Mosquito-eating fish is best not to mix with other fish. Mosquito-eating fish is mainly a wild fish. Therefore, this leads to the higher activity and fighting ability of mosquito fish than ornamental fish. If they are kept together, it will be detrimental to ornamental fish. Mosquito fish is a warm-tempered small fish that lives in various still water bodies such as reservoirs, lakes, dams, swamps, paddy fields, canals, and depressions. The group swims on the surface of the water, and the action is lively and agile.

Mosquito fish feed on aquatic invertebrates , Juveniles mainly feed on rotifers and ciliates, while adults feed on insects, cladocerans, copepods, and chlorella, especially larvae that eat mosquitoes. One adult fish eats more than 2,000 larvae every day. It has strong adaptability and can live in 3% salt water and acid-alkaline water with a certain concentration. When the dissolved oxygen in the water is close to zero or in long-term hypoxic odorous water, some individuals can still survive and swallow larvae.