Habitat

The fish lives in fresh water area, benthopelagic with calm, shallow currents, and lots of aquatic plants. The water pH ranges is 6-8 and the temperature is 22°C-28°C.

Distribution

This fish is naturally (natively) found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It is an introduced fish in the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Colombia. The distribution area in Indonesia is in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java.

Food

It's an omnivorous fish that eat mosses, aquatic plants, zooplankton, to aquatic insects. The habit of eating by gnawing food that sticks to the surface of other objects looks like kissing, so it is because of this habit that this is also called "kissing gourami".

Reproduction

It begins to breed at the age of 12-18 months, with a weight of around 150 g and a total length of more than 20 cm. Spawning time occurs under floating aquatic plants. The spawning process can occur every 3 months if the availability of natural feed is sufficient.