A family of fish represented by some of the smallest fish in the hobby, and one of the largest, gourami’s and their relatives are definitely an eccentric bunch: From the tiny sparkling gourami, the enormous Giant gourami, and the dazzling bettas, or Siamese fighting fish, they certainly offer diversity. A common sight in our hobby, as many species are readily offered and are amongst some of the most popular aquarium fish.

They actually have quite a record of history surrounding them as the Paradise fish, was in fact amongst the first Tropical fish ever kept. Due to a modified organ, Paradise fish like most labyrinth fishes can get their oxygen from the surface and therefore were easily kept by the earliest hobbyist during the infancies of the trade. Bettas also share this fame, as this extremely hardy species, able to withstand extreme temperatures and adverse conditions, easily won over hobbyist, and were often the subject of cruel combat for the sake of human gambling. The little combatants were also bred for show, and still today newer more utterly beautiful variants are still being produced, commanding a high price.