Very Interesting Gourami Color Change

Hey all,
Three months ago I bought 3 honey gouramis, but one turned out to be a thick lipped gourami. Nevertheless, they still get along great and I'm having no problems. Recently though, my 2 honey gouramis, which have been identified by 2 separate people as female wild-type honeys, have begun to change color. They turned from a light grey and began to get an orange-brown color on the fins that began to creep into the body too. It's happening a lot more with one than the other, with one of them barely changing and the other showing more substantial changes. There's also a slight black region forming on the fins as well. It's happening in both gouramis, just much more in one than the other. I know these fish are known to change color, but I didn't think female honeys changed.

 

Hey all,
Three months ago I bought 3 honey gouramis, but one turned out to be a thick lipped gourami. Nevertheless, they still get along great and I'm having no problems. Recently though, my 2 honey gouramis, which have been identified by 2 separate people as female wild-type honeys, have begun to change color. They turned from a light grey and began to get an orange-brown color on the fins that began to creep into the body too. It's happening a lot more with one than the other, with one of them barely changing and the other showing more substantial changes. There's also a slight black region forming on the fins as well. It's happening in both gouramis, just much more in one than the other. I know these fish are known to change color, but I didn't think female honeys changed.
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Wild females are absolutely stunning in their own right, yours is beautiful
(I’ll see if I can get my friend to post a picture of hers )

 

Wild females are absolutely stunning in their own right, yours is beautiful
(I’ll see if I can get my friend to post a picture of hers )

Oh that's great! I was just having doubts as to whether it was actually a female honey since it's becoming very similar in color to my thick lipped gourami. Do you know what they look like with all their color?

 

Ohh, she's lovely! Yes female honeys absolutely do change quite lot, and very quickly too. My girls can go from silver to deep rust to having a dark stripe within seconds! I've got wild caught honeys and they are very good at changing colours. They even look pinkish at times hehe. They change all the time, though they do look a little rustier as they grow up

 

Ohh, she's lovely! Yes female honeys absolutely do change quite lot, and very quickly too. My girls can go from silver to deep rust to having a dark stripe within seconds! I've got wild caught honeys and they are very good at changing colours. They even look pinkish at times hehe. They change all the time, though they do look a little rustier as they grow up

Mine also had that vertical black stripe when I first got them, but then they lost it

 

Mine also had that vertical black stripe when I first got them, but then they lost it

Yeah they have them as juveniles and then it only really shows up again as breeding colours. If you had a male in the tank you'd likely see it quite often when a female is near a male

 

Yeah they have them as juveniles and then it only really shows up again as breeding colours. If you had a male in the tank you'd likely see it quite often when a female is near a male

I'm debating getting a male now but the last thing I need is interspecies fighting to break out between my honeys and sunset thick lip

 

I'm debating getting a male now but the last thing I need is interspecies fighting to break out between my honeys and sunset thick lip

Ah yeah, honestly. I do keep thick lipped gourami too (seperately) and the males can be quite firey. Not always, but I'm not sure it would be safe for a male honey if you have a male thick lipped. Do you know what sex it is yet?

 

Ah yeah, honestly. I do keep thick lipped gourami too (seperately) and the males can be quite firey. Not always, but I'm not sure it would be safe for a male honey if you have a male thick lipped. Do you know what sex it is yet?

The thick lip is female, the honeys would occasionally chase her around at the beginning but they get along great now

 

The thick lip is female, the honeys would occasionally chase her around at the beginning but they get along great now

Haha aww, I wouldn’t have expected it that way around tbh!
Bur yeah, if your fish have all been living together for a good while peacefully, then I think you'd probably be OK adding a male hg to a trio of females. An adult thicklipped can definitely hold her own, theyre quite a bit bigger and tougher than hgs when fully grown