Honey Gourami— Solo Or No?

[oddballsandinverts]

I originally had a pair of gouramis, one female as well as an older male— he was a rehome and was at least 3 or 4. He passed away overnight . I have always kept my female with him, but I’m wondering if she may be okay alone.

I’m wary to get another male as any time he made a nest, he would get very territorial and chase off the Danios. I also Have deen problems that in male/fem/fem grouping that when two pair up they bully the other. They would swim together on occasion, but to be frank outside of feeding and breeding attempts, they kept to separate sides of the tank.

I know many keep them in trios since they are shy, but after the initial week or so where they were getting acclimated to my tank, I haven’t seen them by shy at all. I have a school of 13 danios as well, which might be why as they’re really lovely dithers.

So.. my question is if they will absolutely feel hindered solo, or if it’s a preference sort of like Khuliis? I’m not wanting to get another male, but I’m not confident in sexing them. So far she seems to behave as normal- ate fine, isn’t hiding, etc. thoughts? Is it individual to the fish perhaps? Should I wait and see?

 

[hb101]

I originally had a pair of gouramis, one female as well as an older male— he was a rehome and was at least 3 or 4. He passed away overnight . I have always kept my female with him, but I’m wondering if she may be okay alone.

I’m wary to get another male as any time he made a nest, he would get very territorial and chase off the Danios. I also Have deen problems that in male/fem/fem grouping that when two pair up they bully the other. They would swim together on occasion, but to be frank outside of feeding and breeding attempts, they kept to separate sides of the tank.

I know many keep them in trios since they are shy, but after the initial week or so where they were getting acclimated to my tank, I haven’t seen them by shy at all. I have a school of 13 danios as well, which might be why as they’re really lovely dithers.

So.. my question is if they will absolutely feel hindered solo, or if it’s a preference sort of like Khuliis? I’m not wanting to get another male, but I’m not confident in sexing them. So far she seems to behave as normal- ate fine, isn’t hiding, etc. thoughts? Is it individual to the fish perhaps? Should I wait and see?

For me when I've had gouramis I found some females can nip females and same with the males. I ended just keeping 1 female and for me she was so much more active and had more personality. I think if your female doesn't seem lethargic, lonely or put of food I don't see an issue. You can always wait to see if there is change and then maybe get more females.

 

[oddballsandinverts]

Phew! Glad to see it worked out for someone else. I’ll be monitoring her and if she’s gets like she was the first week I had her, I’ll get another girl. For now she’s doing fine— she’s always been very social with the other tank members

 

[FunnyFish]

Honey gouramis do better in groups and not alone, in a well planted tank or at least being able to have their own space.

Prior to owning honeys, I had always had blue powdered or other gourami that were aggressive to each other so when I started up my tank again, I didn't want to get more than one gourami.

The one I purchased was a honey gourami. He always hid, barely ate, and was so shy and skittish. I leaned that honeys do better in groups as I was trying to figure out why he wouldn't eat (after spending a fortune on food, haha). I bought 4 more and added them in and once they got through figuring out their pecking order, it was like night and day. He became social, started eating anything I put in the tank and would be out and about swimming all the time. I had 5 in total, now I have 4, as one passed.

If you have the space, I'd recommend a few more honey gouramis

 

[b33fsquatch]

I have a solo female honey gourami in a 29 gallon with a bunch of guppies and she seems perfectly happy and active.

 

[TilapiaStore]

Coming in late, but for anyone who finds this later: both sides here are right. It really does come down to the individual fish. A confident honey with good dither fish like danios or guppies can do fine alone. A shy one, like FunnyFish's, may hide and stop eating until it has its own kind around.

If you do add more, adding females only avoids the nest-guarding aggression. Males are easy to spot once grown: honey-orange with a dark blue-black throat when they're showing. Females stay a plainer silver-tan with a brown stripe down the side.

In my experience, they're bolder and color up better with more of their own kind around.

 

[antelope321]

I bought 4 more and added them in and once they got through figuring out their pecking order, it was like night and day. He became social, started eating anything I put in the tank and would be out and about swimming all the time. I had 5 in total, now I have 4, as one passed.

If you have the space, I'd recommend a few more honey gouramis

Do you have any issues in the tank when building bubble nests or breeding occurs? I'm looking to get one solo gourami for my community tank (tetras, corys, cherry barbs, amano shrimp) but I fear once breeding starts, the male will be aggressive and I don't have multiple tanks to remove him until it stops.

 

[DaveSch]

I have a pair of honey gouramis but they don't live together anymore. They started out in my 75 gallon community aquarium and were model citizens. Once the male got into breeding mode he turned into a jerk and while making and tending to a bubble next (no eggs) he would chase all the other fish to the opposite end of the aquarium. He never nipped, just made sure they stayed away. I have a 16 gallon cube that has a school of ember tetras where I had also kept a betta, but the betta had just died so I moved the male honey to this tank. Problem solved. Without a female to impress all aggression disappeared and he's a model citizen of the 16 gallon tank with a school of embers. He has never tried to build a bubble nest in this tank without a female to court. The female lives in the 75 gallon yet and continues to be a model citizen. So, my experience tells me that if you have a solo honey gourami you probably won't have a problem. If you get a pair, have a spare tank as a back up.
It's been about 6 months now and I'm considering moving the female over to the 16 gallon with the male to see what happens. If he turns into a jerk again it'll be a lot easier to catch the female and move her back if she's in this smaller tank.