Dwarf Honey Gourami; Turning Black?

Meowsaur · Nov 5, 2013

Hello everyone,

I've had my tank around 3 months now - I'm relatively new to tropical fish.

In any case, a few weeks ago I bought three Dwarf Honey Gourami for my tank.
They were in very healthy condition, and were a pure golden colour - they were purchased from a reputable fish store.
However, one of the Gourami had a slightly discoloured scale on its side, but I dismissed it thinking it was nothing to worry about.

A few weeks later, I find my Gouramis turning black/dark brown!
See picture below:

(Apologies if the pictures are slightly blurry, he wouldn't stop moving!)

This particular fish is the one who shows the most discolouration, especially at the front of its pelvic fin.
The two others have a smaller amount, but still enough to be significant.

I've had a look around, and the general consensus seems to be that this is what happens to male Gourami when they are about to make a bubble nest.
However, of the pictures I've seen, none look as discoloured as mine, and the fact that all three are changing colour worries me.

I don't yet have a water test kit myself, but all my other fish appear to be doing fine, and the tank is fully cycled.
Could anybody advise? I'd greatly appreciate any information you could give me - I'd be very sad if I lost them.
Thank you!

Gizaroo2 · Nov 5, 2013

Looks to me like they are all just getting their male colors in. All of them are probably males, hence why they're all changing.

I'm still fairly new to keeping honey gourami, so hopefully someone else like Shelton will pop in to better answer your questions.

GetItSahn · Nov 5, 2013

Meowsaur said:
Hello everyone,

I've had my tank around 3 months now - I'm relatively new to tropical fish.

In any case, a few weeks ago I bought three Dwarf Honey Gourami for my tank.
They were in very healthy condition, and were a pure golden colour - they were purchased from a reputable fish store.
However, one of the Gourami had a slightly discoloured scale on its side, but I dismissed it thinking it was nothing to worry about.

A few weeks later, I find my Gouramis turning black/dark brown!
See picture below:

(Apologies if the pictures are slightly blurry, he wouldn't stop moving!)

This particular fish is the one who shows the most discolouration, especially at the front of its pelvic fin.
The two others have a smaller amount, but still enough to be significant.

I've had a look around, and the general consensus seems to be that this is what happens to male Gourami when they are about to make a bubble nest.
However, of the pictures I've seen, none look as discoloured as mine, and the fact that all three are changing colour worries me.

I don't yet have a water test kit myself, but all my other fish appear to be doing fine, and the tank is fully cycled.
Could anybody advise? I'd greatly appreciate any information you could give me - I'd be very sad if I lost them.
Thank you!

I was really worried when mine started showing blackness too. Mine, however, started to turn black starting from the back and covers most of his tail.
As far as the bubble nest theory goes, I have no idea because mine started to darken in color over a month ago and there still isn't a bubble nest

Meeresstille · Nov 5, 2013

I've had my honey's just for a couple of months and I may be wrong, but these honey gouramis look to me like they are a mix between the yellow and the regular varieties.
My regular honey gourami's body is more of a bronze colour, he's got a beautiful black face and chest and his dorsal fin is a lovely yellow colour.
My yellow honey gouramis have a beautiful sunny yellow all over their bodies, with little orange on the pectoral fin and tail. They have just a thin strip of grey/black on the chest.

I'm interested too what others have to say!

Here's a picture with 2 yellow ones and the regular gourami just at the top of the terra cotta pot:

Meowsaur · Nov 6, 2013

Thank you so much for all the responses!
It's good to know this might just be a thing that happens, rather than some sort of disease.

Looks to me like they are all just getting their male colors in. All of them are probably males, hence why they're all changing.

I thought this might be the case; I saw a couple of them attempting to mate a while ago but no eggs were released.

I was really worried when mine started showing blackness too. Mine, however, started to turn black starting from the back and covers most of his tail.
As far as the bubble nest theory goes, I have no idea because mine started to darken in color over a month ago and there still isn't a bubble nest

I haven't seen any signs of a bubble nest either.
I actually suspected that the bogwood in my tank might be behind this, as it's releasing a lot of tannins.
Thought somehow it might have been staining their skin, as they're a bright colour, but I haven't found any other incidences of this.

I've had my honey's just for a couple of months and I may be wrong, but these honey gouramis look to me like they are a mix between the yellow and the regular varieties.
My regular honey gourami's body is more of a bronze colour, he's got a beautiful black face and chest and his dorsal fin is a lovely yellow colour.
My yellow honey gouramis have a beautiful sunny yellow all over their bodies, with little orange on the pectoral fin and tail. They have just a thin strip of grey/black on the chest.

Ooh, that's interesting. They were advertised as only Dwarf Honey Gourami.
I think you might be right though, because as you say, Honey Gourami are more of a bronze colour.
Your fish look great by the way, they look really healthy!

I am tempted to take a water sample to a store just to check everything is all right on that level - I'll let you know the results if there's anything out of the ordinary.

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Dwarf Honey Gourami; Turning Black?

Meowsaur

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Gizaroo2

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