Difference Between Sunset Thicklip Gourami And Honey Gourami?

[doraemon213]

Does anybody know the specific differences between sunset thicklip gourami and honey gourami (visuals, living environment, etc)? Is thicklip suppoed to be bigger than honey in adult size, like 3.5 inches vs 2 inches?
 
I want to get the sunset thicklip, but so far I seem to have only seen honeys in my LFSs, so I want to be able to tell which species it is when I go to a fish store.
 
Thanks a lot!
 

 

[fm1978]

Hi there
 
The Thicklip (trichogaster labiosa - sometimes colisa labiosa) will get to 9cm/3.5inches approx while the Honey (Dwarf Honey, trichogaster chuna) will grow to 5.5cm/2.1inches.
 
Living environments are much the same for both, slow moving water, fairly heavily planted but with a good volume of free swimming area, floating plants are enjoyed by the males - it's where they would build their bubble nests.
 
Temp and pH ranges are close enough as makes no never mind, 22-28C and 6.0 - 7.5 respectively. Both types are pretty hardy and are omnivores, they'll eat just about anything, flakes, small insects, blood worm, and vegetable matter.
 
As far as telling them apart, the thicklip, at adult size, will be larger than the honey. Perhaps a Gourami expert could say, but, I think the thicklips will appear to be more elongated than the honeys. 

 

[DreamertK]

Thick-lipped Gourami  ---- Honey Gourami
4″ (10 cm) ----- 2" (5 cm)
71 litres ----- 54 liters
Hardness: 5-15°H ----- 36 – 268 ppm
 
A gold or ‘sunset’ thick-lipped gourami strain exists, in which the barred patterning is replaced by an overall orange/gold colouration. This is not a natural variation, but has been selectively bred for the trade. The female of this form is almost as colourful as the male.
 
Honey gourami males tend to have a black underside from their mouth to their stomach. Thick lipped gourami can be a mix of gold and silver, but never black. Female honies can be almost entirely silver and have a dark grey line going from head to tail.

 

[doraemon213]

Thanks for the replies! Those are some very useful information.
 
Honestly, I am still confused without pictures to look at (google searching doesn't seem accurate when it comes to these two types of gouramis).
 
Saw this at a store today, which was labeled as flame dwarf gourami. Is that accurate? I have to say it looks kind of like a honey to me 

 

 
 

 

[DreamertK]

I'd probably say the store is accurate. ...This time.

 

[Shelster]

My honeys are in my sig and profile.

Sig = female, profile = male

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks for the replies! Those are some very useful information.
 
Honestly, I am still confused without pictures to look at (google searching doesn't seem accurate when it comes to these two types of gouramis).
 
Saw this at a store today, which was labeled as flame dwarf gourami. Is that accurate? I have to say it looks kind of like a honey to me 

 

gourami.jpg
 
 

 
 
That is a Flame Dwarf Gourami

BTW, I've kept Sunset Thicklipped Gouramis and they are great.  Let me see if I can find some pictures to post up so you can be sure what you're getting.

This guy was about 4.5 inches long at least:
 

 
Here's another picture of the same guy when he was a bit younger (The Lyretail Molly shown with him was about 3 inches long at the time):
 

 

[Ruskull]

Here's a different male I had to keep in another tank since he bullied the other guy so much, he's still young here, like 3 inches long or so:
 

 

 

 

[DoubleDutch]

Flame Dwarfs are prone to Dwarf Gourami Disease (Iridovirus) !!!!

 

[doraemon213]

The pictures are really helpful!! Thanks Ruskull!! 

 
I hear a lot about Dwarf gourami disease... is that only prone to certain kinds of gouramis? 

 

[Ruskull]

The pictures are really helpful!! Thanks Ruskull!! 

 
I hear a lot about Dwarf gourami disease... is that only prone to certain kinds of gouramis? 

 
Supposedly it's specific to Dwarf Gouramis..........all color variants including Flame, Power Blue, Electric Blue, and the natural red one as well.  To the best of my knowledge it doesn't affect Honey G's or Thick Lip G's.  I've kept 3 Dwarf G's and 2 of them died from DGD, a Flame G and a Powder Blue.  The third one I got I've kept for about a year & a half and he's a tough little guy!  He's a natural red & blue striped specimen with a silver face.

 

[DreamertK]

Honies are a completely different species, though the market tends to label some DG or honies as "dwarf honey gourami" for some confusing reason. If you've seen enough dwarfs and honies as me, you can tell right away which they are.

 

[GQinit006]

Here is my Thick-lipped Sunset if that helps. https://streamable.com/36eog

Does anybody know the specific differences between sunset thicklip gourami and honey gourami (visuals, living environment, etc)? Is thicklip suppoed to be bigger than honey in adult size, like 3.5 inches vs 2 inches?

I want to get the sunset thicklip, but so far I seem to have only seen honeys in my LFSs, so I want to be able to tell which species it is when I go to a fish store.

Thanks a lot!

 

[AmandaN]

I've learned that fish stores commonly mislabel gourami fish. This fish was labeled as a dwarf gourami! ahahahaha

image source