The gold line is a paler amber than the sunset, closer to butter than to red. Shops list it as gold or dwarf gold honey gourami. Color is even across both sexes from a small size, so shop juveniles look much like the adults they turn into. Suppliers differ mainly in how deep the amber runs and how much brown is left on the females.
In the wild
Gold is one of the selectively bred ornamental strains of this species, listed by Seriously Fish alongside red and sunset. It is not a wild pattern, and wild honey gouramis are brownish outside of breeding color. No breeder, country or decade is documented, so it is honest to call this a hobby line of uncertain origin.
Good to know
Gold fish carry far less dark pigment than wild ones, so the female's brown side stripe and the male's dark throat go faint or absent. The eye stays dark, which puts this in the reduced melanin bracket rather than albinism. Fish from different farms sit at different points on that scale, and some keep a ghost of the stripe.
Did you know
The wild female honey gourami wears a broad brown stripe down her side, and the gold line all but erases it. That stripe is the quickest way to pick a wild type female out of a mixed shop tank of golds.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
Gold honey gourami is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
3 in (7.5 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)
3.5 in (9 cm)26 gal (100 L)70–82°F (21–28°C)
3.5 in (9 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
2 in (5 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)
2 in (5 cm)17 gal (65 L)79–88°F (26–31°C)
2 in (5 cm)12 gal (45 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)