Are gold, blue and opaline gouramis the same fish?

Yes. Gold, blue, opaline and three-spot gourami are all colour forms of Trichopodus trichopterus, a single species. They grow to the same size, want the same water and share the same semi-aggressive temperament. The name on the tank describes the colour, not the fish.

Which gourami is best for a community tank?

The honey gourami is the usual answer: it stays around 5cm, is genuinely peaceful, and does not develop the territoriality that Trichopodus species do with age. Pearl gourami is the larger peaceful option.

Why do gouramis go to the surface?

They are labyrinth fish and breathe atmospheric air through a suprabranchial organ, so surfacing is normal rather than a sign of poor water. They do need access to it, which means no tank filled flush to a sealed lid.

Do gouramis need to be kept in groups?

It depends on the genus. The small Trichogaster and sparkling gouramis do better in groups; the larger Trichopodus species often do not, because males become territorial with maturity and a group in a small tank turns into one male and several targets.

Gourami Types Compared: Size, Temperament and Tank Size

The names on the tanks are not all different fish

A shop can stock gold gourami, blue gourami, opaline gourami and three-spot gourami on the same aisle, at four prices, looking like four fish. They are one species: Trichopodus trichopterus. The colours are cultivated forms of the same animal, and the care sheet is identical for all of them — same adult size, same water, same temperament, same problems at maturity.

The honey gourami is in the same position. Fish sold as red robin, red flame or sunset gourami are colour forms of Trichogaster chuna.

This matters when you are stocking, because buying "a gold and an opaline" is buying two of one territorial species rather than diversifying.

The species compared

Species	Adult size	Min tank	Temperature	Temperament
The Gold Gourami: Trichopodus trichopterus	10-12 cm	—	22-28°C	Semi-Aggressive
Trichopodus trichopterus var.: Opaline Gourami	12-15 cm	—	24-28°C	Semi-Aggressive
The Blue Gourami: Trichopodus trichopterus	10-12 cm	—	22-28°C	Semi-Aggressive
The Pearl Gourami: Trichopodus leerii	10-12 cm	—	24-28°C	Peaceful
The Moonlight Gourami: Trichogaster microlepis	12-15 cm	—	24-28°C	Peaceful
Kissing Gourami: Helostoma temminckiiHelostoma temminckii	30cm	300L	24-30°C	Semi-aggressive
Thick-lipped Gourami: Trichogaster labiosa	3-4 inches (8-10 cm)	—	22-28°C	Peaceful
Banded Gourami: Trichogaster fasciata	4-5 inches (10-12 cm)	—	22-28°C	Peaceful
The Dwarf Gourami: Trichogaster lalius	5-8 cm	—	22-28°C	Semi-Aggressive
Honey Gourami: Trichogaster chunaTrichogaster chuna	5cm	60L	22-28°C	Peaceful
Red Robin Gourami: Trichogaster chuna 'Red'	5 cm	—	24-28°C	Peaceful
The Sparkling Gourami: Trichopsis pumila	3-4 cm	—	24-28°C	Peaceful
Croaking Gourami: Trichopsis vittata	6 cm	—	22-28°C	Peaceful
Three-striped Croaking Gourami: Trichopsis schalleri	4-5 cm	—	22-28°C	Peaceful
The Chocolate Gourami: Sphaerichthys osphromenoides	4-5 cm	—	23-28°C	Peaceful
Vaillant's Chocolate Gourami: Sphaerichthys vaillanti	2-2.5 inches (5-6 cm)	—	24-28°C	Peaceful
Licorice Gourami: Parosphromenus deissneriParosphromenus deissneri	4cm	45L	24-28°C	Peaceful / Very Shy
Noble Gourami: Ctenops nobilis	4 inches (10 cm)	—	24-28°C	Aggressive

Reading that table

The size spread is the main decision. Gouramis run from the licorice gourami at around 4cm to the kissing gourami at 25-30cm, which is a large fish by any community-tank standard and a very different proposition from the small Trichogaster species that share the common name.

Temperament splits along genus lines more than size. The Trichopodus species — gold, blue, opaline, moonlight — are listed as semi-aggressive, and that is about maturity rather than disposition: they are fine as juveniles and become territorial as adults, particularly males toward each other. The small Trichogaster species and the sparkling gouramis stay peaceful.

The shy end is a real category. Chocolate and licorice gouramis are not beginner fish that happen to be small. They want soft, acidic, often blackwater conditions and are outcompeted for food in a busy community tank. They are specialist fish kept in species setups, and the table's size column under-describes how different their requirements are.

What all gouramis need

They are labyrinth fish. They breathe air at the surface using a suprabranchial organ, which is why they came to be sold as fish that tolerate poor water — they can take oxygen from the air when the water runs low. That is survival, not a husbandry standard. What it does mean practically is that they need unobstructed access to the surface, and that the air above the water should not be much colder than the water itself.

Beyond that they want calm water and something to break up sightlines. Most are slow, deliberate fish with long ventral filaments; strong flow and fin-nipping tank mates both cause problems.

Where to start

For a community tank, honey gourami if you want small and peaceful, pearl gourami if you want a centrepiece that will not start fights. For a species tank, the chocolate and licorice gouramis are the interesting end of the group and the demanding one.

Full parameters, feeding and breeding notes are in the individual profiles below.