# just how shy are sparkling gouramis...?



## Luke (Mar 30, 2004)

just how shy are sparkling gouramis....i mean i had a shy cherry barb in my planted 40 gal, and lost him due to starvation, i think, because he never emerged form the back portion of the tank....the female is fine and healthy, and so are the 15 rummy-nose tetras, and 4 panda corys......
also the sparklers [3] will be going into a 5 gal. is a smaller space better or worse for shy species.......?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've never kept a sparkling Gourami, but I've never experienced shyness with any of my Cherry barbs. It's possible there was something else going on with your male to make him hide; like an illness. Another possibility is that you just didn't have enough of the Cherry barbs in the tank for them to feel secure.

I doubt a small tank would make them feel any more secure, but if they are in a species only tank, that may help them feel more at home.


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

In my 125g tank I originally had 10, but never saw more than 4 or 5 of them at any one time. They were constantly moving in and out of the plants, staying out just long enough to eat then going back into hiding. Now that I have an auto-feeder I hardly ever see them at all.


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