Because of its pugnaciousness, the paradise fish is usually shunned by aquarists who have limited accommodation. This is rather a pity for it is a beautiful and interesting species. It’ll eat any foods, but has a preference for daphnia along with a live diet. Very hardy, the paradise fish can stand a temperature range of 50°-90°F, and is effortlessly tamed. This might at initial sound ridiculous for a fish, but nevertheless it is not long prior to it’ll accept tit-bits from the fingers of its owner.

The body colouring is a deep rusty red with emerald stripes. The long pointed filaments of the caudal fin, which are present on the male only, are generally emerald and end in a very pale blue. The females have a much more rounded tail and shorter fin tips.

Usually there’s small to select between the colouring of the sexes, but as spawning time approaches the male becomes much more vivid, whilst the female becomes paler and paler, until she is finally a drab white.

Adult paradise fish grow to about three inch, and whilst they could be put into a community tank it is advisable not to have the other occupants too small in comparison.

Paradise fish are typical in the rice fields of China, where they’ve a plentiful supply of food in the form of mosquito larvae.

They breed in the standard technique for bubble nesters, at a temperature of 75° F.

Even though classed as tropical, these fish can stand temperatures down to about 50° F. During the summer months they could, as a result, be cultured in a pond.

This fish is very comparable to M. opercularis. The most obvious distinction is in the tail, which is rounded in both sexes. The body has slightly less red, and also the markings are less distinctive. The male might be identified by his much more vivid colouring and larger fins.

At breeding time the body of the male becomes suffused with blue-black, and speckled with many light coloured spots.

Adults attain a length of three inch.

These are peaceful fish and they’re not worried by lower temperatures; 65°-73°F being an average range. Maintain temperature usually below the 75° F mark.

It is a typical human trait to credit animals, in this instance fish, with human reactions when their actions are comparable to human behaviour. As a result, when we find two fish lip to lip, they’re assumed to be kissing, hence the well-liked name for Helostoma temminck.

It is true that this species will probably be seen occasionally ‘kissing’ but it doesn’t mean that love is the motivation. It is, in reality, not component of the mating process, and also the true reason for this behaviour isn’t recognized. Nevertheless, it is an interesting exhibition.

The general body colour of kissing gourami is a light greenish blue, lightening to silver on the belly. The sides are marked with thin, horizontal, wavy stripes along with a dark bar crosses the tail root.

The spiny dorsal has a dark lateral strip running via the centre, and also the spiny anal fin has a comparable marking along its edge. The lips are thick and protruding, and are equipped with fine teeth; an arrangement ideally suited for eating algae oil rocks and plants.

Kissing gourami is mainly a herbivorous species, as might be expected, and will eat dried foods, but it should also be fed with dried spinach and powdered oatmeal, and lots of algae should be supplied.

It is not a ready breeder and doesn’t construct the usual bubble nest. After the usual chasing, the pair embrace and also the female scatters between 20 and 50 eggs which float on the surface. This is repeated until between 350 and 2,000 eggs have been laid. As it is much more than likely that these will probably be eaten between every embrace, it is advisable to remove the eggs promptly and transfer them to a container floating in the exact same aquarium. Once the spawning is completed, the adults could be removed and also the eggs returned to their original house.

For breeding the temperature should be about 84° F and also the water preferably a minimum of 12 inch deep. The pH should be about 7.4 – 7.6. Eggs hatch in about 3 days.

Once the eggs hatch the issue of feeding the young fry presents itself. Small is recognized about the correct foods so this stage will prove to be largely experimental.

The average length of adults is about 5 inch, but they grow to twice this size in the wild.

Dwarf gourami is the smallest of the genus, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty. The male, as might be expected, is the much better coloured. The colour pattern of red and blue-green bands runs vertically across the body and tail, and scintillates during breeding.

Sex could be decided, in addition to the much better colouring, by the pointed end to the dorsal fin of the male. A further check could be taken from the orange-red, feeler-like ventral fins.

Reasonably hardy, and usually peaceful to the point of timidity, the male dwarf gourami occasionally kills his mate during courtship.

Breeding follows the standard description for bubble nesters, except that pieces of fine plant leaves are woven into the nest. The breeding temperature is 80°F.

Attaining a length of 3.25 inch, the thick lip gourami isn’t so especially thick lipped as the name would have us believe. It is the squat mouth which gives this impression.

It lacks the much more distinctive markings and colourings of the other gouramis, but makes up for this by its lack of timidity.

The sex could be determined by the shape of the dorsal fin which ends in a point on the male, and is slightly shorter and much more rounded in the female.

It breeds according to the standard description at a temperature of 80° F. The eggs, which are transparent, float to the surface.

Siamese fighters are individualists; there’s no other aquarium fish fairly like them.

Nearly every aquarist possesses a minimum of one male, even if he has no intention of breeding. The extraordinary beauty of the Siamese fighter is sufficient to warrant it a place of honour in any community tank. The male, when fully grown, develops a long flowing anal fin, a high dorsal fin, along with a big flowing rounded tail. An additional characteristic feature is the spear-shaped ventrals which are thrust forward in a menacing manner when the fish are angry.

You are able to only really appreciate the beauty of this species when it is angry. A mirror placed on the side of the aquarium, so as to give the impression of an additional fish, causes an immediate fighting attitude, with gill plates ruffled and all of the fins stiffly erect. This is a truly fantastic sight.

‘Cornflower blue’ and ‘fiery red’ are the two main colours, but there are numerous colour variations in blue, green, and red, all with a metallic tint which is heightened when the fish is annoyed.

The fine fellow we know right now has been developed from comparatively drab forefathers, which had smaller fins along with a yellowish-brown body colouring with faint horizontal bands.

It is advisable to have only one male in a tank containing other fish, and if the tank is particu-larly big you might also add a female.

The fighters usually give the impression of good-natured indolence, preferring to lounge in a corner, or slowly cruise around the tank with eel-like movements.

You are able to identify sexes by the longer and much more pointed finnage of the male. This doesn’t turn out to be apparent until they’re about an inch in length, and at this stage you should rear the males in separate containers, but females might be left together.

The fighters are very adaptable and soon settle down in new surroundings. They take readily to dry foods, but they fare much better on daphnia along with a live diet.

Breeding follows the standard technique for bubble nesters, but it is rather an unreliable species simply because of its inborn aggressiveness. They breed at a temperature of 78°F.