Depressed Gourami????

[WVY Fish]

Hi there recently had my Pearl gourami unfortunately pass away, the rest of the fish in the tank are all happy and healthy apart from one, my gold gourami. She always used to be a very active fish, always circling the tank, a very sociable fish. However since the passing of my pearl gourami she now seems to constantly hide away round the back of the tank behind some of the vegetation, she still looks to be healthy and is still eating. I’m wondering if she’s just upset and “grieving” losing her friend and if getting a new gourami would help.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[Andy Sager]

Make sure that the fish is not getting picked on by other fish in the tank. That can also cause fish to hide.
It's hard to tell what the fish is feeling but gold gouramis ( just a color morph of the blue/ 3 spot gourami) are not typically schooling fish so the loss of the pearl should not cause " depression". There may have been a male/female bond between the pearl and the gold but that would be more unusual than " normal" so there is no guarantee that will happen if you place another gourami in the tank. The 3 spot gourami family of colors tend to be more territorial than the Pearl gourami so adding other Gouramis is very chancy.
Hope this helps.

 

[WVY Fish]

Make sure that the fish is not getting picked on by other fish in the tank. That can also cause fish to hide.
It's hard to tell what the fish is feeling but gold gouramis ( just a color morph of the blue/ 3 spot gourami) are not typically schooling fish so the loss of the pearl should not cause " depression". There may have been a male/female bond between the pearl and the gold but that would be more unusual than " normal" so there is no guarantee that will happen if you place another gourami in the tank. The 3 spot gourami family of colors tend to be more territorial than the Pearl gourami so adding other Gouramis is very chancy.
Hope this helps.

There is no chance that she is getting picked on, she’s the biggest fish in there and makes it known. I think I will give it a week or so and see if her habits change or not, if she becomes more active and sociable again I will try adding another gourami, if they don’t not get along I have another tank I can move the new one too, thank you for your response

 

[Andy Sager]