Gourami

In a second hand tank I bought about 10 days ago, there were some gouramis which I was told were "Sunset dwarf". However, the males have now begun to develop the typical dark colour  underneath, and with the dorsal fin colour as well, these must surely be Honeys? However, they are much more distinctly yellow in front and red behind than the Honeys I've seen in pictures. Is this one of those specially bred colour forms?

I have six of these, three of each sex. However, there are also three Three-spots, one blue Opaline and two gold. All of these appear to be females. A couple of days ago one of them, shown on second photo, who had been looking rather bloated, appeared to send a very long stream of bubbles out of her rear end. It was only when the other fish started to eat these "bubbles" that I realised they were actually eggs. Without a male, she must have thought "I just can't hold on any longer!". I'm sure she had a relieved look on her face as she joined all the others in the feast. Since males of this species have a reputation for aggression, I don't think I'll be getting one.

The second pic is definitely a honey gourami. There is a man-made colour of these fish (selective breeding, nothing nasty) which has much more yellow on the male. The male I had till a few weeks ago was one of these. They are yellow at the head end graduating to orange at the tail end.

How big is number 2? From the pic, it looks like a gourami sometimes referred to as a red robin. I've always understood them to be a red colured honey, with females the same colour as males. Though you will find some people who say red robins are dwarfs or even honey/dwarf hybrids. Whatever they actually are, they are slightly bigger than normal and yellow honeys. Your fish's fins look quite small and rounded, ie female.
If the fish is a lot bigger than the honeys, it could be a variant of the 3 spot, though I have also seen reddish variants of thick lipped gouramis (in Pets at Home a couple of years ago!) which are also bigger than honeys. I can't see the lips on your fish thoguh.

Many shops refer to honey gouramis as honey dwarfs. I do wish they wouldn't as honeys and dwarfs are 2 different species. The previous owner could have been a victim of this mis-naming.

Yes, these selectively bred honeys are really colourful, wouldn't look out of place on a coral reef. They are still "natural" enough for me, though I'm not usually keen on "messed about" fish with long dangly fins etc. I'm glad they were honeys, as they were on my "wanted" list while dwarfs, of any colour, weren't. The black colour has only developed in the last few days, about five days after I got them.

The other fish is almost 8 cms long, including the tail. Definitely female as she squirted out the eggs, and the second one has a similar dorsal fin. They are somewhat longer and less deep-bodied than the other one, which I'm calling Opaline on the basis of colour, and which I'm sure is a 3-spot variety. So they may be a different species, or a hybrid. The lips are pretty normal, not at all thick in proportion. It's not that important what they are as they won't be breeding and I'm happy so long as they stay peaceful and quiet as they are now. In fact, this tank is a model of tranquillity. I want to keep it this way so will be adding more quiet fish, e.g. Harlequins. If any of them do become more aggressive, I have options to move them to other tanks with more robust fish.

Although gouramis are often considered as fish of mid and upper levels, these prefer to feed off the bottom. They don't bother much with flake, but sinking pellets etc. will keep them "standing on their heads" nibbling quietly away for ages. They are so peaceful, I've seen three of them nose to nose, all eating the same piece of food, with no conflict at all. Considering the problems some people report with gouramis, I think I'm pretty lucky - so far.