honey sunset gouramis?

[veen]

i saw some small gouramis at a petco the other day listed as honey sunset gouramis. i asked how large they are when mature and they told me about the same as the dwarf flames & neons. does anyone know if this is true or not? i would think of getting some if they do indeed stay small.

 

[Spyder]

Yes, they are auctually a Dwarf Gourami.

 

[Macracantha]

Honey gouramis grow to about one and threequarters of an inch in a community tank

 

[Morrgan]

I'm confused about this whole neon/honey/dwarf/sunset etc. gourami thing you seem to have in English. Which are honey gouramis (Colisa chuna) and which are dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia)?

 

[Macracantha]

I'm confused about this whole neon/honey/dwarf/sunset etc. gourami thing you seem to have in English. Which are honey gouramis (Colisa chuna) and which are dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia)?

Yes.........

Honey Gouramis = Colisa Chunae (or Chuna)
Dwarf Gouramis = Colisa Lalia

 

[Morrgan]

I mean, could someone list which of these different varieties is which species? For example dwarf neon, honey sunset, flame etc. I read somewhere that one variety of dwarf gourami has honey in the name, and that there is a sunset variety of both honey and dwarf gourami. This seems very confusing.

 

[Macracantha]

I mean, could someone list which of these different varieties is which species? For example dwarf neon, honey sunset, flame etc. I read somewhere that one variety of dwarf gourami has honey in the name, and that there is a sunset variety of both honey and dwarf gourami.

I hear what you are saying now......I think that fish get called all sorts of common names and it does get confusing! I always find out the latin name for any fish before I would buy!

 

[sylvia]

The fish you see in shops with all those fancy names are usualy dwarf gouramies (colisa lalia). There are only a few variations of the honey gourami (colisa chuna/sota). The dwarfs get to 2", the honeys to just over 1.5". Occasionaly thick-lipped and banded gouramies (colisa labiosa and colisa fasciata respectively) are also given fancy common names and these get to 3-4".

Most probably the fish you are reffering to are dwarfs. A picture might help to identify them or look in the pinned topics for pictures and compare the body shapes.

 

[veen]

well i didn't look at the latin name but i know for sure they were listed as honey sunset gouramis and they were very small. pale peachy color that got deeper towards the fin. the pet store employee said they get to be the same size as the dwarfs, they just come to the store in smaller sizes.

 

[sylvia]

It sounds like they were honeys (colisa chuna(e)/sota) if they come to the store at a smaller size. Why don't you look at the pinned topics and see if you recognise the fish (there are photos of difefrent gouramies) or do a search on google.com (the images) for sunset honey gourami and then post whichever fish looks like the ones you saw. Then someone can tell you for certain which species it is and what size it gets to.

 

[CathyG]

Here is a pic of my honey sunset Though the orange in her fins does not look as dark in the photo as it is in RL. I have had her for a year now, and she is about an inch long.

 

[Pompeydave]

Looks like you've got another hybrid. It also looks very much like a male. Pointed dorsal fin is the giveaway. The bottom line is that originally there were only four varieties that came from wild stock- Colisa Lalia (Dwarf), Colisa Labiosa (Thicklip), Colisa Fasciata (Indian or Banded or even Giant) and Colisa Chuna (Honey). Anything else you see will be some form of hybrid, and almost certainly a weaker strain at that. There is also a school of thought that states that the Dwarf is nowhere near as colourful in the wild, but I haven't see any wild specimens in years, so couldn't say whether this is correct or not....

 

[sylvia]

The only natural colors for the honey gourami are an orange-honey color (the wild type) where the males develop the characteristic blue-black belly once in breeding condition/mature, a 'gold' variety that is pretty much a monochrome yellow-cream version of the wild coloration and a darker red-orange variety that is very similar to the wild type but darker. In all cases the female is a paler golden to cream/gold and the wild type females have a stripe running along their sides as well. None of the natural honey females have bright coloring and generaly look quite bland and won't develop the dark underside.

Let me point out that the hybrids are honey X dwarf and thick-lipped/banded gouramies are generaly pure. Also, the hybrids are usualy sold as honeys so the dwarf color morphs are prefectly natural - either selectively bred (neon blue and the redder 'wild type') or mutations (powder blue and flame/red). The tank-bred fish are deffinately slightly different from the wild type fish.

You can generaly tell for certain which speces the fish is once it gets to full size and if you view it from the side and front as dwarfs and honeys look considerably different and honeys are smaller and generaly look more 'fragile'. It's the hybrids that can confuse you but generaly they look like honeys but with unusual colors (usualy they are red though) and a slightly more solid build (sometimes). The thing is that you can never be certain how a hybrid will turn out so telling which fish is a hybrid and which is not for deffinite is very difficult.

 

[veen]

oooh she's pretty! the honey sunsets i saw in the store were a little paler than that and a little smaller. they also darkened in color towards the end of the body near the fins like yours does. hm, maybe i will go get a few and buy another 10 for them. how many would anyone recommend for a 10?

 

[sylvia]

A trio is best - 1 male, 2 females.