# Pearl Gourami Questions



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hey guys,
Yesterday i brought home a few pearl gouramis for my 55 gallon. I've just got one problem. I originally intended to get one male and 2 females. However, there were only 2 LFS that i was able to find them at and the ones i went into they all appeared to be male at least to my eyes. At the last LFS the guy at the store said that the pearl gouramis dont look too much different now because they are still kind of young. I figured you guys would know better than me here. So i was wondering if you guys can help sex them for me. Here are the pics. 



















My other question was, this afternoon they kind of freaked me out a litle bit. Out of the 3 pearls one is more active, and the other two are kind of lazy. I figured that it was just a little stress from the trip home. So i let them rest a little bit before i tried to see if anything was wrong. 
Anyways, the other two notsoactive gouramis tend to just sit towards the bottom of the breeders net for now. Sometimes it even seems as if they are laying on their sides. Not completely flat, but like at a 45 degree angle to one side or the other. Then when i walk over to the tank to get a closer look, they'll get back up again. The active gourami, and one of the not so active ones are eating fine. The other notsoactive one eats very slowly. 

Do you guys think everything is ok? I dont think i've seen a fish do the 45 degree laying down on their side thing before except maybe when they are sleeping at night. 

PH 6.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
temp 80


There is a little salt in the tank (haven't read anywhere that they dont like salt) and i also put some meds into the tank about 24 hours ago (couple hours after they settled in). 

They are in the breeder net because elsewhere in the quarantine tank there are fast moving and fin nipping fish. So i have to put them in the net so they stay in one peice.

thanks in advance for the help.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

That does not sound normal. 


Do you know what the readings of the tank are? Nitrite, Nitrate, and Ammonia. Even though the tank is established other fish could be somewhat adjusted to higher readings.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Males will have a longer dorsal and anal fins and are much more pointy-looking. Females fins are more rounded. It looks like you have one male there. The first pic looks like a female at the top and male at the bottom. The last pic is a male on the top and female on the bottom. Pearls are very peaceful, much more so than blues or golds, and you will want to watch them closely if housing them with nippy, aggressive fish.

What kind of meds are you using and what are you treating?


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Sprite42 said:


> Males will have a longer dorsal and anal fins and are much more pointy-looking. Females fins are more rounded. It looks like you have one male there. The first pic looks like a female at the top and male at the bottom. The last pic is a male on the top and female on the bottom. Pearls are very peaceful, much more so than blues or golds, and you will want to watch them closely if housing them with nippy, aggressive fish.
> 
> What kind of meds are you using and what are you treating?


I'm using maracyn and a little salt only for quarantine purposes. I've heard that when you quarantine, it doesn't do much to just let them sit for two weeks and that it's better to medicate the fish because they could have internal parasites that you can't see.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

fish_doc said:


> That does not sound normal.
> 
> 
> Do you know what the readings of the tank are? Nitrite, Nitrate, and Ammonia. Even though the tank is established other fish could be somewhat adjusted to higher readings.


lol, the readings are in my initial post. haha
But i woke up this morning to find the 3 pearls fine. They aren't laying on their side or anything. No idea what happened. Maybe before the male was picking on the females and the females didn't have anywhere else to go. I have since seperated the suspected male (since he picked on the female) and the females. They seem to be doing much better now. 

So... i guess disregard the laying on the side part, i just wanted confirmation on the sexes of the fish. 

If sprite is correct, then i got what i wanted with two females and one male. 

thanks


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

By the way, just wondering, i was planning on getting some more neons for my 55 gallon. Can i quarantine those together with my pearl gouarmis without the neons getting attacked? (i know pearls are peaceful, but you never know).


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

They should be fine, pearls aren't big enough to eat neons, and they usually don't bother anything they can't fit in their mouths.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

cucci67 said:
 

> They should be fine, pearls aren't big enough to eat neons, and they usually don't bother anything they can't fit in their mouths.


Sweet thanks!


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

oh yea... also... is it possible to tell sex by behavior? Like... for example if i see one constantly go after the other? Or is that just a gourami thing?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

> lol, the readings are in my initial post. haha


Sorry, I have this bad habit of reading with my eyes closed. LOL


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

"Going after each other...." is a territory thing. Females will do this when trying to establish their own space. This shouldn't come to anything. However, if you are going to keep the females separated from the male as in different tanks, you really need to add a third female. If not, once you integrate the male back with the females, he very likely will do the chasing thing, too!


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Sprite42 said:


> "Going after each other...." is a territory thing. Females will do this when trying to establish their own space. This shouldn't come to anything. However, if you are going to keep the females separated from the male as in different tanks, you really need to add a third female. If not, once you integrate the male back with the females, he very likely will do the chasing thing, too!


It's cool. They are just seperated for now becuase they are in quarantine. I've sort of got a few nippy fish in the quarantine tank so i can't release the pearls into there. So the only option is to seperate them into a different section. well... the male kept picking on the females so i had to again seperate him. But in about a week and a half they will all go into the big 55 gallon tank.


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