Kissing Gourami fish are also called Kisser fish. They are freshwater fish, native to Thailand and Indonesia. In fact, they are the food of the people who stay in that region.
Kissing Gouramis can be called a typical Gourami fish due to its shape. Its body is compressed and elongated. Its ends are also wide and elongated. It is very difficult to distinguish between a male and a female.
They can grow up to 12 inches long. The unique feature of kissing gouramis is their mouth. Their lips are thicker and lined with teeth.
They love to live in shallow, slow-moving water. In their natural habitat, they live in a place that is heavily planted. They will eat algae and will also eat most other plants in the water.
They can tolerate a wide variety of conditions. The temperature of the water can be in the range of 75-85° F while the ph level can be in the range of 6.5 to 8.5.
Its name comes from its peculiar habit. When two males meet, they will face each other and clench their mouths. Due to this action, they are called Kissing Gourami. Some fish keepers call them talking gouramis. These kisses are not harmful, but sometimes due to continuous bullying they can develop stress and even die.
However, experience has shown that as they get older, their habit of challenging or fighting each other is reduced and most of the time they begin to live in peace with others.
Like most types of gourami fish, they can rise to the surface of the water and swallow air directly from the atmosphere. This is possible because they have a labyrinth organ. Naturally, they can survive in water with low oxygen levels.
If you want to keep them, you should always plan for a large aquarium that holds 80 gallons of water or more. You should also provide some edible plants and some artificial plants because they will try to eat all the plants present in the aquarium!
Kissing Gouramis can take on a wide range of foods, including live foods as well as flaked foods and vegetables. You should also feed them vegetables like spinach or lettuce and peas.
Since it is difficult to find out the sex of the fish, it is better to buy a group of 8-10 and then let them mate. They will not build any nests, but they can spawn a large number of eggs. They will normally lay up to 12,000 eggs per spawning. These eggs will float on the surface of the water and stick to available surfaces such as leaves or plant stems. Some experienced fish keepers put a lettuce leaf in the tank which will float and the eggs will stick to it. After a while, it will also develop fungus that the fry will use for food.
While arranging the substrate for the aquarium, you should use gravel and large stones because the fish will try to dig into the substrate most of the time out of habit.
In short, if you can provide a large tank with a large surface area, lots of plants, reasonably warm water, and a compatible mix of species in the aquarium, you can entertain your family members and guests with the unusual habit of kissing gouramis. .