BettasAreSuperior Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) Hi all, I was wondering, can a honey gourami live alone? Just 1, by itself? Thank you in advance. Edited January 2, 2022 by BettasAreSuperior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Honey Gouramis are super shy. When I got just one for my daughter's tank, I would almost never see it. Adding a couple more to the tank seemed to increase his confidence to display a little more. Not sure what kind of set up you have, but if there are tons of hiding places, expect him to use them a lot. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriendlyLoach Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I have 3 and they love playing around together, they are not aggressive or anything. I think it would be very sad if it was alone. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec2cool Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I bought 3 Honey Gouramis and a month or so later, all 3 somehow got sucked into my filter intake (It was a filter rated for 10gallons in a 20g long) NO IDEA how they got sucked in. One managed to survive, despite being badly battered. I put him in with my dwarf gouramis and he was perfectly fine. Currently, I have him alone in a tank with my breeding mystery snails, he's happy as can be and doesn't hide at all. I think it depends on the personality of your fish, if they are ok with being alone or not 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 (edited) We went to go buy 1 a couple months ago ... and the guy at our LFS tossed in a second one, just saying, “These guys like each other!” 😂 Edited February 6, 2021 by Fish Folk 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I've had one for a few weeks alone, happy enough with a group of tetras. He grew beautifully but when we did decide to add another one I have to admit the colors on our first improved and it seems to provide a lot of interest for them. Once in a while they chase, but not a problem at feeding time and a joy to have two. I know that people recommend keeping them in a bigger group 3-4 or more, sometimes 2 is a problem for chasing but it really hasn't been for me. Hope this helps! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettasAreSuperior Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 From the feedback, it seems like they wouldn't be lving their BEST possible life if they are kept alone. I think it would be the better choice to keep 3-4 since they like each others company. Question: If you get 2 males and 2 female will fighting be inevitable? Thanks again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 From what I know the gender won't matter, males can be kept with other males and females with other females or mix. Make sure tank is big enough and plants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcornTheBetta Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 On 2/5/2021 at 11:23 AM, BettasAreSuperior said: Heyo guys! I was wondering, can a honey gourami live alone? Just 1, by itself? Thanks in advance! Personally, I would go with no since they tend to be a fish that is more shy. A trio (1m, 2f) would most likely work well. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettasAreSuperior Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 On 2/5/2021 at 6:36 PM, Michelle said: From what I know the gender won't matter, males can be kept with other males and females with other females or mix. Make sure tank is big enough and plants. On 2/6/2021 at 7:40 PM, AcornTheBetta said: Personally, I would go with no since they tend to be a fish that is more shy. A trio (1m, 2f) would most likely work well. Thanks guys. I agree, with a shy fish having more fish of it's own kind will help it feel more comfortable. I have another question though. (Sorry) A 20 gal tank would be the ideal for a trio and for 4 a 29 gal, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I would think that would work very well for tank size regarding number of honey gouramis. They're wonderful little fish, my two have not been shy at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I kept a single male honey gourami as my centerpiece fish in a 20G community tank with green neon tetras and albino corydoras, and he was not shy at all. Later when I bought 2 females and put them in a 10G quarantine tank, one of the females would bully the other during mealtimes. After quarantine, I added the 2 females to the male, and when I review my footage of them, they didn't really hang out together much. They all just kinda did their own thing in the tank. 🤷♀️ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 My sense is that as long as the honey isn’t the *only* fish in the tank, it’s okay living without other honeys. They seem to like the company of other fish. Mine definitely communicate with each other in a way they don’t with the other tank mates, so I’m sure in the right circumstances most would like to have at least one of their same species. But if there’s a bully in the group (which seems rare) then of course that’s worse than being a singleton. I have a pair of honeys (one male, one female) in my 55 gallon and they get along really well! As long as the male isn’t guarding eggs. 😅 I breed them and from what I’ve seen of the juveniles, two males or two females would probably be okay together, but may not interact much. They’ll choose different sides of the tank and chase each other out of their territories. As long as they can get out of each other’s line of sight, things don’t escalate. One anecdote on the two male, one female combo: my first batch of fry I raised turned out with that ratio. The two males chose opposite sides of the grow-out tank on either side of a central plant. (The dominant one got the side with the most space.) And the female got to go wherever she wanted. 😊 I’m not sure how things would have gone as they grew up, but when they were with me they had a nice system worked out. With honeys, I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules except not to keep them completely alone. Otherwise most combos will generally work with enough space and hiding places, unless you happen to get one that’s more persnickety than average. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcornTheBetta Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 On 2/9/2021 at 10:05 AM, BettasAreSuperior said: Thanks guys. I agree, with a shy fish having more fish of it's own kind will help it feel more comfortable. I have another question though. (Sorry) A 20 gal tank would be the ideal for a trio and for 4 a 29 gal, right? I would still do a trio in a 29 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mastifflvr28 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 I have all 3 scenarios. The 36 bowfront has a male and female pair that spawn regularly. The female is dominant. They get along great, he stays on the right side of the tank and builds nests, she chases the rest of the tank (guppies, halfbeaks). When he is guarding eggs he tries to chase the female but she does not run. My 150 has 2 males, the dominant male stays on the left side of the tank with the one patch of water sprite that gets pushed to that side because of the flow. We call him the grumpy old man because whenever any of the other fish frolic in his sprite he gives chase. "Stay off my lawn!" The less dominant male stays either in the middle or on the right hand side. The two spend the mornings swimming together and having sword fights and "touching" other fish and shrimp with their "Doll Hands" as we call them. They are almost our most entertaining fish. I just recently added a 6 month old unknown gender fry into the tank. They spent about 2 days chasing this kid around but now they all get along fine, He stays right around the middle. Oh, also, the less dominant male was near white in color until I added the new kid...now he's all gold and purty! I sent one of my males (since I had 4 males and 1 female) to my mom's house. He is housed alone in a community tank. He and the Bolivian ram hang out together. She says he is not shy and routinely "touches" the ram on the head as he passes by. None of my honeys are either shy or aggressive, except for the 1 female, she keeps everyone in line 🙂 Michelle 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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