Trichogaster Leerii Pearl Gourami

I haven't been involved in aquaria for very long so maybe I've just
attained a freak Pearl Gourami because mine is king of the tank! I can hardly believe every other post is saying they're shy. I have a 250 L tank with three types of Tetra, Clown and Kuhli Loaches, a Royal Whiptail and two kinds of Danios and he is not in the slightest bit shy. Maybe I just got lucky! The tank has many places to hide, three hollowed "logs" and a couple of rock caves with healthy plants so it isn't like he doesn't have the opportunity to hide. I can hand feed him dried shrimp and he seems to have taken a playful liking to my Paradise fish, especially the Apricot Paradise. These are a beautiful looking fish and whether or not you catch an occassional glimpse of them because they're shy or in my case always seeing them swim around they're great value for a community tank. I had an Opaline Gourami which didn't like the Pearl, in fact, he didn't like anything! Whether this was because of the larger Pearl´s presence or not I'm not sure.

I have a community tank set up where the Gourami is the largest fish in
the lot. She's been in there for about 3 months and is the queen of her lair. The postings that refer to the Pearl as a shy fish most likely pit the fish against too aggressive tank mates. Our Pearl actually picks on the Sailfin Molly, chases the Zebra Danios, and faces off with the Spot Raphael Catfish. This is my favorite fish ever and the prize of our tank.