Pearl and Blue Gourami

smoodgie6

Im going to be setting up a 55 gallon freshwater community tank. along with rasboras and cory's i wanted to add some gouramis. would one pearl and one blue be compatible because i havent found much about this.

jeaninel

I wouldn't mix them. The Pearls are more peaceful than the Blue gouramis and may get picked on. How about a male Pearl with a couple female Pearls?

smoodgie6

thanks im really just interested in a nice group of fish to be the centerpieces of the tank so stricly pearls would be fine.

smoodgie6

also what would you think about dwarf gouramis and pearls together

jaysee

The DG/pearl combo has more promise that the 3 spot/pearl combo.

smoodgie6

how would you recommend keeping dwarfs. i know only one male per tank because they can be territorial but in a 55 gallon community tank would you say to keep them as a male/female pair or multiple females and one male or just one kept alone.

jaysee

I wouldn't ever keep multiple dwarf gouramis. I say that because I've done it :) Stick with one male. In a 55, I would start with a trio (1m2f) of pearl gouramis. I've kept them together without problems, BUT dwarf gouramis can be unpredictable.

Byron

Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum, smoodgie6.

As others have mentioned, it is best not to mix the larger gourami species, meaning those in the genera Trichopodus and Trichogaster. Males can be very territorial, sometimes even becoming quite aggressive with other non-gourami fish, so tankmates must be well thought out. And with single species, multiple males can be troublesome.

You can find out more in the profile of the various species as all are included in our fish profiles, second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page. They will be under the heading Anabantids.

Byron.

curiousburke

I know it doesn't always go well, but I'm wondering if there are methods for mixing species if you take a long approach. If say you started the tank with 3 pearls (1m2f) and let them become established. Then introduce 1 or 2 very small female blues/golds/opals that would then grow up with the male Pearl ruling the roost. Do you think something like that might work?

Byron

This can be even worse. Gourami, like cichlids, put into a tank soon regard the entire tank as "theirs." This is why it is never advisable to introduce new fish of the same or closely-related species [when dealing with these territorial fish] once a fish has become established. Now, sometimes certain fish behave contrary to the "norm" just as dogs, cats or even people; but you won't know, and it is wisest to assume the norm. Other members have written of single Gourami that have killed any other gourami in the tank, and in a 55g tank.

The larger the tank and the heavier it is planted sometimes lessens this, but a fish that is hounded by a bully will not be healthy, and not only is this cruel to the fish, it is dangerous for everything in the tank. In a large tank (4, 5 or 6 feet in length, well planted) introducing all the gourami at once, it might be workable unless one of the males happened to be abnormally aggressive.

Byron.