They're absolutely electric, from beautiful blues to reds and oranges and even maroons. And now you can even get different shaped fins and tails as well. Only the boys have got these magnificent colours, the girls are pretty drab.. just the reverse to humans!

In their native home of Thailand they tend to live in rice paddies with very slow moving water, so they're quite at home in a tank like the one above, which has divisions that you can move out to give them more or less space. But because they defend their territory violently, you can't have two males together or they'll literally fight to the death.

Because these fish live in a semi-tropical environment in the southern states of Australia, they do need a bit of warmth over winter. So you can use a pad that fits neatly under the tank and warms the water up. There's one for every sized tank available from pet or aquarium stores.

When it comes to feeding, these guys really enjoy a variety. You can buy a commercial food available as a pellet but what they like more than anything else is some sort of worm, and you can get these supplies from your local aquarium store.

If you tire of your fighting fish, don't release them into a waterway because they could wreak havoc - rather take them to the pet shop from which you bought them.