Diet/Food & Feeding Habits

To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen) or blood worms as a treat.Live; insect larvae, Tubifex, insects, crustaceans; flakes; occasionally algae; pellets; tablets. In nature Sunset gouramis eat small insects and larvae from the water and graze on algae on plants. In captivity they will eat flake food, freeze-dried food, frozen foods, worms, and small vegetable tablets.

Compatibility/Tankmates:

A peaceful and timid species that can be combined with other peaceful species. Males become aggressive when defending their brood at spawning times. Gets along well with Colisa , Trichopsis, Corydoras , Danios, Loaches, Loricarids.

Sexing:

The Male is more colorful than the female in most instances. Near adult hood it is plainly visable.

Breeding/Spawning:

Like most fish in this family, these fish are bubble nest builders. Their eggs as well as the fry, are lighter than water and float to the top. See the description of how to breed these fish in Breeding Freshwater Fish. These are moderately easy to spawn but the fry are so small that they are difficult to feed.

Coloration/Fins:

As many of you know, the Honey Gourami sold in stores is not actually Colisa chuna but a color variety of probably C. labiosa. The "true" Honey Gourami is so drab in comparison, that customers will refuse them and store workers may assume they are all females. So, when a shipment of "true" Honeys is received by mistake, they may never sell unless an astute fish-keeper happens by. This is unfortunate because a male "true" Honey Gourami in breeding color is one of the most spectacular fishes that I have ever maintained. The transformation from an overall rust color to a red body, yellow top and black bottom is dramatic and sudden. It is a sure sign that spawning is immanent.

Habitat/Care/Maintenance:

Sufficient hiding place possibilities should be present. Maintaining the fish can be a bit tricky because the tank needs to be somewhat secluded with a dark background and a few plants. Once settled, they remain relatively shy but don’t always hide. They more or less keep their distance from the front glass. They eat just about anything but predictably; prefer live food such as blackworms and bbs. The females and scared males look nearly identical with a grayish metallic body and a black line running from the eye to the caudal peduncle. It is best to keep the sexes separated until spawning, as a male will constantly drive a female regardless of her readiness. I’ve lost many females because they were stressed by a male and therefore susceptible to disease.

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