# Are pearl gouramis ok with my tetras?



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hey guys,
Going to be upping the quantity of plants soon in my 55 and i plan on getting a male/female pair of pearl gouramis. Question is, my red tetras are sort of nippy. I was reading online and it says that Pearl Gouramis are 100% peaceful fish and thus can only be put with 100% peaceful fish. 

Will my pair of pearls be alright? Or do you think that i should move the 10 red tetras over with my 6 black skirt tetras? Or would the long skirts from the black tetras cause even more problems? 

thanks :mrgreen:


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Hmmmm.... tricky call. Pearl Gouramis are anything but 100% peaceful, and if the red tets tried anything they'd get their butts handed to them. On the other hand, they'd mostly stay in different parts of the tank, away from each other, so it might never be an issue anyway. A nice school of ten should give each fish something better to do than pester the gouramis.

Mixing them with longfinned blacksirts would likely be a disaster, though, for as you surmised, those fins would prove a tempting treat.

Finally, tetras and gouramis have very different water preferences, so putting both into the same tank means that at least one group is not going to be as happy as it could be. It's not a critical thing unless you want to breed them, though.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

I don't know about the males, but the female pearls are very peaceful. So are the blues. But, the golds are terrors. I have kept Pearls with everything from female bettas to BN and endler fry with never a problem. They keep mostly to the top of the tank and my tetras stay to the middle. 

HOwever, if I were going to breed them, I wouldn't want any tetras in the tank, that would be asking for disaster.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

TheOldSalt said:


> Hmmmm.... tricky call. Pearl Gouramis are anything but 100% peaceful, and if the red tets tried anything they'd get their butts handed to them. On the other hand, they'd mostly stay in different parts of the tank, away from each other, so it might never be an issue anyway. A nice school of ten should give each fish something better to do than pester the gouramis.
> 
> Mixing them with longfinned blacksirts would likely be a disaster, though, for as you surmised, those fins would prove a tempting treat.
> 
> Finally, tetras and gouramis have very different water preferences, so putting both into the same tank means that at least one group is not going to be as happy as it could be. It's not a critical thing unless you want to breed them, though.


Really? either would be happy? well... i'm not planning on breeding them. My red serpaes look pretty happy though. I've also did some research and my water does seem ok for the pearl gouramis though.  
So i dont think that will be a problem. Just want to make sure they are compatible. Are you sure that the pearl gouramis would win in a fight? I'm ok if that's the case. But am just a little concerned of the red serpae tetras going after the gourami's beautiful fins and stuff. But they generally swim near the middle/bottom of the tank and rarely come up to the top unless they absolutely have to. 

Do the pearls stay on top?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yeah. Gouramis are top feeders which tend to stay near the top most of the time, and tetras tend to stay nearer the bottom, so they don't mix too much. After you add all those extra plants, the tetras will really stay down lower, zooming through the plantstalks while the gouramis will stay higher above the leaves.
Pearls do get pretty big, by the way, with 5-6 inches not being uncommon.

As for winning in a fight, the gouramis have the same killer headbutt ability of Bettas, but the fast & agile tetras could still do some damage before finally getting nailed, even though they would probably just ignore each other. Like I said, tricky call.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

TheOldSalt said:


> Yeah. Gouramis are top feeders which tend to stay near the top most of the time, and tetras tend to stay nearer the bottom, so they don't mix too much. After you add all those extra plants, the tetras will really stay down lower, zooming through the plantstalks while the gouramis will stay higher above the leaves.
> Pearls do get pretty big, by the way, with 5-6 inches not being uncommon.
> 
> As for winning in a fight, the gouramis have the same killer headbutt ability of Bettas, but the fast & agile tetras could still do some damage before finally getting nailed, even though they would probably just ignore each other. Like I said, tricky call.


haha interesting. 

So uh... think i'll be ok with plenty of plants and stuff? hehe
I know it's a tricky call. But i'm guessing you guys would know more than me. :mrgreen:

I may get a pair. One male/ one female. 
Will they both be ok?


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hmm... i may even get 2 pairs of each. 2 males and 2 females for the pearl gouramis. What do you guys think? Or sohuld i just stick with one pair?

According to http://www.elmersaquarium.com/nav/freshwater/index.html
It says that the serpae tetras are compatible with the black skirt tetras. I'm just not 100% sure since both are quite nippy. 

I'm going to try and put lots more plants into my 55 and see what the serpaes do. if they stay towards the bottom then i think it's safe to get the pearls. 

The serpaes dont seem to be bothering my neons much though.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Anyone ?


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Actually, you should get a trio of the same gender...female. The males can be quite a bit more aggressive than the females. If you have 3, it will spread around any aggression and save one from being picked on all the time. THey are in the labyrinth family and akin to bettas with the same type of temprament, even though they are usually peaceful with other fish. There will still be very much a 'pecking order' with one the most dominant.

If you just really have to have a male, get one male and two females. I would be more worried about how my gouramis would get along with each other than how they would get a long with other fish. I keep my gouramis with white skirt tetras. The gourami, by far, rules the roost and the tetras skatter when she comes close.


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