My new Gouramis

[Deleted User]

I picked up a breeding pair of Pearl Gouramis last week.

The female is rather shy but here are a few pics of the male.

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[sandy_n]

Very pretty! :shappy:

[Deleted User]

Thanks Sandy. :ssmile:

[Wild Turkey]

Oh, wow! Great looking pearl!!thumbs2: thumbs2:

[Deleted User]

Thanks WT. :ssmile:

[stephane.savard]

I bought two Pearl Gourami's a little over two weeks ago, I like them a lot. You say yours are a "breeding pair" - how can you tell, and are Gourami's a type of fish that mate for life?

My own pair were always together the first few days, with the male often touching the female with its feeler fins (quite romantic looking :) ). These days, they stay apart more often, though they aren't aggresive towards each other at all.

I guess the best way to explain it now is that the male is often in one corner of the tank looking shy, while the female is exploring and often picking at the plants at the surface making clicking noises (took me fifteen minutes one day trying to figure out what that noise was - I initially thought it was the lights or the external filter!)

And truely nice pictures, I've failed miserably trying to take any pictures of my own!

[Sharon]

Oh my...they are very pretty!thumbs2:

[Deleted User]

I bought two Pearl Gourami's a little over two weeks ago, I like them a lot. You say yours are a "breeding pair" - how can you tell, and are Gourami's a type of fish that mate for life?

My own pair were always together the first few days, with the male often touching the female with its feeler fins (quite romantic looking :) ). These days, they stay apart more often, though they aren't aggresive towards each other at all.

I guess the best way to explain it now is that the male is often in one corner of the tank looking shy, while the female is exploring and often picking at the plants at the surface making clicking noises (took me fifteen minutes one day trying to figure out what that noise was - I initially thought it was the lights or the external filter!)

And truely nice pictures, I've failed miserably trying to take any pictures of my own!

Ok The male as you can see has a red throat. The female would not and is more of a drab silver colour but with the same spot markings. The male has fin extentions on his dorsal & anal fins.

If that is the only pair you have in the tank then yes I would guess they will stay together for life. If you have one male an many females then like any other fish I would guess he would breed with all of them. I have never kept more than a pair of these so have no experience as to any group behaviour.:ssmile:

He has already built 2 bubble nests so I would expect them to be breeding soon. The female looks quite plump. :ssmile:

My pair are in a 20 imp.gallon . If your tank is a large one they may only come together to breed.

Thanks. :ssmile:
I have a semi pro camera and I use a remote flash. It makes a heck of a difference with fish pictures.:ssmile:

[Deleted User]

Oh my...they are very pretty!thumbs2:

Thanks Sharon. :ssmile:

[stephane.savard]

Oh, I see, then I must have a "breeding pair" as well :) I knew I had both a male and a female, I selected them both purposely at the fish store. But they live in a 48 gallon tank. The colors on my male is somewhat more subdued than your picture; I got them fairly young.

I've also been using a SLR and one to two remote flashes, but the problem I have might be the blue background in my tank, makes the fish look very unnatural as the flash(es) light it up. I've only been partially successful at using a cardboard to prevent the light from reaching the back of the tank. How is your own background?

As for bubble nests, the male hasn't started any yet; I do have some floating plants, but most are constantly moving due to surface currents. Only yesterday did I change the output nozzle on my external filter, now the surface currents are redirected in such a way that most plants stay in one place. I'll soon see if he starts nesting.

[Deleted User]

Oh, I see, then I must have a "breeding pair" as well :) I knew I had both a male and a female, I selected them both purposely at the fish store. But they live in a 48 gallon tank. The colors on my male is somewhat more subdued than your picture; I got them fairly young.

I've also been using a SLR and one to two remote flashes, but the problem I have might be the blue background in my tank, makes the fish look very unnatural as the flash(es) light it up. I've only been partially successful at using a cardboard to prevent the light from reaching the back of the tank. How is your own background?

The LFS I go to has blue back grounds on almost all there tanks.

Here is a pic of a frontosa with a blue background.

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All my tanks have black painted backgrounds. I find for fresh water fish it's the best colour.

Do you put your remote flashes on a sheet of glass above your tank?

[Northernguy]

Truly great pics Celtic!:22: Wonderful detail!

stephane.savard here ia link that may help you with your pics![Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Brookfish]

He's a stunner, congrats on the new pick up's!!

[Deleted User]

Thanks guys. :ssmile:

[stephane.savard]

That's what I meant about blue, it's just too blue (some of your LFS pictures in the other thread show the same problem, some of the background shows up blue instead of being a natural color, or obscured by black).

unfortunately I cannot use the flash from the top (apart from mounting on a tripod and firing it through the opened lid). I have a built-in hood (i.e. a Hagen Waterhome). If I remove the hood, I also remove the lights. What I could try is to remove the hood, place a sheet of acrylic on top and then put the flash(es) on that. In which case I would only be using light from the flash.

Anyway, thanks for the link I'll take a look at that.

[troy]

Absolutely stunning pearl gourami's!thumbs2:

[lovleeko]

lovely pics and fish!! Congrats

[Deleted User]

Thanks Guys.:ssmile:

[mac]

Nice pics all.

As for the Pearls I have 5 in a 66 gallon and they are together no stop. It looks like all males.

Great choice of fish and very easy to keep. Good luck with breeding them.

mac

[Deleted User]

Nice pics all.

As for the Pearls I have 5 in a 66 gallon and they are together no stop. It looks like all males.

Great choice of fish and very easy to keep. Good luck with breeding them.

mac

Thanks Mac.. :ssmile:

[mac]

No probs.
Please keep us updated if they breed.

mac

[fraggle]

Very nice looking fish Celtic!

I must say I'm not very "up" with Gouramis. My SIL has a couple and what she tells me is a pearl gourami looks nothing like that hers is a lemon yellow with the dots. Mind you she has 5 fish in the same tank that are all just "cichlid" when I ask her what sort, she just says that that's what they are as that's what the LFS told her, and I'm not very good with cichlids either, I know 1 is a convict and I think 2 are peacocks, but wouldn't have a clue what the others are.

Ok after that ramble....Good luck breeding them mate!thumbs2:

[Deleted User]

No probs.
Please keep us updated if they breed.

mac

Oh I will for sure. The male builds a new bubble nest every day. I may have to take out my elliotti though. The female has taken a shine to him. Maybe because he is a better colour than her hubby. lmao :hmm3grin2orange:

[Deleted User]

Very nice looking fish Celtic!

I must say I'm not very "up" with Gouramis. My SIL has a couple and what she tells me is a pearl gourami looks nothing like that hers is a lemon yellow with the dots. Mind you she has 5 fish in the same tank that are all just "cichlid" when I ask her what sort, she just says that that's what they are as that's what the LFS told her, and I'm not very good with cichlids either, I know 1 is a convict and I think 2 are peacocks, but wouldn't have a clue what the others are.

Ok after that ramble....Good luck breeding them mate!thumbs2:

Thanks Fraggle.

If you can get some pics of the fish. We could ID them for you. :ssmile:

[Jellygirl]

Lovely photograhs, keep us posted on the 'happy couple'.

Jellygirl

[Deleted User]

Thanks Jelly girl :ssmile: