Freshwater Fish · Gouramis

Honey Gourami

Trichogaster chuna

Gentle golden labyrinth fish, beginner-friendlyBeginner

Lifespan: 4-8 years
Size: 1.5-2 in
Social needs: Peaceful; keep a group of 6 or more
Time: Low
Cost: Low
Diet: Omnivore (micro-pellets, flakes, frozen foods)

Overview

What is this animal?

The honey gourami is a small, gentle labyrinth fish from the slow waters of India and Bangladesh, turning honey-gold to red when in condition.
Hardier and far less disease-prone than its dwarf cousin, it is a genuinely good beginner fish.

Reaching only 1.5-2 in, it is peaceful, undemanding and well suited to small, calm community tanks.

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Like all gouramis it breathes air at the surface.
Its easy temperament and resilience make it one of the better entry-level anabantoids available.

Temperament

Honey gouramis are among the most peaceful gouramis, shy and unaggressive, and do best in a group of six or more, because they seem to need the company of their own kind; Seriously Fish recommends buying no fewer than four to six, and this guide takes the top of that range.
Males are far less territorial than dwarf gourami males.

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They do best in a calm, well-planted tank.

They make good community fish alongside small tetras, rasboras, corydoras and other gentle species, but should not share a tank with fin-nippers or boisterous fish that intimidate them.
Their timid, easygoing nature suits peaceful, planted community aquariums.

A good fit for

Beginners wanting an easy labyrinth fish
Peaceful planted community tanks of 14 gallons or more
Keepers seeking a hardy, colourful centrepiece
Those wanting gourami charm without high disease risk

Common mistakes to avoid

Strong flow stressing this calm-water fish
Boisterous or nippy tankmates intimidating them
No lid, risking chilled labyrinth organ and jumping
Confusing them with the disease-prone dwarf gourami

Enclosure

Minimum 14 gallons, for a group of 6

Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 6, and the space above is for that group.

A planted tank of at least 14 US gallons (a standard 15-gallon tank qualifies) on a 24 x 12 in base, the size Seriously Fish gives for a pair or small group, suits a group of six honey gouramis with a calm water surface, kept warm at 72-82°F and soft to moderately hard around neutral pH.
They tolerate a wider range than most gouramis but dislike strong flow.

Provide floating plants, gentle filtration and cover for their naturally timid nature.

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Keep the water cycled with zero ammonia and nitrite.
A lid maintains the warm surface air their labyrinth organ needs and stops jumping.
Their small size makes them well suited to modest aquariums.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

Tank and stand
Filter
Heater and thermometer
Substrate, plants and decor
Liquid test kit
Dechlorinator and starter supplies

Ongoing

Quality tropical flake (crushed fine for sparkling and honey gouramis)
Floating and slow-sinking micro-pellets
Frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia
Frozen or live baby brine shrimp, cyclops or microworms (for sparkling gouramis)
Spirulina or vegetable flake
Fine net for removing leftovers

Safe substrate: Fine, smooth sand · Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras) · Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

Check temperature and equipment
Feed
Head-count and look everyone over

Every few days

Check the air layer above the waterevery 3 days
Top up evaporationevery 3 days

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Weekly

Test the water
Water change and gravel vacuum
Wipe the front glass only

Every few weeks

Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks

Monthly

Check supplies and reagent dates
Replace or recharge chemical media, if you use any (skip it in a blackwater tank)
Rinse the filter media

Health review: Quarterly review with a surface-air check, every 3 months

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended size What will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemised Is this ammonia reading dangerous?Works out the toxic part from your pH and temperature

Care in depth

Diet

Omnivore (micro-pellets, flakes, frozen foods)

Honey gouramis are omnivores that readily take quality micro-pellets and flakes as a staple, supplemented with frozen and live foods such as daphnia, brine shrimp and bloodworm.
In nature they pick tiny invertebrates from plants and the surface.

Feed small amounts once or twice daily, suited to their tiny mouths.
A varied diet keeps their honey colour vivid and supports breeding condition.
They feed mainly in the upper and middle water; avoid overfeeding, as their small appetites are easily satisfied.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems

Honey gouramis are notably hardy and, unlike dwarf gouramis, are not strongly associated with the iridovirus problem, making them more reliable.
Most health issues stem from poor water quality, stress or overcrowding rather than inherited disease.

Maintain clean, stable, warm water and quarantine new arrivals to keep them thriving.
Watch for clamped fins, fading colour or loss of appetite as early warning signs.
With good basic care they routinely live several years, often outlasting flashier but frailer gourami species.

Is this urgent?

6 warning signs and how fast to act, 3 of them right away

In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat: dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.

Go now

Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.

Now

Fish gasping at the surface with fast gill movement, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface movement now (gently in a betta or gourami tank, without creating a strong current), then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems. Bettas, gouramis and corydoras rise to gulp air as part of normal breathing; the warning is constant gulping, fast gill movement, or the whole group hanging at the top.

Now

Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths usually point at the water or the equipment rather than a pathogen, so rule those out first.

Now

Today

Flashing: repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.

Today

White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.

Today

Soon

Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.

A few days

Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

3 safe, 4 with a caveat, 2 to avoid

Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.

Safe

Fine, smooth sandCorrect for corydoras, kuhli loaches, eartheaters such as rams and acaras, and anything else that sifts or burrows. Barbels wear away on sharp gravel.

safe

Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras)Rinse thoroughly before use. Grain size should be too large to swallow and too small to trap food. Kuhli loaches need sand to burrow into and rams and acaras sift mouthfuls of it; bronze and panda corydoras manage on smooth fine gravel, but sterbai corydoras need sand.

safe

Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)Legitimate for quarantine and grow-out tanks. Easy to clean, but it holds far less biological filtration, and it is no long-term home for burrowing loaches or sand-sifters.

safe

With a caveat

Crushed coral or aragoniteDeliberately raises hardness and pH. Correct for rift-lake cichlids, wrong for soft-water species.

with a caveat

Aquasoil for planted tanksExcellent for plants, but most active soils soften the water and pull pH and KH down for months, and many leach ammonia for the first weeks. Right for soft-water species; wrong for hard-water animals (livebearers, rainbowfish, goldfish, and snails, whose shells erode in soft, acidic water) unless you test GH and KH and remineralise. Cycle around it; do not stock into it.

with a caveat

Very deep sand bedsAnaerobic pockets form below about 2 inches in still sand. Either keep it shallow or keep it stirred.

with a caveat

Painted or coated gravelUsually fine, but coatings chip. Test a handful in a jar for a week first.

with a caveat

Never

Sharp or angular gravel with bottom-dwellersWears down barbels and leads to infection in corydoras and loaches.

never

Anything containing metal, limestone of unknown origin, or shells in a soft-water tankSlowly alters chemistry in ways that are hard to diagnose later.

never

This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Gouramis yet.

Top resources for more info

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