Getting Some Honey Gourami - Advice Appreciated On Tankmates

[CezzaXV]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for making a few threads around here recently, but I'm determined to get this right and Google doesn't give me the info I need.

As some of you may have seen, I am planning on getting a group of honey gourami for my 155L tank. I've seen them in my local Maidenhead Aquatics and have fallen in love. From what I've read they need to be kept in a group, so I was planning on having four.

My original concern was whether they would be compatible with my dwarf gourami who sadly died yesterday. I'm still considering getting another dwarf gourami as I really loved him (though probably in a different colour strain), but I'm now considering the possibility of getting either another type of compatible gourami, or another fish altogether. I had originally planned to get the honeys today, but since my DG died yesterday I'm holding off for a week or so so I can make sure there's not a disease going around my tank.

If anyone has any information or links to good info on compatibility between honey and other types of gourami, or recommendations on other showpiece fish which would be compatible, I'd appreciate it. Many of my fish choices have been based on forum recommendations so your help is really useful.

 

[KevM]

I wouldn't risk mixing Gouramis, to be honest. You might get away with mixing Honeys and Pearls but even that is a bit risky if you've got a male of each. I would suggest a nice big group of Honeys, or a group of four Honeys plus some nice schooling fish like Harlequin Rasboras, or something. As for a showpiece: how about a pair of some of the more placid dwarf cichlids, perhaps a couple of Bolivian Rams. They colour up well and they tend to be quite bottom strata oriented - they should mix well with the Honeys.

 

[CezzaXV]

I went to the LFS today and they did have a dwarf gourami in with the honeys and they seemed to be fine, although I know the conditions they keep them in in LFS aren't necessarily conditions you'd want to keep them in long term. There's just so much conflicting information online regarding gourami compatibility. I dont know what to believe.

I'm looking for top dwellers, or at least mid dwellers. I've got a tall tank and the top layer is definitely lacking fish.

 

[KevM]

Harlequins are good shout, then. They stay higher up than most tetras. How about some pencilfish or livebearers? Same deal with them. Dwarf Gouramis are funny souls; sometimes they're fine for ages and then just flip out. Similarly, a lot of the time they seem fine for a while and then just up and die. I'd never buy a Dwarf Gourami because DGD seems to be so widespread.

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm looking more for a fish I can keep two or three of at most to accompany my honeys rather than another school. Not such a fan of live bearers and I'm currently waiting for my last guppy to leave me.

I really loved my dwarf gourami, he was such a character. I don't know whether it was DGD that killed him. I was originally going to hey my honeys yesterday but held off in case there was disease in my tank, but my other fish (guppy, cardinal tetra, cories plus inverts) all seem fine.

 

[KevM]

It sounds like you may have to do something risky, then! Depending on the size of your tank you could try a group or pair of Pearl Gouramis, another Dwarf Gourami, or perhaps a pair of Angelfish (this one is very tank-size dependent). You'd have to keep an eye on things and be prepared that this endeavor may end in a torn up male Honey Gourami. You could get away with it, and you'll have a much easier time if your tank is heavily planted with loads of places for any persecuted fish to hide. I still wouldn't try it in a 155 litre tank, personally, but you might get away with it. I'd be more inclined to pick the safe option of some schooling fish, or a group of colourful Platies - I recently picked up 4 lovely almost electric blue ones, to help fill-out the top level of my tank.

How old was your Dwarf Gourami? Without knowing a single fact other than it was a Dwarf Gourami and it died, I'd bet money it was DGD. I know so many people that are constantly replacing their DGs because they can't see out a year (or even more than a few months, most of the time) in their tank.

 

[CezzaXV]

I'll have a look through my fish diary later, but it's probably about 7 or 8 months at a guess since I had my DG. It was very sudden - came home from work one night to see him on the substrate on his side breathing heavily, and the next morning he was dead.

I asked at my local MA and they said much the same - it could well be alright but to keep an eye on it. Is keeping just female honeys not an option? Information online is surprisingly lacking.

 

[KevM]

Yeah, you could just keep females of either the Honeys or the Pearls (if you were to mix them). It would probably be better to make the Pearls the all-female group, though. However, if you do that then you miss out on the males in their beautiful breeding colours, and a load of interesting behaviour. How about a different colour variant of Honey Gourami? There's quite a few out there. I personally really like the Sunset Honey Gourami. One of my males developed lovely patches of blue on the edges of some of his fins.

 

[CezzaXV]

The only variant I've seen in my local shops is what I think is just the standard variant (they weren't labelled last time as they only had one left and were waiting for new stock to come in). They're really rather striking. They're bright yellow and gorgeous.

Is 1 male dwarf and X (4?) female honeys a good idea? Or at least a risk worth taking?

 

[KevM]

Sorry but I think you're talking to the wrong guy here!

That doesn't sound like a risk to me, at all; but then I'm no great shakes on DGs. I don't like them and I don't have much first-hand experience with them. I would say you might get away with the dwarf and a group, but you know...

The wild type Honey Gourami looks like this:

Do the ones your LFS sells look like that? Bear in mind the one above is a male in breeding colours.

 

[CezzaXV]

The basic body shape is the same, but the ones in my LFS are really, really bright yellow, whereas all the ones I've seen online are at least a little bit orange. They're beautiful.

I'm beginning to think it might be worth trying out a standard mixed group of honeys along with a single dwarf and see what happens. If the worst comes to the worst, I'll have to return one of the males.

 

[KevM]

That'll be the Sunset Honey Gourami I mentioned earlier; they're also my favourite strain.

 

[Essjay]

It's getting almost impossible to find wild coloured honeys these days. I visited or phoned every shop in my area and a bit further looking for some, and in the end had to settle for the yellow variety from Maidenhead Aq. The females are plain yellow with a hint of a stripe from nose to tail, and the male is yellow at his head, changing to orange towards his tail, and a bit of black at his throat. Not quite as nice as wild coloured, but not far behind

I got 1m 2f for my 125 litre. They've only been in there 2 weeks (I quarantined them first) and they seem fine together. One of the females chased the other for a couple of days, but there are no problems now.


I've never had honeys in the same tank as another gourami species, so I can't help with the dwarf.

 

[CezzaXV]

Yeah, they're the same ones I was hoping to get. Can't say I've noticed as much of a difference in the males, so maybe its not worth the risk and I should just get all females. That way I'm still open to another species of gourami, and if I end up with something else I can just add a male.

 

[CezzaXV]

Went to buy my honeys today but they're still in quarantine. I asked and they dont know when they'll be coming out of quarantine (it was meant to be Saturday) but they took my phone number and are gonna ring me. I also asked if they could sell me all females and they said that's fine.

Here are the fish in question:
http/i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee195/CezzaXV/IMG_20121113_120831.jpg