The sunset honey gourami is a deep orange-red color line for a calm, planted community tank. It is easy to keep.
Did you know
A wild honey gourami male goes orange with a dark throat only while courting, then drops back to plain tan. The sunset line makes that spawning dress permanent, which is why a shop tank of sunsets looks nothing like a photograph of wild fish.
Caring for the sunset honey gourami
Keep sunset honey gouramis in a group of four to six, in a tank of 20 gal (75 L) or larger. Keeping more females than males spreads out any chasing. Plant the tank heavily, with floating plants up top, tall stems for cover and open space in the middle for swimming.
Hold the water at 72 to 82°F (22 to 28°C) and a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. Gentle flow keeps the surface calm for breathing and nest building. A tight lid traps a warm, humid pocket of air, so cold room air does not shock the labyrinth organ.
Feed small flakes and micro pellets, plus frozen daphnia or brine shrimp. Sunset honey gouramis are peaceful, a bit shy and mostly stay in the middle of the tank. Pair them with other calm, small fish, never anything fast, nippy or large enough to bully them out of the open.
Both sexes carry more color than wild fish, so color is a poor guide to sex. Females run noticeably larger and heavier through the body. The male builds a bubble nest and guards it, and breeding is moderately tricky.
Good to know
The sunset honey gourami is sold as sunset, red or dwarf red honey gourami. Some shops put the same names on sunset thick-lipped gouramis, a species that finishes close to twice the length. The dark throat and belly that turn blue-black on a nuptial wild male are reduced or missing in this line. Because the color is selected rather than a single named mutation, intensity varies from spawn to spawn.
In the wild
The sunset honey gourami is a tank-bred color line rather than a wild form. Seriously Fish notes that the red strains were possibly produced with some crossing to the thick-lipped gourami, though that is not confirmed. No breeder, country or decade is documented for the line itself.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
The sunset 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.
An adult sunset honey gourami reaches about 2 in (5 cm).
How can you tell a male sunset honey gourami from a female?
Sunset honey gourami females run noticeably larger and heavier through the body. Color is a poor guide, since both sexes carry more color than wild fish.
How does a sunset honey gourami breed?
Sunset honey gouramis are bubble nesters. The male builds the nest and guards it, and breeding them is moderately tricky.
3 in (7.5 cm)10 gal (38 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)