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I got an opaline gourami this past friday. He is about 3 inches long. He is extremely shy though. He is in my 29g tank with:
8 neons
8 glowlights
3 cherry barbs
6 panda cories

He hides behind my huge wisteria mass and won't come out...not even to eat.
He had been swimming around the tank a couple times and then hid when I walked by, but now I don't even see him swim around.
I heard him eat the day I got him...but I haven't heard him or seen him eat lately.

I just want him to be sociable because he is so pretty. Is he shy only because of the stress of being brought to my house? Will he come around soon? I haven't seen any of the other fish being mean to him...he just stays in the wisteria.

*Kristin*

I have a similar stock list in my 29....the opaline gourami, platies, cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras, and I remember my opaline being shy when I first brought her home. At the time, I bought two, but one didn't take the acclimation procedure well and died, so it left me with just one and she was shy for about a week, but she is now the bravest fish in my tank. She comes to the glass and puts out her "feelers" when I touch the tank. She is a very friendly fish and always hungry. I have to take special care to make sure she gets enough to eat because she is a lot bigger and slower than all the little fish, and sometimes they hog up all the food before she can get any.

Give him time to settle in and if you still haven't seen him in a week or more, then you might worry. BTW, how are the tank params? Gouramis are air breathers so they're not that terribly sensitive, but it's just a thought.

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

I haven't checked parameters in a few days...i need to though.
Last time I checked they were:
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 15ppm
pH: 7.2

I need to get the nitrate down some I know. I will work on that. Hopefully he will come around soon.

*Kristin*

Well, my nitrates always seem to stay right about there even with all my plants, so I wouldn't be too concerned about that. My problem is I'm a little overstocked and have a slight tendency to overfeed. Hopefully, I can get a platy tank set-up pretty soon and get those little monsties out of there. I like them, but they need their own tank.

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

3 spot gouramis can be a little shy. Mine mostly prefer to cruise around behind the plants. Since I setup majority of my tanks where there is no traffic so long as you are standing still you can see them come out in the open several times a day. If you put the tank where people are moving by it frequently especially right next to the glass then your opaline will probably hide for quite a few days and not come out as often. After it settles in it should come out for food and whenever there isn't any nearby commotion.

I have noticed it coming out more lately...but only when I am watching from across the room. Whenever I walk by, it runs and hides.

There isn't alot of traffic going by...just me in the morning and some at night. It is downstairs so nobody really goes down there, except me since my room is down there also.

He is still not coming out when I am close to the tank though. I'm sure he will get used to me soon though...or atleast I hope he will. He is so pretty!

*Kristin*

He is not a young fish and possibly not used to other fish of different species. They can be very shy if possible I would another smaller male.

Could the Cherry barbs be anoying him as well?

They also love the floating Water Sprite as they can hide under that and keep away from the bright tank lights.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Gouramis can be very timid for the first few weeks. when i got my pearl gourami she didnt eat for the first month i had her and hid behind a rock all day, but now shes the queen of the tank and chases all of my fish around. just make sure theres some algae (particularly hair) in the tank and the gourami will chomp on that when your not looking

Keith: He is in a 29g tank. Is there room for another one? I know that dwarf gouramis are sometimes aggressive towards each other, but what about opalines? Would they fight? I don't have anywhere to move one if they didn't get along.

I haven't seen the cherries bother him. That doesn't mean they don't though. When I go up to the tank he is hiding behind the wisteria and they are always out swimming around. I really don't even see them play amongst themselves...so I doubt they bother him.

He comes out when I'm not looking, but gets spooked easily if you walk by or make a noise. I think he is coming around slowly. He just has to get used to everything.

Here are pictures I took a few days ago. Not very good, but I had to snap them quick.




I played with the color on the first one because it looked really green from the wisteria. That's why he's two different shades.

*Kristin*

That is a stunning opaline gourami anyway, males are supposedly intolerant of each other, so youd have to be sure you dont have 2 males, although i dont see whats wrong with only one gourami. it will come around sometime.

Thanks! He's alot prettier than those pictures show. Those are bad pics.

Yep..I thought it was the same with most gouramis...males not being able to be kept together. So, I know he will come around. He is slowly coming out more. Once he gets used to me walking around and the noise he will be fine. My tank can't be any worse than at the pet store where there is no where to hide and lots of people sticking their faces up to the tank and walking by. And the dogs barking and people talking.

*Kristin*

Depends on the individual gouramis. I've had some get along fine and I had an opaline kill off other fish. As well as my somewhat insane blue gourami that refused to share the 90g tank with even a female until I found an opaline just as agressive as he is. I wouldn't say they are always as bad as dwarf gouramis since I also had 2 male blue dwarf that wouldn't share a 55g but some males can be extremely agressive toward their own species. If you want to take a chance and try it then I would try to get a female but I think the tank looks stocked enough. I also don't think having several opaline gouramis will make a difference in how much they hide or come out in the open.