KariB

I am happy to report that my female honey has now regained all her beautiful body coloring back after a month and basically back to her old self. Sadly, still tailless, but I heard that tail rejuvenation can take up to a few months to a year...so fingers crossed!! But she appears happy and healthy. Haven't lost anyone yet...still have the two nerite zebra snails, and 6 rapboras with her in my 10 gallon. And my mini 3 gallon holding tank, turned mini aqauarium with all the same bells and whistles, seems to still be the perfect environment for that beautiful male. He remains the king of that domain exploring the cave, plants, and new snails. (I have added a few nerite zebra snails, just babies, to his "tank" now. They all seem to be flourishing. Still hoping one day to upgrade to a 20 gallon to put him back in with her, but still not sure that is such a good idea. He seems quite happy and healthy on his own, and no stressful nest building anymore. He remains quite entertaining with all his cute antics.

Thanks, Tony. I agree, but I would need a much larger tank for 1 male and 2 or 3 females according to all my new research with lots of caves and plants (artificial or otherwise) for hiding purposes during those mating times. Right now, I only have the room for a 10 gallon. Forgot to mention I have 2 nerite zebra snails that happily are taking care of the brown algae. And my female gourami has always been partial to checking them out and spending some "close" time near one. She is back to doing that as well. All inhabitants have been thriving for 9 months. And for now, the male seems pretty content in his new environment as well until I can rehome him or eventually upgrade to a 20 gallon, if possible. I hope with time, the female will regain her beautiful bright orange color again and regenerate her tail. They are beautiful fish and very entertaining to watch when all is going well.

I am a relatively new aquarium owner as of 9 months ago. I started with a 10 gallon tank, researched and asked lots of questions I ended up with 6 harlequin raspboras, and 2 beautiful honey gouramis. I took pride in the fact, as a novice, I never lost a fish during all this time. All were active, thriving, and living in peaceful harmony. I didn't know the sex of the two honeys at first, as they were young and looked identical the first few months to me. Then one became darker in color and developed the dark black stipes down both sides of his body as he happily built bubble nests and pursued the female. They basically were indedpendent of one another otherwise, exploring their environment with cute antics, and very entertaining to watch. With regular water changes, there were never any eggs that I could see. This bubble nest ritual happened a number of times and was short lived. Except in month 9. Right after a water change, the male once again began building a bubble nest, and began relentlessly pursuing the female. I had to add a second cave where she could go to hide. He became very aggressive to her this last time. Every time she ventured out to go up for air, he would come out of nowhere and dive bomb her. Same thing happened during feeding, and he wouldn't let her eat. He chased her relentlessy and even nipped off ALL of her beautiful fan tail "feathers". None left! It was so sad. They had been a beautiful peaceful pair for 8 months. She became so stressed and turned almost white. This activity all took place over a period of 6 days and it was so disheartening. She couldn't catch a break and spent her days in a safe hiding place in one of the caves I added. I ordered a 3 gallon holding tank ASAP for him as soon as I realized what was happening. I wanted him out of there to give her rest, her fin tail now gone, and all. It took her 24 hours before she realized she could come up for air and stay there, and another 24 before she realized she could now eat once again in peace. Tailess now, a bit of her natural coloring has returned, but not nearly as bright as the first 8 months. She is once again swimming around the tank after 3 days, feeling safe and secure with the male gone. I have turned the 3 gallown holding tank into a mini aqaurium with subtrate, afew small artifical plants and cave, a mini filter, and a mini LED light for the time being. The male is happily the sole king of his domain swimming around and exploring like before. No bubble nests, no female to torment, and his dark black stripes have completely disappeard as he is out of mating mode. I have since read if you have 2 honeys, a minimum of a 20 gallon tank is needed. Of course, his coloring is just beautiful still, and his body is completely intact. Altough my female seems very happy once again, it saddens me to see most of her beautiful coloring now all washed out, and her beautiful fin tail gone. But she is safe and enjoying the 10 gallon aquarium with the 6 raspboras. Sorry this was so long. Just wanted to share my experience with these "peaceful" honey gouramis.

Hello, everyone, I am new to this forum. I am also relatively new to auarium ownership, having bought my husband a 10 gallon aquarium last October. I am the sole maintainer of it and its contents which I am thoroughly enjoying. I came across this forum today when I asked the question as to why our male honey gouraimi is all of a sudden relentless in his chase of the one female. He has always chased her a bit after building one of his bubble nests, but for the most part they have lived in harmony, oftentimes swimming around together, or just greeting one another if they have been exploring on their own. I have had them about 8 months now and take pride in the fact, I have not lost a single fish....yet. I have 6 small harlequin raspboras, 2 zebra nerite snails that are happily taking care of the brown algae, and my two beautiful honeys. They look exactly like the photo of the two beautiful yellows another person sent in on this site. I am both sad and confused as to why, during the past week or so, it seems like my male honey hasn't given the female a break! She goes into hiding, but as soon as she ventures out, he comes out of nowhere to relentlessly chase her, and it appears he is also attacking her. This is new behavior! I just noticed that her beauriful tail fin "feathers" have been nipped off. Pardon my igonorance, but will they ever rejuvenate? She also appears so exhausted. I only have room for this one tank. I heard honeys got along with a variety of tank mates and one another, so I was very careful with setting up this tank. And I had never seen this behavior from the male until this past week. I am exhausted watching him bother her so relentlessly all of a sudden. Any suggestions? His bubble nests are frequently removed with regular cleaning, and I don't believe there have ever been any eggs as I use artificial plants. I also have some small tunnels she sometimes hides in.