It is only seldom found in the aquarium trade, courtesy of its extreme sensitivity to shipping stress and high levels of aggression.

This intelligent species shows a learning process in younger or inexperienced individuals in gaining knowledge of how to hold the eggs properly without swallowing them.

At the when living alongside the catfish Pseudolaguvia muricata in Bangladesh the habitat was a slow-moving, shallow stream containing clear water with a substrate of sand and organic detritus.

This gourami was recorded here with sympatric species including Barilius barna, B. bendelisis, B. tileo, Devario devario, Oreichthys cosuatis, Psilorhynchus sucatio, Lepidocephalichthys guntea, Acanthocobitis botia, Schistura corica, S. savona, Amblyceps mangois, Mystus bleekeri, Olyra longicaudata, Conta conta, Hara jerdoni, Pseudolaguvia ribeiroi, P. shawi, Aplocheilus panchax, Xenentodon cancila, Microphis deocata, Chanda nama, Pseudambassis baculis, Pseudambassis ranga, Channa gachua, Badis badis, Nandus nandus, Glossogobius giuris, Mastacemelus pancalus and Tetraodon cutcutia.

[citation needed] In the Suthimari River basin, West Bengal frail gouramis were collected in early September in the early afternoon alongside Danio rerio from a habitat containing relatively clear, moderately-flowing water with some suspended sediment and there was no aquatic vegetation present.