LA
Pic
Nice male finnage on this pearl gourami. Note the long fins. No adult coloration
yet.
Name:
Pearl
gouramis are completely covered by a delicate “pearl” pattern of
iridescent dots. Some people
call them lace gouramis because of this reticulated pattern.
LA
Pic
Once pearl gouramis start coloring up, you gotta get them.
Temperament: Never a
bully,
pearl
gouramis belong in every community tank.
Yours may even be a bit shy when first introduced.
Do not mix your pearls with aggressive fishes.
Pearls mix quite well with fishes half their size.
LA
Recently arrived 2.5-inch pearls. Big enough to breed but not
feeling up to par.
Origins: Pearl gouramis
originally came from slow moving waters in Java, Sumatra,
Malaysia,
Borneo, and Thailand. These warm, low oxygen
waters abound in anabantids (air-breathing fishes) that absorb oxygen
thru a labyrinth in their heads. You
see them come to the surface to gulp air every so often.
Water Conditions: As
long as it’s clean, they’ll like your water.
Keep it around 75o although they can stand it cooler or
warmer. They survive in dirty water but it makes them susceptible to
velvet -- a nasty parasite.
LA
Pic
Male pearl gouramis really color up. You won't see much color when you first
buy them.
Appeal: Pearls are flat
out beautiful when mature – especially the males.
Mature males sport some of the brightest colors found in freshwater
fish. Once you see a mature
pearl gourami, you won’t forget it.
We saw a striking gold male pearl
gourami in Tampa years ago and still remember it. Unfortunately, we
never saw the strain “commercialized.”
Pearls sport great colors.
You’ll
also enjoy watching them “touch” each other with their delicate
“antennae-like” pectoral fins. Their
Latin name Trichogaster refers
to these as belly hairs.
LA
Pic
Young male pearl gourami just starting to color up.
Size: Pearls get a
little larger than four inches. Most
pearls appear on the market at under two inches.
You can’t tell their sexes or potential colors until they reach
at least two inches.
Foods:
Pearl
gouramis eagerly eat whatever you feed them.
They love live foods and frozen foods.
Color foods make a striking difference on pearl gouramis.
Researchers use pearl gouramis to measure the effectiveness of
different “color foods.” By the way, it takes more than one
feeding to color them up.
LA
Pic
You can easily tell the sexes in mature pearl gouramis. Note egg-filled
belly of the female.
LA
Pic
Male finnage with no orange chest color.
Sexing: You’ll see
little difference between males and females until they reach two inches.
At this size males sport a top fin twice as long as the female’s.
He also starts developing a gold chest – a mere hint of his
striking adult coloration.
LA
Pic
Nearly all gouramis build a bubble nest to hide their eggs -- ditto pearl
gouramis.
Bubble Nesters: Breed
your pearl gouramis like bettas. Give
the male a half-filled covered tank at 80o.
Provide floating vegetation or a Styrofoam cup sliced in half
lengthwise. Use no bubblers or
you break up the male’s bubble nest.
He’ll coax her under his bubble dome and “squeeze out”
hundreds of tiny, floating eggs. Once
the eggs appear, you can remove the parents.
The eggs and fry float (because of a tiny bit of oil in each yolk
sac).
LA
Pic Eggs and newly
hatched pearl gourami fry.
Fry Foods: Baby pearl gouramis
(the size of an eyelash) need
infusoria or euglena (green water). Read
our Infusoria Fact Sheet if you
need more info. After they
grow a bit, the fry love newly
hatched shrimps. Since the little
guys bob to the surface, microworms are not practical. They fall to
the bottom too fast. All fry
grow best when fed several times a day.
Add snails to clean up any excess.
Use an under gravel or sponge filter.
Sponge filters also grow rotifers on their surface.
Summary:
Want beautiful fish? Try
a pair of pearl gouramis. LA.
More
Pearl Pictures
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© 2003,
© 2004 LA Productions
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Sixth Avenue
Corner
of Sixth & Euclid Avenues
Des
Moines, IA 50313
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