How to tell a Honey Gourami from other small Gourami species

[Hobbit]

On 4/30/2022 at 2:21 PM, Cinnebuns said:

It was recently brought to my attention that there may be an issue with me keeping the gouramis I have. I have 1 female honey and 1 thick lipped ofc was sold as a honey. The concern is the water hardness. My water is very hard and they are kept with guppies. 

Parameters are:  PH 8.2 GH 19 KH 14

Is this going to be harmful to the gouramis or should I be considering a change of some kind? 

I’m very late to the party, but I’ll just add my experience: I kept my honeys in a tank that got increasingly hard water due to the gravel leaching. Unfortunately they only lived about two years, which is much shorter than I was hoping. I attributed their shorter lifespan to the harder water, but I have no way of knowing that’s for sure what it was.

I do think the hard water makes it more difficult for them to make and maintain bubble nests, just like it makes it harder for us to get suds out of soap. It’s just a guess, but if you want your honeys to breed, you may want to try to soften their water. 🙂

In your last video, that nosing into the water lettuce looks to me like he might be building something in there! So maybe your honey’s going to find a way to breed no matter what!

[Cinnebuns]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:10 PM, Hobbit said:

but if you want your honeys to breed, you may want to try to soften their water. 🙂

Late to the party is still acceptable! Although I have a little bit of a breeding obsession, I wasn't necessarily looking to breed these. I wouldn't be disappointed if they did but it's also not something I'm aiming for. I was more curious if what I was seeing was breeding behavior.

Also, I would have been a hilarious slap in the face to my friend that I got them from. He's been actively trying to breed them (with very little research I may add) and gave up on the idea and traded them to me. Would be hilarious if after that I got them to breed without trying quickly lol

[wildfish]

I'm completely late to this party, but this is a great thread about gourami. 😊

I recently bought a wild honey gourami and they only had one left in the tank. I'm having the worst luck finding additional tank mates for this little baby. I think it's a girl, and she's so sweet but very young still. Can wild honey's live peacefully with regular or dwarf Honey's given they're both pretty small? She is extremely shy, and not eating a whole bunch (plucking at the decor mostly) and I just want to get her some friends so make her more confident. 

[Lennie]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:51 AM, wildfish said:

I'm completely late to this party, but this is a great thread about gourami. 😊

I recently bought a wild honey gourami and they only had one left in the tank. I'm having the worst luck finding additional tank mates for this little baby. I think it's a girl, and she's so sweet but very young still. Can wild honey's live peacefully with regular or dwarf Honey's given they're both pretty small? She is extremely shy, and not eating a whole bunch (plucking at the decor mostly) and I just want to get her some friends so make her more confident. 

Beautiful fish!

And yes they can live with other color variations of honey gouramis. They are the same family. It is generally just not adviced to mix different gourami species. What do you mean by dwarf honeys? If you mean dwarf gouramis, that's a no go. 

But for other color variations of honeys, like sunsets, you are good to go. 

Just make sure they are honeys. Sometimes thick lips are marketed as honeys too

 

 

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:51 AM, wildfish said:

Can wild honey's live peacefully with regular or dwarf Honey's given they're both pretty small?

I would say yes to other honey but no to other dwarf gourami. Given you mean the gourami NAMED dwarf and not as a description. It can get confusing. Dwarf gourami (flame, neon and powdered blue) are kinda a crap shoot for temperament and wouldn't work well with another gourami most of the time. 

If by dwarf you mean a smaller gourami, that's a different discussion. 

[wildfish]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:12 AM, Lennie said:

Beautiful fish!

And yes they can live with other color variations of honey gouramis. They are the same family. It is generally just not adviced to mix different gourami species. What do you mean by dwarf honeys? If you mean dwarf gouramis, that's a no go. 

But for other color variations of honeys, like sunsets, you are good to go. 

Just make sure they are honeys. Sometimes thick lips are marketed as honeys too

 

 

Thank you so much. I saw a LFS say dwarf honey gourami in a listing and thought it was a thing. I know the dwarfs are normally the blue with orange (as I've had those in the past and blue powder) and they can be quite aggressive so I don't want that. 

I'm happy to know that any variation of honey will work. Finding other wild ones is proving to be a challenge here on Vancouver Island. 

 

On 3/15/2023 at 12:19 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I would say yes to other honey but no to other dwarf gourami. Given you mean the gourami NAMED dwarf and not as a description. It can get confusing. Dwarf gourami (flame, neon and powdered blue) are kinda a crap shoot for temperament and wouldn't work well with another gourami most of the time. 

If by dwarf you mean a smaller gourami, that's a different discussion. 

This LFS labelled a honey as a dwarf honey gourami and this is why I got confused. I definitely won't be mixing any other species with this one. While they say "peaceful" for gouramis, that is not the case with those others always lol. I've done ok with pearl in the past, but dwarf and blue powders can be meanies and I've had to rehome from bullying. I don't want that with this little one. He/She is so tiny right now ☺️

 

Any idea if mine is male or female? I'm having a hard time, but I think it may be female. 

[wildfish]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:19 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I would say yes to other honey but no to other dwarf gourami. Given you mean the gourami NAMED dwarf and not as a description. It can get confusing. Dwarf gourami (flame, neon and powdered blue) are kinda a crap shoot for temperament and wouldn't work well with another gourami most of the time. 

If by dwarf you mean a smaller gourami, that's a different discussion. 

This is what they called honey dwarf gourami 

[Colu]

That just a different colour morph of a honey gourami I thinks it's a sunset honey gourami they are fine to put with your other honey gourami @wildfish

[wildfish]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:49 AM, Colu said:

That just a different colour morph of a honey gourami I thinks it's a sunset honey gourami they are fine to put with your other honey gourami @wildfish

Beautiful. Thank you so much. This thread makes me happy to know I can find her a tank mate and help her come out if hiding now without having to wait to find wild ones 😊

[Lennie]

On 3/15/2023 at 5:03 PM, wildfish said:

Thank you so much. I saw a LFS say dwarf honey gourami in a listing and thought it was a thing. I know the dwarfs are normally the blue with orange (as I've had those in the past and blue powder) and they can be quite aggressive so I don't want that. 

I'm happy to know that any variation of honey will work. Finding other wild ones is proving to be a challenge here on Vancouver Island. 

 

This LFS labelled a honey as a dwarf honey gourami and this is why I got confused. I definitely won't be mixing any other species with this one. While they say "peaceful" for gouramis, that is not the case with those others always lol. I've done ok with pearl in the past, but dwarf and blue powders can be meanies and I've had to rehome from bullying. I don't want that with this little one. He/She is so tiny right now ☺️

 

Any idea if mine is male or female? I'm having a hard time, but I think it may be female. 

Yes! Their in store names do change a lot for honey gouramis, no surprise 🙂

As long as you are able to differentiate what is what, then you are good to go!

if you are not sure, we can try to help here as well.

I regret only getting one instead of a group as well, I have never ever seen them in my lfs again 🙂 one of my regrets.

I love gouramis

 

[wildfish]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:06 AM, Lennie said:

Yes! Their in store names do change a lot for honey gouramis, no surprise 🙂

As long as you are able to differentiate what is what, then you are good to go!

if you are not sure, we can try to help here as well.

I regret only getting one instead of a group as well, I have never ever seen them in my lfs again 🙂 one of my regrets.

I love gouramis

 

They only had the one remaining when I bought it and I thought it would be ok alone given my luck with past gourami, but not in this case. I feel like it's lonely and shy so he/she needs some friends. This thread has certainly helped me with figuring out what is true honey and what is not. 

I have it with rosy barbs and Pygmy corydora and the barbs are very peaceful and leave her/him alone, but they eat all the food and this one is quite picky turning it's nose up at flakes, pellets or frozen bloodworms unless it's super hungry. I often see if picking off the decor in the tank so it must be eating something lol. I just want a better living environment for him/her to be comfy 😊

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:09 AM, wildfish said:

This is what they called honey dwarf gourami

In this case they are using the word dwarf as a description of a small gourami. That's where the confusion comes in. The term "dwarf gourami" can mean a specific type of gourami or aa a description of a small gourami. One of many cases where the common name leads to confusion. 

Here's the color morphs of dwarf gourami by common name:

 

Honey gourami do fine in groups or alone either so you are safe with another one. 

Just for fun, I also recently got 2 new honey gourami. Forgive the fake plants. It's temporary until the live grow out. 

 

 

[wildfish]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:22 PM, Cinnebuns said:

In this case they are using the word dwarf as a description of a small gourami. That's where the confusion comes in. The term "dwarf gourami" can mean a specific type of gourami or aa a description of a small gourami. One of many cases where the common name leads to confusion. 

Here's the color morphs of dwarf gourami by common name:

 

Honey gourami do fine in groups or alone either so you are safe with another one. 

Just for fun, I also recently got 2 new honey gourami. Forgive the fake plants. It's temporary until the live grow out. 

 

 

Beautiful honeys to add to your tank. Those are what I wanted originally and looking to get for friends for my wild honey. They are just so pretty 😍

[Procrypsis]

🥲

Edited March 17, 2023 by Procrypsis

[gourami lover]

Thank you so much for the post letting us know how to differentiate between thick lipped and honey gourami! Sorry for the very late post but I recently got a "honey" gourami and I'm not sure if it really is honey gourami. Based on what you wrote I believe it is the true honey gourami but I'm not sure. It also doesn't help that it is a juvenile and it's only 3 cm in length for now.

[JChristophersAdventures]

@gourami lover Yes, that is the true honey gourami in my opinion... that is the typical coloration of the wild caught. It is also typical of the majority of female gourami. By over-all appearance I would say this is not the thick-lipped gourami, although it is more difficult to know 100% in juvenile state, however I would say 90%+ confidence that you have the real deal (it is definitely not Lalius or true dwarf gourami). Thanks.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/25/2023 at 10:57 PM, gourami lover said:

Thank you so much for the post letting us know how to differentiate between thick lipped and honey gourami! Sorry for the very late post but I recently got a "honey" gourami and I'm not sure if it really is honey gourami. Based on what you wrote I believe it is the true honey gourami but I'm not sure. It also doesn't help that it is a juvenile and it's only 3 cm in length for now.

I apologize for the late reply. That is a true honey gourami

Edited July 29, 2023 by Cinnebuns