Are these honey gourami?

jossswonk

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I'm trying to decide between getting a honey gourami or a group of sparkling gourami for my planted 10 gallon because my store can get/ has both. I've heard by many people that sometimes the honey gouramis in the stores aren't actually honeys so I wanted to make sure before making my decision. Are these honey gouramis?
PXL_20260120_183705433.MACRO_FOCUS.MP.jpg
 
Yes, those are honeys - females.

It's the red ones which aren't real honeys.

Natural colour honeys have tan males with a black throat when not stressed (that is, they don't always show it in a store tank) and the females are a sort of beige colour often with the darker stripe as in your photo.
The yellow man made variety seem to be real honeys as well. They are harder to sex. Males tend to have a blackish throat when not stressed, but nothing like the intense black of the wild form; and they tend to become more orange towards the tail; female yellows tend to have the same shade over all the body though the fins can be orange, and they have the same darker line as wild honeys though it's more a broken line than a solid line. I use the phrase 'tend to' as there are all yellow males and not all females have the line. When I've bought them in the past I always chosen those with orange at the tail end to be sure of a male and those with the broken line to be sure of a female.
 
Thank you so much! Now knowing that those are real honeys should I choose a honey or a group of sparkling gourami? Other fish in the tank would include Celestial Pearl Danios and hopefully pygmy cories.
 

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