly chasing each other around. I love them both, but they're always causing drama in my tank.


----------



## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

Adult male pearls have red breasts. Often in juveniles at sale size you can see the orange just starting to show. Well fed, adult pearl gouramis are absolutely beautiful. You can tell by fins most of the time also, but it can be hard to see with small fish that won't stay still at the LFS.

It's too bad you ended up with such aggressive fish, as my previous experience with them is that they were not aggressive in the least. They're super easy to care for, and if you're the type of aquarist who wants all their fish to breed all the time, they do that pretty readily also.


----------



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

takadi said:


> It is a 75 gallon


What you could try is to buy two more females, that way the aggression of the male will be distributed, and he might get tired of chasing too.

Densely planted tanks are best for Pearls, that way they can retreat if necessary. It also helps to have some dither fish swimming around that draw some attention of the dominant animal.

Keep your eyes peeled at different LFS/pet stores, if the Pearls are too young it is really difficult to tell the difference, but sometimes they get more mature ones where the males have already fin extensions and colored chest.

I love Pearls, unfortunately it is Gourami OR Cherry shrimp, so I stick with the latter.


----------



## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

I got about 30 neon tetras as dither fish. I'm waiting for my tank to grow out but I'm hoping it will ease the aggression. It seems that the so called male isn't really fin nipping but doing something that looks really similar to what an alpha male in a wolf pack does. He chases the other pearl and starts pushing it with its head into the ground until the other gourami turns on its side and "submits". It's actually kind of funny to watch.

I am crossing my fingers that they eventually chill out and get along. I am also hoping that they develop into their supposed sexes.


----------



## Avianwing (Dec 15, 2009)

Well let me share my experience with these wonderful fish species. Earlier I had placed 4 sub adults in my 4 feet tank and two succumbed to aggression. But later I added 5 more with an intuitive conviction that what works for African cichlids should work for Gouramis and it has been more than 4 months and I have no causalities..

I hypothesize that irrespective of gender, if you have more fish and plenty of cover- plants like crypts, you would do fine with these Pearls among fish.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

This is true. I see in the fishes store where they stuff 10 perls into a 10Gallon tank. The fishes don't look happy. They stand pretty still but no aggression.

Of course this is not a natural environment for them. Aggression is natural for them.
Do you guys know if they're shoalers, or loners in the wild?


----------



## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Okay well I should update this. I went back the fishstore and it looks like the gouramis have grown up because I could *definitely* tell which ones were the males. Some of them were already starting to develop their orange throat coloring. So it turns out, the two I had afterall were actually both female, as the new male I bought was the same size as those two and the two I had did not have the finnage and the coloring. The moment I put in the new male, the aggression immediately died down. In fact, the aggressive female had shied away for the first two weeks and now all three are happily swimming and eating. 

I am quite satisfied


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Hmm, I might be able to get a male then. I was afraid a male would cause havoc with my 2 females.


----------



## Beanie (Jan 5, 2013)

Hi 
I have been reading you comments and they way I tell the sex is by well two of my pearl have gold chests in which there makes and the females have nothing just a white Chest under mouths I don't use gallons as which has confused me I had a 30litre and had no problems and as I've gone I have started to breed them in a 64 litre and I have plenty of plant so if they do start to fight they can go hide or at least get out of the way which is very rare I've seen them fight I have other gourimas with them I have moon light dwarf and red honey and electric blue I haven't seccessed in beading the but hopefully one day I will :tongue: 😜


----------

