Red and Gold Honey Gouramis?

[macdaddy36]

Does anyone have experiences with Red Honey Gouramis? They have some at my LFS but I am not sure if the are Honey Gouramis or Red Thick Lipped Gouramis. Online I have read sources that say that there are both red and gold Honey Gouramis, and some say that Red Gouramis don't exist. 

[IanB]

Red Honey Gouramis do exist but thick lipped gouramis are often sold in the trade under this name. Not sure that helps...

[Cinnebuns]

I have owned both at the same time. I started with 1 yellow. I was under the mistaken impression that reds were the same species so got one as a "friend" for it. Long story short in the end I ended up with 3 of each. Mine were thick-lipped and idk if red honey gourami actually exists or not. 

I definitely had different experiences with both. When I had just the 1 yellow it was slightly shy but would come out semi-regularly. I know they do tend to be a shy species. Even when I was at 1 yellow and 3 reds, the yellow would come out semi-regularly. I thought getting 2 more yellow would encourage it to come out even more. That's not what happened. At first, when I was at 3 of each, the yellows would come out about the same amount. Eventually I noticed they were hiding in a corner 24/7. Idk what caused them to start hiding but I have some suspicions. For a few hours one day, the flow in the tank was very high. Everyone was getting pushed around. Tbh, idk if they started hiding before or after this, but it could have been the cause. Regardless of the reasons why, I decided they were not happy in my tank and rehomed them with the goals of breeding them. 

As I already said, my reds are thick-lipped.  They do get slightly larger than the yellows.  When I had 1 lone one (also had a yellow at the time) I didn't see as many behaviors. It was still an enjoyable member of the tank but got much more interesting when I added more. Right now I have 2 because 1 died of dropsy. Even with just 2 it can be fun to watch them interact. One will take after the other almost in a mating kind of chase. I have only see actual mating behavior once but nothing came of it. One turned brown and started guarding a spot in the water lettuce. 

Take this for what it is, just one person's experience. 

[Cinnebuns]

While browsing a site I've never been on, I did notice they were selling both red honey gourami and red thick-lipped. Further investigation shows its the same scientific name as the yellow honey gourami. I feel slightly vindicated knowing I did right by asking my LFS for a red honey gourami because it actually exists lol. The whole confusion just means they ordered the wrong one.