Pearl Gourami Hiding

[nnacho528]

Im not sure why he is hiding, he used to be the dominant figure in the tank but now he only comes up for food! Why is he hiding?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Im not sure why he is hiding, he used to be the dominant figure in the tank but now he only comes up for food! Why is he hiding?

How big is the tank? What other fish are in there???

 

[nnacho528]

the tank is 20 gallons with a swordtail, 2 tetras, 2 mollies, and the gourami. He was fine before, i dont know y he is hiding now though

 

[nnacho528]

hes been hiding still and tried adding some stress coat but it didnt work! Is he sick?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Depends. What are your levels of ammonia, nitrites, and ntirate?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Whenever one of my fish is about to die he hides under a rock or in an ornimant. Its sad

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Also, I would like to ask, what kind of tetras are the ones you have?

 

[nnacho528]

Whenever one of my fish is about to die he hides under a rock or in an ornimant. Its sad

I have experienced that with my tiger barbs (they all died). However they did not come up for food while hiding and they dies within two days of their initial hiding. I am hopeful because it has been a while and he is still alive, and he frequently comes up for food/air. I hope he makes it through. As for ammonia its zero, but I dont know about nitrites and nitrates but my fish store said that the water was fine. Heres some pics of the tank snd if him. If you see anything wrong at all please let me know! thx!

 

[nnacho528]

Sorry its hard to type on an iphone please excuse some of my grammar and spelling mistakes.

 

[nnacho528]

Is it because they like dark places cause now hes moving under plants and stays in ornaments

 

[librarygirl]

How long has the tank been set up?

If you could get your own test kit it would be a help to get accurate readings. Most pet/fish stores use strips which aren't accurate and I've found that their definition of "good" levels is often far from that.

 

[Scouser]

Sorry its hard to type on an iphone please excuse some of my grammar and spelling mistakes.

No excuses! I use an iPhone too lol

Nah practice makes perfect, probably helps that I've used an iPhone for blogging which means a load of typing.

But it does beg me to ask why "iphone" wasn't corrected to "iPhone"

Back OT, my betta used to hide quite a bit before he died, however most animals do that.

It could be that he isn't confident to swim in the open yet?

 

[adadkins1]

I agree, maybe he is unsure of his surroundings. Has anything changed? How long have you had him? My Dwarf Gourami will hide from time to time, but only if he gets frightened.

 

[agwats]

Loud noises can also freak gouramis out. Has it been louder than normal in the room his tanks in?

 

[adadkins1]

Yep. Noises, vibrations, and excessive activity (like keeping one with a school of zebra danios) will stress out/scar a gourami. Most gouramis are fairly skittish.

 

[nnacho528]

Well heres the story, my tank was first set up and before it had fully cycled, ai put in 3 mollies, 5 tiger barbs, and 2 swordtails. Then a swordtail died and so did all the tiger barbs. Then i added the 2 tetras, the gourami, and the 6 danios. The gourami used to be the most dominant fish in the tank and was kinda a bully. But now hes in the corner, but he will occasionally come up for air and he will explore other dark areas of the tank, hope this helps

 

[Tigroscr]

It's very important you get your own liquid test kit, the kind by API is the best unfortunately you can't really rely on what the LFS told you. You need to test your water parameters especially since you've had fish die and do a pwc and use Prime made by Seachem. This could be the reason your gourami is hiding could be too much ammonia in the water from the dead fish!

 

[Koikid88]

Assuming all water parameters are good, this behavious is normal with Pearls and Moonlights alike.
I had a Pearl in my 90g, but was a bully to most of the other fish his size or bigger.

So I moved him to my smaller well planted tank with the schools of glass catfish and jumbo cardinal neon tetras. It has less hiding spots, but darker and more seclusive, seeing as it's a store bought ornament. He's been hiding most of the time since I put him in there a few months ago. Sometimes comes to roam and hang out, always comes up for food, but just likes hanging out in the tunnels with the catfish.

He seems happier with his own designated hideouts

 

[Tigroscr]

Assuming all water parameters are good, this behavious is normal with Pearls and Moonlights alike.
I had a Pearl in my 90g, but was a bully to most of the other fish his size or bigger.

So I moved him to my smaller well planted tank with the schools of glass catfish and jumbo cardinal neon tetras. It has less hiding spots, but darker and more seclusive, seeing as it's a store bought ornament. He's been hiding most of the time since I put him in there a few months ago. Sometimes comes to roam and hang out, always comes up for food, but just likes hanging out in the tunnels with the catfish.

He seems happier with his own designated hideouts

Well I have no experience with pearl and moonlight gouramis but I've had and still have one pink kissing gourami and he never hides and he's in with a 11 1/2 inch Tiger Oscar and he thinks he's a bad a**! lol! Apparently he doesn't realize or doesn't care that he's the smallest fish in the tank, he bullies my poor blood parrot who is twice his size all the time!!! But he's been with my TO according to the person I got him from about 8 mths ago for two years so they're buddies and I won't separate them.

 

[gabysapha]

If and when you do test your water, make sure the other fish are not nibbling his fins or anything. My pearl always hides when he sees that I'm around

However, what I did helped him A LOT. ADD FLOATING PLANTS. I don't know if he just likes floating plants or if the diffused light makes him happier, it doesn't matter. I highly suggest you add some cover to the surface. Even if you just have plastic plants. Cut the plastic leaves off and let them float.