Pearl gourami

Care at a glance

The pearl gourami is arguably the most beautiful of the larger labyrinth fish: a mother-of-pearl pattern of dots over a brownish-violet body, with an orange-red breast and a ragged dorsal fin on mature males. It moves slowly and with dignity, which gives it a very different feel from the usually busy residents of the middle layer.

That very composure calls for calm company: alongside fast, greedy fish it never gets to the food. It takes air from the surface, so leave a gap between water and cover glass and make sure that air is not cold. Floating plants and a calm surface matter — males build a bubble nest underneath them, even with no female around.

Related species

• Goldfish (common/comet)Carassius auratus
• Honey gouramiTrichogaster chuna
• Blind cave tetraAstyanax mexicanus
• Dwarf gouramiTrichogaster lalius
• Black ruby barbPethia nigrofasciata
• Ember tetraHyphessobrycon amandae