Honey Gourami Tank

[Diacodexis]

I am looking into getting a long 20-gallon tank with a lid for 3 honey gourami. If anyone has recommendations or trusted brands to look for, I'd really appreciate any feedback. I am struggling to find a long tank with a lid - I am leaning towards getting a customized lid off of Etsy to fit the Aqueon Standard Open-Glass 20 Gallon Aquarium Tank, but if there are any other options, I would be interested in hearing. I am also wondering if this is too small of a tank? Would a duo be better? I have seen so many mixed opinions on this topic and am feeling a bit unsure. I just fear that with a duo, one will choose to be dominant & it will be unpleasant for the other. I plan on getting 3 female Honey Gourami to minimize any stress on each other. Thank you

 

[Jennet37 95]

Welcome to the forum. It is a really good place to get advice and support. I am in UK, so cannot advise on your needs re: tank. However, I am sure others will be able to.

 

[Tomsfish15 14]

Aqueons are good tanks. They would be my choice these days.
Make sure to exam it for good looking caulk job and smooth corners. Sometimes the glass will not be lined up perfect on corners.
Most places that sell tanks sell glass lids.
I see no issue with 3 female Honey Gourami in a 20.
Have you looked at 20 longs? There 2 size 20gallons and the long is a nicer size IMO. It is longer.
20 talls are 24 inches and 20 longs are 30.
If you can find a prem made glass lid look for a glass shop in your area maybe or try amazon they have Aqueon glass lids for both 200 tall and 2o long.
Welcome to TFF fellow NYer~!

 

[Diacodexis]

Welcome to the forum. It is a really good place to get advice and support. I am in UK, so cannot advise on your needs re: tank. However, I am sure others will be able to.

thank you!

Aqueons are good tanks. They would be my choice these days.
Make sure to exam it for good looking caulk job and smooth corners. Sometimes the glass will not be lined up perfect on corners.
Most places that sell tanks sell glass lids.
I see no issue with 3 female Honey Gourami in a 20.
Have you looked at 20 longs? There 2 size 20gallons and the long is a nicer size IMO. It is longer.
20 talls are 24 inches and 20 longs are 30.
If you can find a prem made glass lid look for a glass shop in your area maybe or try amazon they have Aqueon glass lids for both 200 tall and 2o long.
Welcome to TFF fellow NYer~!

Thank you so much for your help; all very useful info. I will keep this in mind & I will be careful when buying. Yes, I intend on getting a 20 long im glad it seems like a good fit!! Just found the listing for the lid online!
Thank you

 

[GaryE18 16]

One issue you might consider is your choice of honey gouramis. I love Trichogaster chuna, the fish that originally was sold as the honey gouami. I used to breed them, and enjoyed keeping them. But the colour was with the males, and females were plain silvery things.
There is a second species now marketed as the honey gourami - probably T labiosa or a hybrid. It's larger and far rougher than the gentle chuna. After I'd been breeding chuna, I had a lot of them more than I had tanks for. So males did end up living together, and in 30 inch 20 long, multiple males were just fine together. I doubt you'd do as well with the 'big' species that hijacked the trade name.

So, as odd as this sounds, when you talk about honey gouramis, what fish do you plan to keep?

 

[gwand57 173]

I have four T. chuna in a 29 g community tank with dwarf platy, endlers and a pair of Mollys. It is a very peaceful tank. Colorful too.

 

[Helina22]

I have four T. chuna in a 29 g community tank with dwarf platy, endlers and a pair of Mollys. It is a very peaceful tank. Colorful too.

How many of them are males?

 

[gwand57 173]

How many of them are males?

All males

 

[Diacodexis]

One issue you might consider is your choice of honey gouramis. I love Trichogaster chuna, the fish that originally was sold as the honey gouami. I used to breed them, and enjoyed keeping them. But the colour was with the males, and females were plain silvery things.
There is a second species now marketed as the honey gourami - probably T labiosa or a hybrid. It's larger and far rougher than the gentle chuna. After I'd been breeding chuna, I had a lot of them more than I had tanks for. So males did end up living together, and in 30 inch 20 long, multiple males were just fine together. I doubt you'd do as well with the 'big' species that hijacked the trade name.

So, as odd as this sounds, when you talk about honey gouramis, what fish do you plan to keep?

Thank you so much for explaining this to me, I definitely will be careful when buying as I am looking for a true Trichogaster chuna! I was under the impression that female honey gouramis were a silvery yellow, are all of these images accurate or am I on the wrong track? Thank you for the interesting info, it is really too bad they are mislabeled so often.

 

[Essjay57 172]

In the UK, there are 3 different colours sold as honey gouramis.

The red 'honey gourami' (aka red robin gourami) is the one Gary warned about. These are not honey gouramis.

The natural coloured true honey had a golden tan male and a silver beige female. Of your images the first (hipppocampus) looks like a stressed, so washed out colour, male natural honey gourami - males usually have more colour than in that photo but he has signs of the male black throat. The third image (CK Yeo) is a natural coloured female, and she shows the horizontal darker stripe typical of females.

The third variety is yellow. These may or may not be true honeys but they grow to the same size and have the same temperament as true honeys - I've kept both true and yellow over the years. The second photo (alamy) is a female of the yellow variety. She has the darker horizontal stripe typical of yellow females, though can be somewhat broken rather than a continuous sold line. The male yellow honeys I've had showed more orange at the rear end of the body and tail than female yellows and did not have a horizontal stripe. The yellow males also developed a black throat like natural coloured males, though not as intense.


Some images of my fish -

Natural coloured male


Yellow male


Yellow female


I don't have a photo of a natural coloured female, but mine looked the same as the third (CK Yeo) of your images.

 

[Diacodexis]

In the UK, there are 3 different colours sold as honey gouramis.

The red 'honey gourami' (aka red robin gourami) is the one Gary warned about. These are not honey gouramis.

The natural coloured true honey had a golden tan male and a silver beige female. Of your images the first (hipppocampus) looks like a stressed, so washed out colour, male natural honey gourami - males usually have more colour than in that photo but he has signs of the male black throat. The third image (CK Yeo) is a natural coloured female, and she shows the horizontal darker stripe typical of females.

The third variety is yellow. These may or may not be true honeys but they grow to the same size and have the same temperament as true honeys - I've kept both true and yellow over the years. The second photo (alamy) is a female of the yellow variety. She has the darker horizontal stripe typical of yellow females, though can be somewhat broken rather than a continuous sold line. The male yellow honeys I've had showed more orange at the rear end of the body and tail than female yellows and did not have a horizontal stripe. The yellow males also developed a black throat like natural coloured males, though not as intense.


Some images of my fish -

Natural coloured male
View attachment 386248

Yellow male
View attachment 386249

Yellow female
View attachment 386250

I don't have a photo of a natural coloured female, but mine looked the same as the third (CK Yeo) of your images.

Thank you so much, super good to know as I was unsure if the yellow-ish females were true or similar in temperament; its good to hear from people with first-hand knowledge. I love the fish pictures. Really helpful I appreciate everyone in this thread

 

[gwand57 173]

How many of them are males?

I made a mistake. I now see dark throats on only two of the four fish. Apparently I have two pair. But there is absolutely no sparring or any aggressive behavior.

Here is a female (I think).

 

[Back in the fold14 11]

I do so miss the olden days in the hobby when the fish were pure . The first time I saw a Honey Chuna back in the 1960’s I fell in love ! The Thick Lipped Gourami , Colisa labiosa , was no slouch either . Another one you don’t see anymore is what I knew as the Giant Gourami , Colisa fasciata if I remember right . Gourami’s are lovely fish and so fun to watch in a heavily planted aquarium .