Giant gourami community tank will snap and charge any other fish which are small enough for it to bully. Like most aquarium dwellers, giant gourami can be quickly raised with larger, more passive fish. However, if other fish are added to a tank, either large or small, they might be killed within a short period. Gourami tend towards herbivory, preferring algae-based foods, but will eat meaty foods. An algae-based flake food, along with freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp, provides these fish with the proper nutrition while young. Once of significant size, they can be fed legumes, partially or fully cooked fibrous
Honey gourami becomes much brighter and is used to court the female. The undersides of the males become black when breeding. Males also exhibit somewhat of an orange tinge in their fins, with the exception of the caudal fin. The male also has longer fins, with a pointed dorsal fin and extended anal fin rays. Two other color varieties have been selectively bred—a red-orange variety known as sunset or robin red, and a lighter variety called gold. This can sometimes lead to confusion, in part because the red-orange type can look like the red variety of dwarf gourami ("Colisa lalia"). The honey