In the honey gourami the female is larger than the male. The female gets to a total length of 4.5 cm, while the male gets to a total length of 4 cm. The males are a beautiful bright orange color, and have a black throat and abdomen that extends into the front part of the anal fin. Most of the dorsal fin is bright yellow. The males are not quite as bright when out of spawning condition. The females are plain, with the body being slightly tinged brownish orange, with a silvery fluorescent glow.

The natural range of these fish is northeastern India, Assam, and Bangladesh.

The honey gourami is well suited to a community aquarium, although it can become territorial, especially at spawning time. They prefer an aquarium with some thickly planted areas but also like some open swimming areas. They are not fussy as to water requirements. They do prefer clean water, with regular water changes. They will eat just about everything being fed to the community tank.

These fish are moderately easy to breed, meaning a little more difficult that Colisa lalia but not impossible. Set up a well-conditioned pair in a 40-liter aquarium with lots of floating plants, no air stone or filter (They may need to be conditioned separately). The male will build a large bubble nest. The eggs will float up into the bubble nest, but the male may move them. However he will guard over them until they go free swimming, which is when he should be removed. The female should be removed right after spawning. The eggs are clear at first, then turn yellow, then black before they hatch.

I haven’t quite made up my mind if this is a gourami that I would want to add to one of my community aquaria. It’s a little more difficult to keep and breed. Perhaps at a later date, if I have some success keeping the easier ones. The good thing about this fish is that it stays a small size.

It is difficult to tell the difference between the sexes of the croaking gourami. The males have more color with a red edge to its longer anal fin. The males get to a total length of 7 cm, while the females get to a total length of 6.5 cm.

These gouramis come from eastern India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They live in standing or slowly moving waters with lots of plant growth.

The croaking gourami is a good community tank inhabitant. They are peaceful and will get along with tank mates that are not too big. They can even put up with polluted waters although I would never recommend trying this. They will accept dry foods, however live foods should also be a part of their diet. If more that one male is placed in an aquarium, they will circle each other and make a croaking noise, hence the name. This behavior never causes harm to the fish.

Breeding these fish is fairly easy. Set up a well-conditioned pair up in a 40-liter to 60-liter aquarium with some floating plants. No air stone or filtration is needed. A clay flowerpot on its side will serve as a bubble nest building site. Sometimes the bubble nest is build at the surface under the floating plants. The male wraps himself around the female and the eggs sink to the bottom. The male quickly scoops up the eggs and places them into the bubble nest. Usually there are around 200 eggs per spawn. In small aquaria the female should be removed after spawning. In larger aquaria, she will indirectly care for the spawn by guarding the outside areas of the nest. If the male chose a nest site that was not near the surface of the water, he will move the nest to the surface as soon as the fry hatch.

This sounds like a very interesting gourami to keep. It may not be as colorful as some, but their behavior caught my attention. This fish stays small, and sounds like it would fit nicely into one of my community aquaria. Now where can I find a pair or a bunch of nice healthy young fry?

In the chocolate gouramis the males are larger with better-developed and somewhat pointed dorsal fins. The male has a total length of 6cm, while the female has a total length of 5.5cm. These fish are a dark brown color with three or four stripes. They have a forked caudal fin.

They come from the southern part of Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and the southern part of Borneo. They are found in weed-grown puddles and shallow ditches, and in slow flowing streams, often in dark brown water.

These fish must be kept in a species aquarium. They WILL NOT SURVIVE in a community tank for very long. They require soft acidic water with a pH of 6, is very clean and slightly moving, and with a temperature of 28C. The aquarium should be 100 liters or larger with some peat added. Black water extract could also be used. Regular water changes are a must. Live foods are a must, but they may eat some prepared foods as well.

The chocolate gourami is very difficult to breed, but if kept under the above-mentioned conditions, they should spawn readily. The females are mouth brooders. The male will help with the eggs, which are laid on the bottom by spitting them over to her. The young are released from the female’s mouth in 17 to 19 days. At the time they are released they are already a chocolate color.

This is another gourami that sounds fascinating to keep. But do I really want to set up a species aquarium right now? No, I don’t think so. Perhaps at some future date.

In conclusion to The Gouramis, I would like to say that this family of fish for the most part sounds very interesting to keep in the aquarium. I personally feel that I don’t want to keep the food fishes. For one thing they get way too big for any of the aquaria that I own. The other thing is I don’t find most of the larger fish pretty to look at.

I didn’t really mention how to raise the fry so I guess I should mention that here. Most gourami fry grow very slowly. Allow at least four to six months to raise them to selling size. They all require infusoria for a first food, then will eat baby brine shrimp. Then most will graduate on to the prepared foods and larger live foods. Culling is a must as there are usually too many fry for the hobbyist to raise properly. However if one has a lot of aquaria, they can be spread out. Over crowding will only cause poor growth and stunted fish. Not a pretty sight.