Kissing gourami will feed. The maximum length for kissing gouramis in aquariums is between . Kissing Gourami are also a very long lived fish, a long term commitment for the fish keeper. They have been known to live in excess of 25 years (*). In the aquarium, breeders have also produced a "dwarf" or "balloon pink" variety, which is a mutated strain of the pink gourami that are offered to hobbyists. The "balloons" are named so for their smaller and rounder bodies. In captivity and in the wild the average lifespan is 5 to 7 years, but it is known that kissing
Kissing gourami do not guard, are spherical, smooth, and buoyant. Initial development is rapid: the eggs hatch after one day, and the fry are free-swimming two days thereafter. The kissing gourami does not care for its young. The kissing gourami present a kind of behavior associated with their characteristic jaw and mouth: two individuals approach their mouths in both mediolateral and dorsoventral planes and press for a few seconds. This type of "kiss" has given "H. temminkii" the common name of kissing gourami has been considered an intraspecific aggressive behavior also known as "mouth fight" due to the contraction of the jaw