Moonlight gourami in the floodplain of the lower Mekong. The moonlight gourami eats insects, crustaceans, and zooplankton. Like all labyrinth fish, the moonlight gourami has a special lung-like organ that allows it to breathe air directly. Because of this labyrinth organ, it is not unusual to see it go to the surface and gulp air. The ability to breathe air allows the moonlight gourami to survive in very low oxygen situations. In fact, if it remains moist it can actually survive out of water for up to several hours. As with other labyrinth fish, these species are oviparous and employ bubble nests
Honey gourami and other gouramis. Water temperature should be maintained at around 22 to 28 °C. Water chemistry is not critical, but extremes should be avoided. A colour variant of the honey gourami is the red honey gourami, which is slightly redder in colour. When in breeding condition, the male becomes even darker red/orange in colour. The honey gourami is a bubble nest builder that uses plants to help bind together the bubbles. The water level should be reduced to 8 in during spawning, and the temperature should be approximately 28 °C (82 °F) and with a pH of around 7. After