How to Breed Kissing Gourami Fish

Kissing gourami (Helostoma temminckii) are freshwater fish that can grow up to 12 inches in length, but they usually grow to only five or six inches in an aquarium. Kissing gourami are either grayish-green or pink. The kissing gourami is famous for its lips, which pucker and protrude from its head so that the fish looks as if it's preparing to kiss. The males will actually use their lips for fighting; they'll lock lips and push against each other until the weaker one surrenders. Breeding kissing gourami successfully can be a challenge, but you can get your gourami to multiply if you prepare the right environment for them.

Things You'll Need

  • Live aquarium plants
  • Lettuce
  • Fish flakes
  • Brine shrimp
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place at least one male and one female kissing gourami fish in a fish tank. There are no visible differences between the sexes, so you may need to enlist professional help if you need to determine the sex of your kissing gourami fish.

    • 2

      Keep the pH in your fish tank between 6.8 and 8.5. You should keep the water soft and the temperature slightly warmer, between 71.5 and 82.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 3

      Place small pieces of lettuce on the surface of the water. The kissing gourami will use the lettuce during spawning, and then the fry will eat the lettuce after they hatch.

    • 4

      Watch for the kissing gourami to spawn under floating plants in your aquarium. Unlike other varieties of gourami, kissing gourami don't build bubble nests. They simply spawn and release the eggs, which float to the top and are abandoned by the adults.

    • 5

      Look carefully for the eggs at the water's surface. The gourami eggs are smooth and spherical. The fry will hatch from the eggs in just one day.