Hey everyone. I bought this pair of dwarf gouramis and they were sold to me as dwarf honeys. Now, I'm new with gouramis, so please bare with me, are "honey gouramis" a subset of the dwarf variety, and is their specific species a subset of the honey variety? I have attached a picture, but the little buggers move so quickly. The reason I ask is because when I look up a picture of a honey gourami, they don't look like that. The little boy is getting the black to come in, but then why is he so bright red?

Thanks for your help, as I am very confused. I love them though, they're so pretty!

Ok, so this obviously won't let me put in the picture for some reason, I'll just describe them. They're about an inch long and the female is pale yellow/silver with orange tipped fins (very very tips). The male is the same, but his color is more saturated. He has the blackness coming in on his face and down his throat (does it come in more as he ages?) but he also has a bright red tail that sort of continues and fades into his yellow body.

Sorry for the description, I'll try and get everyone a picture.

This post has been edited by knt5005: May 30 2007, 03:09 PM

Dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia) are not the same as honey gouramis (Colisa chuna). They are 2 different species. Below I am including some links of honey and dwarf gouramis.

honey gourami

another honey

dwarf gourami

another dwarf

Your fish is almost certainly the honey gourami, Trichogaster chuna (formerly Colisa chuna, and so listed in many aquarium books). It is a small species and a very nice aquarium fish.

On the plus side, it doesn't seem to get the dreaded Dwarf Gourami Disease all that often. It happens, but not nearly as often as with the dwarf gourami. On the down side, they're not the easiest fish to keep. They are somewhat shy, and rather sensitive to water quality (low nitrates!) and chemistry (should be soft/slightly acidic).

The colours on the male vary with mood, particularly when in breeding condition.

Cheers, Neale

Hey thanks you two. I tried to get a picture up, but to no avail. Thanks for your help and links!