red honey gourami

Sep 5, 2011
89
0
0
New Jersey
#1
i recently purchased a red honey gourami from my LFS. from what ive read they stay small and the little guy has been swimming with his reflection non stop in my ten gallon tank.

I have 2 questions, or 2 options, whichever you prefer.
1. should i get a few more reed honey gouramis and hope the ratio of males to females is fine?
2. should i just find 2 females from different gourami species?

either is fine, and i have space for either option. i wouldnt mind keeping the lone gourami but i feel like he is maybe lonely. the only other tank mates at the moment are 3 otos. i was planning on getting a platy or 2 but i can decide not to. corys are definitely in the works, however.

thanks
 

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#2
He's not lonely. Male Gouramis can't stand each other (unless if you have a big enough tank. They're kinda like Bettas (in the social towards others of its own kind) so you have to keep them alone. The male is swimminig along his reflection because he is trying to fight off "another" male. Don't get another Gourami, please.
 

Sep 5, 2011
89
0
0
New Jersey
#3
yeah from what i had read about gouramis, and my keeping them before, i thought the same things as you. there isnt much out there about red honeys and its almost impossible to sex them. thats why i was wondering if getting a group might work out, but ill refrain.
 

Jul 18, 2011
291
0
0
underwater
#5
He's not lonely. Male Gouramis can't stand each other (unless if you have a big enough tank. They're kinda like Bettas (in the social towards others of its own kind) so you have to keep them alone. The male is swimminig along his reflection because he is trying to fight off "another" male. Don't get another Gourami, please.
That's not entirely true. Gourami males WILL fight, but they won't kill each other like Bettas do. I read somewhere that if kept with females in groups of 5+, they won't fight. I've kept 2 male dwarf gouramis before in my 10G, and, sure they've been in several scraps, but they eventually co-existed in the tank pretty peacefully, until I made some changes, and one gourami died D: