gourami compatability

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Ghostshrimp55

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Sep 30, 2005
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Hey all. I've been looking on the web and I haven't been able to find any reliable info regarding compatability between dwarf gouramis and honey gouramis. Now, I'm aware that "golden" gouramis are sometimes referred to as "honey" or "golden honey" gouramis. I am not referring to this fish. I'm talking about the real honey gourami (Colisa chuna). Does anyone know if the two species can live together in a 55? I currently have 3 honey gouramis and would like to get 3 more and a dwarf flame. Just checking to see if anyone has any hands-on knowledge about this pairing.

Thanks for the input.
 
dwarf gourami males can be very aggressive towards other male dwarf gouramis and to other males of a different species of gourami. honey gouramis would be killed by dwarfs because they are less aggressive and they are smaller than they are. it is not advisable to put them together.

there is a huge difference between gold gouramis and honey gouramis. honey gouramis are little, peacful, and great community fish. gold gouramis get to be 6 i nches long, super aggressive with others of their own species, and they often kill anything in the tank with them that is smaller than they are. they are clearly NOT community fish

as for adding more honey gouramis... your honey gouramis are probably all male, and i would watch them for a while before you add any more. if they are anything like their cousins the dwarf gouramis, males will get aggressive with one another.
 
Hmm. That's one of two conflicting bits of information that I've received about gouramis. However, since you're repeating a piece of info about honey gouramis that I know, from experience, is wrong, I have to wonder about the true behavioral profile of dwarf gouramis. That's why I was asking for hands-on experience. It's pretty clear that some commonly held conceptions about certain species' behavior might just be misconceptions.

For example, take my honey gouramis. I've been keeping them for well over a year and the idea of them having even the slightest bit of an aggressive streak is, IME, completely absurd. I've seen in their species descriptions that they can become territorial and aggressive towards each other and other fish and I laugh every time I see it. Mine are always together. They hang out, follow eachother around, sleep next to eachother. The closest thing to "fighting" that I've ever seen them do is hover face to face and wave those little pelvic fins at eachother. It's pretty funny, actually. After that, they forget all about it and resume swimming together. It's because of things like that I'm a little skeptical about the info floating around out there about different species.

So, does anyone have any actual experience with combining these two species?
 
Ghostshrimp55 said:
So, does anyone have any actual experience with combining these two species?
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I had two "dwarf sunset gouramis" I believe they are actually a colisa lalia variant or colisa labiosa but can't remember, and a honey gourami (colisa chuna/sota). There was never a problem between the three in my 55 gallon tank. The sunsets died a year ago during a bacterial outbreak in my tank so I have only had the colisa chuna since. I have been searching for female companions for him. ;) Anyhow, I think you would be fine combining the two. And I also agree that the chunas/sotas are the sweetest, most gentle little fish, and even in the throws of spawning territorialism couldn't do much harm to the rest of the tank even if they tried... :)
Take care,
Mary.
 
Thanks for the reply, Mary. I would actually love to breed the little guys myself but I can't get a hold of any females. The owner of the LFS said that they don't get them because their coloration is pretty dull. I've read that they're fairly easy to breed, as well. Maybe the breeders are protecting their product?

I'll do a little more research and wait for more experiences (if anyone else has any stories) to roll in before I run out and buy a flame. I like to weigh general info about fish vs. people's actual findings before I start mixing fish species. Again, thanks for the response.
 
Ghostshrimp55 said:
Thanks for the reply, Mary. I would actually love to breed the little guys myself but I can't get a hold of any females. The owner of the LFS said that they don't get them because their coloration is pretty dull. I've read that they're fairly easy to breed, as well. Maybe the breeders are protecting their product?
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Honestly, I wouldn't take the LFSs at their word. Everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, told me that mine was a female because of his bland appearance. But when mine started feeling frisky and sporting his little tuxedo a couple of months ago and building bubblenests, I knew it was a he for sure. I seriously doubt that you will ever see these guys in their mating colors in the shops, so I just don't believe it when they told me that they only get males in. I haven't seen them in many, many months, but next time I see them, a couple will be coming home with me. Good luck.
Take care,
Mary.
 
mduros said:
I seriously doubt that you will ever see these guys in their mating colors in the shops, so I just don't believe it when they told me that they only get males in.
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Surprisingly, my LFS gets pretty good honeys in. A lot of people have said that they hardly have any color when they come into most pet stores but, for some reason, my LFS always has the brightest honeys. They're always a nice, bright yellow with firey red to orange tails. I don't know what they're mating colors look like but they always seem to look good when they have them. Unfortunately, it's also pretty clear that they're all males. Oh well.
 
I had a dwarf gourami which was very peaceful and i bought a golden gourami and added it to the tank and all he done was chase my dwarf gourami around and in the end i noticed that my dwarf gourami had part of its tail missing! The Golden gourami is very aggressive i think, he ended up killing my dwarf gourami in the end through stress i think! When i noticed my dwarf gourami really ill i put the golden gourami in a tank on its own but the dwarf still died :-( now the golden gourami is still in the tank on its own and just swims round n round n round non stop (think he is bored with no1 to pick on) Im not sure if they were male or female either.
 
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