Opaline vs pearl gourami

[PikaBu]

Help choosing opaline vs pearl gourami

Hello everyone,

So I have a 36 gallon tank and I have had it for over 2 years now with golden barbs, harlequins, rummy nose and julli cories. I wanted to add a more center piece fish into the mix.
I'm having a hard time deciding between opaline or pearl gouramis, I heard pearls are more peaceful but I think since all my fish are pretty much fully grown and established the opaline won't do much harm to them.
I was think of either keeping 2 opalines but worry about the male constantly picking on the female but I don't think I can keep more than 2 in my sized tank
Or keeping 3 peals and hopefully I can get 2 females and 1 male
Anyone's opinions or experiences would help thanks!
PS: I love fish with personalities of their own ?

 

[goatnad]

Can you tell us your present stocking numbers? Also what filtration do you have?If you are wanting 2 gouramis then go pearls. They are peaceful. I will say a 36g is on the line between small and OK for gouramis so keep a tank upgrade in mind for the next year or so. I kept 2 blue gouramis in a 60g and saw constant aggression for 2 years.opalines are like blues in mentality.

 

[PikaBu]

I currently have 5 barbs, 7 rummies, 7 harlequins and 6 cories
As for my filtration I have an aquaclear 70 as well as an eheim 213 with weekly 30% water changes

Thank you for your input, I'll keep that in mind
So if I were to get an opaline, it'll only be one
Mind we asking what their personalities are like? Also what was the gender of your gouramis?

 

[goatnad]

I kept males. When young they they will be pretty active swimming around a lot but as they age they take more to slowly wandering around. They use their "whiskers" to get a feel of things and are curious fish always looking for food. This is also when they become more territorial and aggression can increase. Once they get to know you they will come to the front of the tank when you walk in the room. Mine never had serious aggression against other fish species. There are several YouTube videos of them to give you an idea of their behavior.

 

[Autumnsky]

My fav is the male Pearl. One fish.

If you go for a Pearl Gourami male my suggestion would be to select one of the male fish which is not the leader of the group. The one I had selected was aggressive. This one in the pic was the 2nd or 3rd one following around the group. One of the best fish I ever had.