I keep these fish at 76°F (24°C) in a 20 gallon long. The substrate is white playground sand and there are lots of plants, even emergent anubias. I also put a lot of oak leaves in the tank. I use tap water (pH 7.6, 220 ppm) that has filter bags of peat moss added (I just put the bag in the tank). Malaysian driftwood also helps color the water. I usually keep floating plants like Riccia with them also. Babies just show up in tanks that have channoides. The male will disappear for a few days which means he has a mouth full of eggs. Then the male reappears and a few days later you start seeing babies in the tank. The parents don't seem to bother the babies.
Most of the pics below were taken with a flash. The last picture was taken without a flash to show that the color is not as intensely red without the flash.
The picture below was taken without a flash.
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