Balloon Kissers?

[DragonLass]

I was in my LFS today, and I had to do a double take when I saw a tank full of what looked like living severed heads of kissing gourami. Closer inspection shows fins growing out the back.

They look really cute, if a bit freaky at first. I already have 2 regular kissers in my tank, but I am going to have to rehome them within a year before they grow too big for my tank.

Would these balloon kissers be a good replacement for them? Or do they grow to be around the same size?

I have had a search around but there is fairly scant information about them around. Does anyone have any, or have a link that has good info about them?

 

[sylvia]

Balloon kissers have identical requirements to ordinary kissers. Like the pink color morph (the wild color of kissers is green), the 'balloon' shape was a random mutation that showed up and was then taken advantage of and marketed. Though they do stay slightly smaller than ordinary kissers (about 6-7" as opposed to 8"+), they are deep-bodied, equaly territorial and just as messy. As such, they realy should be treated just like an ordinary kisser and given a suitably sized tank.

Just so you know, it's also proably not a good idea to mix angels with most gouramies in a tank this size (about 25 gallons). Angels should realy have at least 30 gallons and, as angels and gouramies occupy the same water layer in the tank, it's rather crowded for the two together. It would also probably be best to up-grade your tank for the angel though it should be ok - at least for the time being - in this tank as well. Do keep in mind that lone angels can become terrors at maturity and should not be kept with anything too small or prone to being bullied.