Kissing Gouramis
Kissing gourami with this species males snap their mouths together when duelling.
Kissing gouramis. The kissing gourami grows to be around 12 inches in length and will require an aquarium of at least 75 gallons. Kissing gouramis also known as kissing fish or kissers helostoma temminckii are medium sized tropical freshwater fish comprising the monotypic labyrinth fish family helostomatidae from the greek elos stud nail stoma mouth. Generally they do best with medium to large sized fish.
Kissing gouramis are quite popular due to their unique behavior of appearing to kiss each other. Kissing gouramis will show more aggression towards fish that look similar to them. They are not kissing but they are in fact acting aggressive and having a showdown.
They can grow up to 12 inches in size so they need a large aquarium minimum 75 gallons. The kissing gourami helostoma temminckii is the only species in the helostomatidae family there are many types of gourami but most are part of the osphronemidae family. Also known as pink kissing gourami kissing fish or kissers kissing gouramis are a favorite for many fish keepers.
Kissing gouramis are so named for their lip locking activity. The pearl gourami do extremely well in a tank featuring a dark substrate and subdue lights. When they do this it means that one is trying to establish dominance over the other.
Kissing gouramis are omnivorous fish. This species can be quarrelsome with others and care should be taken when putting them in a community tank. Banded gourami also known as rainbow gouramis the banded gouramis are sturdy fish that prefer eating vegetable matter.
The kissing gourami however is not a bubble nester. Read on for some interesting information about this attractive fish. Is the kissing gourami a good community fish.
In reality they are exerting their territorial rights. On the inside surface of the kisser s obvious lips are rows of fine teeth which are used to graze on algae and vegetable matter. Gouramis originate in asia and have a form of lung which enables them to breathe air and make nests from bubbles.
These fish originate from thailand to indonesia. Periodically provide fresh romaine lettuce cooked zucchini or peas to keep your kissers in optimal health. They can be food fish which are farmed in their native southeast asia they are used fresh for steaming baking.
If you do have more than one male the tank must be large and well planted. They can deal with other kissing gouramis but you need to limit the number of males in the tank as much as possible. Gouramis are freshwater fish that belong to the family osphronemidae which consists of around fifteen genera with more than 95 species they are native to certain parts of asia like india pakistan indonesia and malaysia.
Here are some good kissing gourami tank mates to consider. Kissing gourami helostoma temminkii these fish get their name because of their kissing behavior but it s still not known why they display this behavior. Hence the name kissing gourami.
They can be long living fish and whist they usually live until around 7 some have been known to.
