Both Gourami and Angel fish are popular freshwater aquarium fish. Angel fish is a south American colorful fish and they beautify the aquarium with their colors. Also Pearl Gouramis are fine freshwater fish to have in the aquarium. But the question is, can they coexist or share the same tank without any issue? In this article, you will learn more about angel fish and Pearl gournami and if they’re good tank mates.
Can Pearl Gourami and Angel Fish live together? Yes, Pearl gournami and Angel fish can live together because they cannot harm each other and also they can live in the same type of water.
Like I always say ‘ it is very necessary to first of all study everything about your pets, especially fish before thinking of getting them tank mates’ .
This will go a long way to curb some certain problems that your pets might have due to having unsuitable tank mates.
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It is true that all animals behaves different, including fish.
Some fish are aggressive, some are semi aggressive, while some are totally aggressive and intolerant.
Freshwater Angel fish and Pearl gournami will make good tank mates because they share many things in common which I will explain in this article.
Angel Fish and Gourami Temperament
Freshwater angel fish are cichlids. They’re very aggressive, especially the male ones.
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They’re very territorial and protective of their young ones.
They make nest and take their eggs and young ones to the nest.
The male angel fish can hardly live together without problems because they normally fight against themselves, but female and male don’t fight because the female are not very aggressive.
Angel fish are omnivores and could eat anything they can get, including other fish etc.
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On the other hand, Gourami are not very aggressive, infact, there are more than 100 species of gouramis.
Many of them are semi aggressive, but species like the dwarf gourami are not aggressive in any way, neither are they territorial.
Some of the larger Gourami, like the blue and gold, are semi-aggressive.
All Gourami males will display aggression towards other males.
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However, when housed with other more aggressive fish, Gouramis become somewhat timid.
The female gourami are not aggressive, but the male are semi aggressive and territorial.
Although the female ones normally have the tendency to eat their eggs, and the male don’t really care about their young ones.
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Although, just like Angel fish, they too are omnivores, and could eat anything they can kill including small fish.
What kind of Water and Habitat can Angel fish and Gouramis live in?
As we all know, both pearl gournami and Angel fish are freshwater dwellers.
Angel fish lives in a slow flowing water and in a pH of 6.8-7.5.
Also Pearl gournami lives in a water with pH of 6.8-7 and prefer a stagnant or a slow flowing water.
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So medium powered water filter could be used to keep the flow of the water very slow.
Both of them are tropical fish and so prefer a water temperature of 70-82°F.
Angel fish loves the Amazon Sword plant and Java Fern, so you should get those plants for them.
They also love to dig on substrates, so getting them some soft and suitable substrates like Fine sand, mud and gravels is great.
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Although gournami doesn’t care much about substrates, but they love vegetation just like Angel fish.
Gouramis prefer lower levels of light, so provide a little floating vegetation.
Vallisneria and Hornwort are good.
They can be used by the fish to shade off some lights they don’t want.
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While Angel fish prefer medium level light and do love to stay in a light for about 8-10 hours everyday.
Gournami too loves to stay in a low light environment for about 5-8 hours every day.
What are Gournami and Angel Fish Diets?
Talking of diets, Pearl gournami and angel fish are both omnivores and so could eat anything including insects, other smaller water animals and even smaller fish.
Angelfish Diet
Angelfish are omnivores and normally feed on small live preys.
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They are scavengers and would eat anything including larvae, bugs, rotifers, and smaller fish.
They don’t eat much plant material because they need a high-protein, high-fiber diet.
They usually get most of their nutrition from smaller animals which they eat, even in the aquarium.
Things to feed them includes tubifex worms, live water fleas, and brine shrimp are good options.
You can also give high-protein pellets or flakes.
Fiber intake can be supplemented by blanched vegetables like spinach and zucchini.
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These guys are big feeders and need to be fed twice a day.
For mated pairs that you plan to breed, feeding them up to four times daily is okay.
Gourami Diet
Just like Angel fish, these fish are omnivores, although a few species, like the Kissing Gourami, are more herbivorous In nature, they’ll eat plants and insects.
In the aquarium, they can eat virtually anything.
They can be fed wirh live and frozen foods, such as brine shrimp and blackworms.
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Gouramis will also enjoy vegetables like cooked peas and lettuce.
Fish flakes are also a good source of balanced nutrition.
Feed your Gouramis once or twice a day.
Let them eat as much as they can in about 2 minutes.
Keep the diet varied for the best results.
Will Pearl Gournami and Angel Fish Share a Tank?
Looking at all their behaviors and comparisons I have listed, can they really live together? and does their behaviors approves for a coexistence between them?
Will Pearl gournami and Angel fish share a tank? Yes, Pearl gournami and angel fish can share a tank without any of them hurting the other.
When I say they can live together, I didn’t say they can coexist peacefully.
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We all know that both fish are aggressive and angel fish being more aggressive will normally start up troubles from time to time, especially if they are mainly males and also if the tank is not wide and large enough to contain them.
On an average, a tank that could contain a male angel fish is 10 gallons, and 2 pairs of angel fish should stay completely comfortable in a 30 gallon tank.
Gournami does require almost the same size of tank as male angel fish to stay comfortably, especially if they are mainly males.
So do the maths according to the number of these fish you want to keep together and get them the right size of tank they will be comfortable in.
Having seen that both gournami and angel fish are almost the same in everything, including water parameters they can tolerate fresh and soft water, diets etc, the only fault they have is the issue of aggression.
This is why large tank is very advisable in order to cure or at least to curtail the issue of aggression.
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Putting them all in a large tank will only end up keeping them far from each other.
Although many species of gournami are surface dwellers.
Getting them in a big tank will make them stay out of each other’s way and thereby reducing the chance of attacks and aggression on each other etc.
Although they can live together, but sometimes the best way to go is to divide the tank into two, keep the Angelfish on one part and the gournami on the other side.
This is very effective too because non will have to worry the other.
Why is my Angel Fish Attacking my Gourami?
If you already have these two fish together in a tank, then you must have noticed them attacking each other, especially Angel fish attacking the Gourami always. You may wonder why.
Why is my Angel fish attacking my Gourami? Angel fish are naturally aggressive and will attack any tank mate they see, including Gouramis.
Dwarf Gouramis are the least aggressive species of the Gourami fish and they are more prone to attacks and bullying from angel fish.
Although they can live with any species of Gourami, but they can attack each other for the meantime and will rarely hurt each other because both are almost the same size.
So angel fish cannot fatally harm a Gourami nor kill it, so they can successfully live together without any real harm.
That’s why I mentioned earlier that they could be able to coexist, but it may not be a very peaceful coexistence, especially if they are mainly males.
So your Angel fish is attacking your Gouramis because they’re aggressive and territorial in nature, so as male Gouramis too.
What Fish can be kept with Angel Fish?
As we have learned, Gourami, especially dwarf Gouramis are good tank mates for Angelfish. If you’re interested in some other fish that could make good tank mate with angel fish, then here are your answers.
What fish can be kept with angel fish? Suitable tank mates for angel fish includes Tetras, Rasbora, Peaceful Barbs, Rainbow fish, Discus, medium sized catfish and Gouramis.
Judging from how territorial and aggressive Angel fish is, it is hard to keep them with many species of fish.
Although they’re aggressive, but they can live with few fish that are of big size.
Keeping smaller fish with them is very dangerous, as they will stress, harm or even kill and eat them because they eat alot of fish that are smaller than them.
So keeping big and non aggressive or semi aggressive fish with them is the ideal.
What Fish can be kept with Pearl Gourami?
Also you might be interested to know other types of fish that could be kept with Pearl gournami. They are:
What can be kept with Pearl Gourami? Pearl gournami can be kept with Neon Tetra, Cherry Barb, Kuhli Loaches, Cory Catfish, Dwarf Gourami, Bristlenose Pleco and Danios.
Judging from the tank requirements and temperament of this specie of fish, they could be able to coexist with the above mentioned fishes without much troubles.