Expert: Ron Coleman - 7/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: I'm doing a project on Honey Gourami. But i know nothing about it. In the Internet, their answer wasn't really the same. It makes me very confuse. I would like to know the environment they live in, pH ,what kind of tank should i give them, do i need a filter inside or maybe i can just put air stones. Most importantly, i would like to know how they will behave in the wild and in captivity and also what it feeds in the wild and in captivity. And other extra things or tips on keeping a gourami. Thanks :)

ANSWER: Hi Rebecca,
  I cannot do your project for you but I will give you some hints. Gouramis come from South East Asia.  

  If you keep them in a tank, then you definitely should have a filter in the tank.  

  When you say "how do they behave", what do you mean?
[If you are interested in how they breed, they are bubble nesters.]
They also have a very interesting breathing system called "the labyrinth" which is why the group including the gouramis are called
labyrinth fishes.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks. This help me alot. But I'm more interested in how they will behave in the wild and captivity. Like what they will eat in the wild, what they will do in the wild to find food, will their skin colour change in the wild because of what they eat and etc.

Answer
Hi Rebecca,
  Unfortunately I cannot help you on what they do in the wild. They come from Southeast Asia and I have never been there to see them (I do all my field work in Central and South America, and there are no gouramis there).  Sorry.

-- Ron
   rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
   Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>