True Honey Gouramis?

[Danieow]

Ok well my Gourami Book I ordered finally arrived today and after reading it I am not sure that my "honey" gouramis that I've gotten from the pet store and true honey gouramis. The ones in the book look similar the pictures below

and the honey's I have look like the pic below, which in the book are called Thick Lipped Gourami's, and are a color morph

I am just wondering which my fish really are since they were advertised as honey's but may not be. Either way I love my fishy friends

 

[Snowie]

It's like dwarf gourami, Colisa Lalia.

This is what they look like in nature:

And here are 2 versions that exist only in captivity:

I bet its the same with honey gouramis, they have been selectivly bred to be "red" honey gouramis.

 

[Danieow]

It's possible. I have read that thick lipped gourami's look "very" similar to other gourami's so maybe I'm just mixing them up. But in the forum's Gourami Website Pinned post my fishies look much like the thick lipped gourami there (but more orangeish), and not really much at all like the honey pictured. I wouldn't be worried about my fish not being honey gouramis except that if they are thick lipped gourami's they may get 3-4 inches, which means I'll need a bigger or a second tank.

 

[sylvia]

How big is your fish and how long have you had them? It's somewhat difficult to tell from a picture but it isn't a dwarf. Compare the dip in the 'forehead' of the dwarf gouramies to that of your fish. They do, indeed, look like thick-lipped gouramies (colisa labiosa) which get to about 3". Another possibility is that you have a honey/dwarf hybrid. These vary greatly in appearance but many I have seen look similar to your fish.

edit: I just wanted to say that I looked at the picture again today and, actualy, it does look like a honey. That is almost deffinately what it is after all. Obviously you'll know for certain if they get any bigger than they are now. If they get to about 2", they were hybrids after all. True honeys rarely get over 1.5".

 

[Danieow]

My fish are young so they're all about 1 1/2 inch. long and I've had them for about three weeks now. I am pretty sure that they are indeed thick lipped gourami's after researching them for hours last night but they could possibly be a hybrid like you suggest. Who knows now a days? lol I'll wait until they start growing a little bit before I go and get another tank, I hope they stay small, that's why I got them thinking they were dwarfs. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[Hels]

hi..

im pretty sure they are just a 'red' honey gourami...they are sold alot where i live... as far as i know they are just a colour morph and just need the same conditions as the normal honey....

when i got my honey gouramis i had to decide between the 'normal' or the 'red' ... it was a pretty hard decision but i ended up when the 'normal' colouration.... they are almost impossible to sex when they are young....especially in the breeders tank....so i ended up with two males which have developed the black necks in the top picture which means they (would be) getting ready to breed......very sweet fish....you'll love them

 

[Gill]

What You Have there are:

Red Honey Gourami's
often Calle Paprika Gourami.

Some argue they are a Natural Color Morph.
But the More I have Studied them and the Behaviuor and Mortality Rate, I am have come to think of them as Fake.

My LFS FOund out they are Dyed.

Not the Bad Way - But fed A Red Color Enhancing Dye to Overtake the Natural Coloration.

We Kept 3 Seperate @ the LFS a While ago to see how long it takes for the Natural Dwarf gourami Coloration to reassert itself.

It took 3 Months for the Color To completley Fade away and Return to a Mucky Yellow with the Black Belt. They Did not return to Full Yellow, But a Mix of Yellowy Silver.

They are Prone to Dropsy and a Short Lived.

Very Young Fish Will Loose the Coloration with a few Weeks but Adult Fish that have been Recently Color Morphed will Take a Few Months to Color Change.

 

[@ombomb]

My LFS FOund out they are Dyed.

Not the Bad Way - But fed A Red Color Enhancing Dye to Overtake the Natural Coloration.

We Kept 3 Seperate @ the LFS a While ago to see how long it takes for the Natural Dwarf gourami Coloration to reassert itself.

I've had a pair of those for over three months and if anything the colour of the male has become redder. Is it possible that the dyed ones were "Fake" Red Honeys?

 

[sylvia]

Is it possible that the dyed ones were "Fake" Red Honeys?

Almost deffinately. I have personaly never seen any dyed gouramies (though I'm sure they exist) and I know for a fact that the red variety is not artificial.

Regardless, Gill only said they were fed color-enhanicing food, not actualy dyed. They were probably ordinary honeys (like he said) that they wanted to sell as reds.

I have to say though, honeys aren't realy prone to dropsy or short lived. They are actualy quite hardy and live to 7 years of age. The 'color-enhancing' food, unless it actualy contained a chemical dye (most just have things like carotine inside to 'improve' color), shouldn't have a serious effect on the fish' health. Are you sure they weren't dwarfs?

 

[Danieow]

I now agree with the short-lived aspect of these little fishies. I orginally had 5, the Nitrites in my tank got a "tiny" bit higher than normal and there are now only 2 of these guys left One seems like he may go to but one of them is much larger and healthier than all the others and seems to be just fine. Also I've found out from my pet shop that mine are actually thick-lipped Gouramis, probably color-fed to be so orange, and will only get about 3 inches. They are often also dyed to have blue highlights on the belly to make them appear to be true honey gouramis Colisa sorta or chuna's. The shop told me the way to tell the difference is all about the body shape, for true honeys they have the more roundish dwarf gourami body and thick-lips the longer gourami type body. These little thick lips have lots of personality, but I still hope to find true Honey Dwarf Gourami's out there.

 

[Gill]

The 1's My LFS has are Definelty the Color Fed Dyed 1's.

They Have Already started to Change back in Color and they have Only been there 2 Weeks.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Ive been following this and am still a little confused. In the honey gourami tank at Pets At Home, there are the red ones, but there are also more 'silvery' looking ones. So, what are they? Dyed? Or not?

 

[Danieow]

The "silvery" thick-lips are probably the gouramis that are losing the color (natural), and the bright ones dyed or color-fed. If they are honey gourami's though they don't show their colors well in petstores or outside of breeding time or under stess. If they are honey gouramis then the color should enhance once they adjust to your home tank.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Hmm, I feel an 'experiment' coming on. Hey, I'm sure no one will notice another tank, right . So, something like getting a honey gourami from a few different shops and seeing colour change, how big they get, yadda yadda. WEll, I'll see about that shelf in my room first.

 

[sylvia]

Actualy the small silvery ones are just juvenile honeys. That's what they look like when they're young. You should be able to see a faint darker line running across them along the lateral line as well. No adult honey has that coloration (even if it was fed color-enhancing foods) - they just go back to a yellowish color and the males still develop the blue-black udnerside when mature. The red ones at your LFS are either dwarf gouramies or a color morph of honeys.