Please Tell Me About Honey Gouramis ! ! !

[Ruskull]

Okay, so my prized Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami died and I need something to fill the massive void in my new 20 gallon high. I don't want to try another Dwarf because I've already lost four and I get very attached to them since they have such unique personalities.

The tank has sand substrate & very good filtration via (2) hang on back 20 gallon filters. It has a cheesey airstone that I only turn on once in a while. It's also lightly planted with mediocre lighting. The tank mates are (5) Glowlights, (4) Guppy males, (3) Threelined Corys,(3) Molly fry which will probably be rehomed & a huge Golden Mystery Snail.

Now I've heard some other posters here singing the praises of these little Gouramis and I happen to notice some at the local fish store. The one that caught my eye is bright yellow and silvery white around the throat area. There were (3) of them in the tank with Powder Blues & Flame Dwarf G's and some weird looking "Thick Lipped" Gouramis which I never even heard of. Anyway, the three were all just barely over an inch long so I'm assuming they were very young.

How can I tell male from female? They're so small that I can barely see the dorsal fin and whether it's pointy or not. Is there another way to tell? It seemed like the other two were much less colorful.

What if I get all three & they all turn out to be males? Are these very territorial like other Gouramis?

I also went to PetSmart & saw they had some sad looking Sunset Honey Gouramis. The tag for them said they grow to be up to 4 inches long, which was a bit of a surprise.

Any and all help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[Ruskull]

Here's a random internet pic of a Gold Honey Gourami that looks almost exactly like the ones I saw at the store:

 

[Crossfire]

What about sparkling gouramis? Small, gorgeous, really intelligent, shiny, and they croak!

 

[Fishy friend2]

+1 sparling gouramis are a better choice. IMO

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks for the idea but I haven't seen any available around here in North Carolina. The one time I did they looked tiny, like under an inch & were very expensive. I need to fill a BIG VOID left by my Dwarf G, the tank already has a bucnh of smaller fish. I was even considering getting more Pearl Gouramis but I already have a pair in a different tank.

 

[Fishy friend2]

Okay, so my prized Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami died and I need something to fill the massive void in my new 20 gallon high. I don't want to try another Dwarf because I've already lost four and I get very attached to them since they have such unique personalities.

The tank has sand substrate & very good filtration via (2) hang on back 20 gallon filters. It has a cheesey airstone that I only turn on once in a while. It's also lightly planted with mediocre lighting. The tank mates are (5) Glowlights, (4) Guppy males, (3) Threelined Corys,(3) Molly fry which will probably be rehomed & a huge Golden Mystery Snail.

Now I've heard some other posters here singing the praises of these little Gouramis and I happen to notice some at the local fish store. The one that caught my eye is bright yellow and silvery white around the throat area. There were (3) of them in the tank with Powder Blues & Flame Dwarf G's and some weird looking "Thick Lipped" Gouramis which I never even heard of. Anyway, the three were all just barely over an inch long so I'm assuming they were very young.

How can I tell male from female? They're so small that I can barely see the dorsal fin and whether it's pointy or not. Is there another way to tell? It seemed like the other two were much less colorful. --------Females-Usually larger and plumper, honey's have a brown horizontal stripe, short rounded dorsal fin
Males-------Long pointed dorsal fin, smaller and more slim, usually much more vibrant in color.


What if I get all three & they all turn out to be males? Are these very territorial like other Gouramis? --------------these specific gouramis are not as nearly aggressive as there very popular cousin, the dwarf gourami. but I wouldnt worry about them all turning out to be males as IMHO you only have the space for 1, but if you do get three then make sure you hsve a mix of 2 females and a male as with 2 or 3 males then with such a small tank they will most likely show large amounts of aggression and even fight over territory

I also went to PetSmart & saw they had some sad looking Sunset Honey Gouramis. The tag for them said they grow to be up to 4 inches long, which was a bit of a surprise. -------if im correct, honey gouramis, are considered one of the nano species and stay a little over an inch long, maybe these are labeled incorrectly?

 

[Crossfire]

http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+882+1562&pcatid=1562

 

[Fishy friend2]

there shipping is not cheap

 

[Crossfire]

there shipping is not cheap

Definatley not But Sparkler's are worth it

 

[Fishy friend2]

not when you could easily get honey gouramis for 30 dollars less

 

[Crossfire]

not when you could easily get honey gouramis for 30 dollars less

 

[Fishy friend2]

crossfire, i have a quick question for you, are your sparkling gouramis aggressive? im thinking about getting a pair for my betta tank. do you think they will be compatible in a 60 liter, 2 foot tank

 

[Ruskull]

Sparkling Gouramis are way too small, this tank isn't huge but 20 gallons should be able to support three of the Honeys no problem. I was going to get 2 females for King Powder............c'mon now, a 20 gallon tank is too small for 3 fish that only grow to be 2 inches long? Seriously? I did some research & most sites say these Honeys only get to be 2 nto 3 inches max. Obviously that PetSmart has the wrong info..........#106###, Three Spots & Pearls only get to be 4 inches for the males & 5 for females.

The only reason I would get all three is that they are currently in the same tank at the store & they seemed to get along well. One of them is much brighter yellow while the other two are much more drab but still yellow. I'd say they're all roughly the same size at about 1.25 inches or so including the tail. I'd like to think I may get lucky & get a 1:2 male to female ratio. If I'm wrong and they get aggressive with each other, I'll return 1 or 2 depending on the situation. I always have my 10 gallon hospital tank as a backup timeout if it's 1 chasing the others.

 

[Crossfire]

crossfire, i have a quick question for you, are your sparkling gouramis aggressive? im thinking about getting a pair for my betta tank. do you think they will be compatible in a 60 liter, 2 foot tank

I have a male and a female, and sometimes the female will chase the male off if he gets to persistant, but other than that no issues at all. Can't tell you about male/male or female/female though...

 

[Ruskull]

not when you could easily get honey gouramis for 30 dollars less

Do you really think a 20 gallon isn't big enough for 3 Honeys? Or it it that you think the tank would be overstocked? I plan to remove the Molly Fry and I was considering giving my Father the 5 Glowlights. I';m not a big fan of Glowlights...........boring fish IMO.