Sold as sunset, red, or dwarf red honey gourami, this line holds a deep orange red year round rather than only in breeding condition. 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. Watch the label, because some shops put the same names on sunset thick lipped gouramis, a species that finishes close to twice the length.
In the wild
Sunset is a tank-bred color line and no wild honey gourami looks like it. 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.
Good to know
The line fixes the orange red that wild males show only while spawning, and holds it through the year. The dark throat and belly that turn blue black on a nuptial wild male are reduced or missing here. Because the color is selected rather than a single named mutation, intensity varies from spawn to spawn.
Did you know
A wild type 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 the shop tank looks nothing like a photograph of wild fish.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
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.
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)