Pearl Gourami

IN PROGRESS


Name Pearl Gourami
Scientific Name Trichogaster leerii
Distribution Southeast Asia, occurring on the Malay Penisula, as well as on Sumatra and Borneo
Habitat Slow moving streams with lots of plants, both floating and planted. Reletivily shallow water with sand as a substrate.
Size 4-5 inches
Tank Size 20 long for one, 30 or larger for two. The bigger the better
Diet Prepared foods and veggies as well as live foods. I haven't seen my pearl eat veggies but it relishes flakes, live blackworms, bloodworms, and brine shrimp.
Tank Zone Mostly the top of the tank but occasionally in the middle.
Teperment Males will fight but other than that, a very good community tank resident. 1 male per tank reccomended.
Compatibilitysmall schooling fish such as tetras, rasboras, danios, and small barbs. Also loaches and some small catfish. NO FIN NIPPERS!! ie. tiger barbs, rosey barbs, larger tetras, etc.
Chemistry
pH-7.0
Hardness-soft
Temperture-75-80 degrees farenheit (24-28 degrees celcius)
Photoperiod8-12 hours a day. i turn my lights on when i get up and they go off when i go to bed.
Seasonal Changes none?
Hardiness and Lifespanreletivily hardy. About 3-5 years.
Physical DescriptionThey display a delecate pettern of white, pearl like spots with a black line starting at the nose and going to the tail, fading towards the end. Males have a crimson red chin and chest.
Sexing Males have a crimson red chin and chest as well as longer fins. Females are all grey with shorter fins.
Activity Peak Diurnal
Habits They spend most of their time at the surface. Once acclamated, they spend alot of time in the front of the tank. They are a very active fish, learning, like cichlids, that "you" mean food. mine learned this within the first 2 days that i have owned him.
Spawning Start by seperating the male and female and conditioning them with lots of protien. LIVE FOODS!!! These are by far the best conditioning foods. After live foods come frozen. Introduce your pair into a large yet shallow spawning tank. A 20 long filled with about 4 inches of water works well. The male will build a bubble nest much like other anabantoids in which the female will lay her eggs and the male will fertalize them and protect them. make sure you have a very small filter or the current will destroy the nest. A small sponge filter works the best. Feed the fry very small foods including green water, baby brine shrimp, etc. after they have grown a little you can start feeding them adult brine shrimp, finely chopped black worms, etc. They are sexually mature by 7 months of age.
Other Notes This gourami prefers many floating plants in their tank. They make a good "center piece" fish in a smallish tank. In my tank, I house it with bamboo shrimp and harlequin rasboras and the tank looks stunning. I once saw a photo of a tank with some pearl gouramis, harlequin rasboras, ghost catfish, clown loaches, and some siamese algae eaters and it looked stunning. It is very easy to create a bio-tope aquarium with these fish as they get along with most other fish.

Photos

am i missing anything thus far? photos still to come. i have to take some good pics of mine and look for some online. if any of you people have pics that i would be able to use please let me know. i will obviously credit you.

[justintrask]

May also want to note that if you mix, you'll want one male to every couple of females otherwise there will be lots of aggression. I have also noticed the alpha male being really agressive during feeding time towards the others, not allowing them to eat