Anyone keeping parosphromenus?

[gbaiao]

Hi everyone!

I recently got my first paros: 6 P. deissneri and 2 P. ornaticauda.
They seem to be doing fine and I´m pretty sure the ornaticauda are male and female. So far I have no clues about the deissneri sexes.

They are housed in separated tanks with about 2" of water, a piece of driftwood, java moss and some ceramic pipes. Temp about 22C and PH 6,7 aproximately.

What is the best food for them??? Neither species seems to like microworms...the deissneri eat BBS very well but I´m not so sure about the ornaticauda...

Any suggestion about any changes I should make? Do I have to separate a pair for them to spawn? Also, I´ve read somewhere that I should add almond leaves the tank...is that true?

Thanks!

Guilherme

[stormhawk]

Hi Guilherme, nice species you've chosen, especially P. ornaticauda. Its a small species with a nice body pattern. Both species prefer lower pH waters, around pH 5 to 5.5. They're quite delicate to start with but easily handled if the water quality is right for them. The addition of oak leaves is recommended but the leaves will rot over a few weeks so replacing them may be a hassle. Filtering their water through peat will help in making the environment better for them. They will feed on BBS like you have discovered and foods like daphnia and tubifex are good for these small fish.

[gbaiao]

Thanks for the reply!

I don´t have easy access to oak leaves anyway....I´ve read something about indian almond leaves, would that have the same effects?

Can I use acids (like vinegar) to lower the PH? I know it must be done with care, but I´ve used it before succesfully with killies...I´m just wondering if it could harm the paros??

Regards

Guilherme

[stormhawk]

Yup those Indian Almond leaves will do the trick as well. Does this tree grow in Brazil or is there a similar tree native to Brazil? Its possible to use cider vinegar to lower the pH but as always, use with care since Parosphromenus aren't the toughest of fish to start with. In fact I found them to be the most delicate of the fish I previously kept, and this includes the chocolate gourami as well.

[stormhawk]

Oh yes I forgot to add, there's some expert anabantoid keepers in this forum but they seem to have gone quiet. Many of them would tell you what you need to know, especially with Parosphromenus.

[budak]

With due respect to KL, I would recommend the Freshwater/Brackish Fish forum section of www.petfrd.com for probably the most authoritative discussions on anabantoids (particularly wild bettas and paros)..... the mod there (Bagrus Dude) is an icthyologist (and hobbyist) specialising in SEA fishes, and many posters there breed the fishes.

[MrTree]

A dead Parosphromenus ornaticauda fry. Red since young.



Most of the so called "P. deissneri" on trade or information on net are not real deissneri. They are undescribed species.

The real P. deissneri is from Pulau Bangka. It looks quite similar to P. bintan in this picture, which also occurs in Pulau Bangka. Easiest way(for hobbyists like us) to tell them apart is the tail. P.deissneri is pin-tail while P.bintan is rounded tail.



These two species are currently in the trade(Mixed together in same shippment) under one commercial name of Parosphromenus sp "KAMIHATA".

Cheers,

[gbaiao]

There are indian almond trees growing all around the city, so it should be easy to get some leaves. I guess they adapt well to our climate.

Budak: Thanks for the link!

Mr Tree:
I guess my fish might not be P deissneri, I have no experience in IDing paros...I´ll wait until they colour up a little more and then try to id them.

Was that ornaticauda fry born in your tank? If so, what was your setup?

[TyroneGenade]

Zhou, you have a very nice webapge. Lots of good quality shots. I've put you link up on my site next my measily Betta splendens...

I've very jelous of the varieity of fish Betta etc you have acces to.

bye

[stormhawk]

Tyrone, maybe its time you plan on moving to Singapore. Then maybe you'll get to have some nice Bettas to add to your collection. There's alot of beautiful wild betta species that just came in to Singapore recently. You should take a look at the Betta macrostoma had you been in Singapore now. :wink:

[TyroneGenade]

B. macrostoma is one of the Betta species I most want.

[stormhawk]

Tyrone, its one of the most expensive Betta around too. A local guy in Singapore has just succeeded in spawning his pair. Male's mouthbrooding now according to what I just read.

The best place if you're looking for wild Bettas in Europe would either be Germany or the UK. The AAGB may have what you want.

[MrTree]

gbaiao,

Yeah, that was my first success in paro species. The set up was pretty standard labyrinth fish breeding set up. Very shy fish, in fact, it was the most shy paro I ever had. With regular feeding, then I found the fries.

Tyrone,

Thanks for the link up. Singapore is probably the best place to keep fish, the price of the fish here are cheaper compare to neighbour developing countries, and of course lots of variety. Yet, some people still complaining fish too expensive.

The macrostomas are now finally come to Singapore first before anywhere else.

Cheers,

[Slaigar]

Tyrone, maybe its time you plan on moving to Singapore.

Jianyang, I am starting to think you and Ron would be good realestate agents for Singapore. Attracting foreign hobbyists with these fish species (and the occasional plants)!

I remember reading through the Betta threads at Petfrd.com and they make me quite envious!

[whuntley]

B. macrostoma is one of the Betta species I most want.

I have seen them several times and even turned them down when offered some. I actually think they are kind of ugly, compared to Licorice Gouramis and some of the other wild bettas. They are dramatically less pretty than even very common ones, like smaragdina and coccina, IMHO.

Uncle Herby (now prisoner X) did a truly fine job of hyping them as the "Brunei Beauty" etc., but they are a mean, ugly, predatory fish with a splash of tail color. Certainly not worth the US$600 and $800 that very sickly pairs were bringing here, a few years ago. They are the Rivulus of the Betta world. :wink:

It was as close as the wild bettas came to a "fad fish" and I'm personally delighted that that fad had no legs.

My opinion, and it is just mine, is that wild fish should be kept for their natural beauty, their interesting (even sometime bizarre) behaviour, their need for species preservation, and because we can learn something from them. To keep a fish because of a (probably untrue) rumor that the Sultan would behead any collector is not what I would consider a valid reason.

I respect the right of the people of Brunei, through their Sultan, to deal with their wildlife as they see fit. I certainly would not spend a dime on supporting the fad (i.e., encoraging collection), and, as I already said, even turned down an offer of free ones. That's just me. YMMV.

Wright

[timebomb]

Hey, fellas,

Is this a Licorice Gourami? I didn't want to show you my fish earlier because I don't know what I have



Loh K L

[whuntley]

Hey, fellas,

Is this a Licorice Gourami? I didn't want to show you my fish earlier because I don't know what I have

Loh K L

I don't think so, KL. The Parosphromenus nagyi turns nearly black with irridescent blue dorsal and anal fin bands, when in breeding colors. The female has two dark bands that go away when she is in courtship (yellow) coloring. Baensch (Vol. 3) calls them Nagy's licorice gourami. He lists a couple of others in Vol. 2, but they do not look very much like your fish.

Common names are the pits when it comes to genera with a lot of similar species.

Interestingly, he shows a fish that looks just about like yours as
Paro. deissneri but it does not have a spike tail. He doesn't call it a licorice gourami, tho.

I had a question about Chocolate Gouramis that I wanted to ask, but think I should start a new thread on that.

Wright

[stormhawk]

Yes KL the fish in your picture is a licorice gourami. Which species it is, I'm not sure. The common name "licorice gourami" applies to ALL Parosphromenus species, regardless of their colour or finnage. Its only when we get to species level that their names take on a more personified form such as Nagy's Licorice Gourami for P. nagyior Deissner's Licorice Gourami in the case for P. deissneri. For simplicity we refer to all as either Paros or Licorice Gouramis, regardless of the species in question.

Depending on the source where your fish came from, only the supplier can tell you what species it is. Even then, some have been wrongly identified before so it could almost be any species. We rely more on colour, finnage and body markings to tell apart the species. FYI, there's several undescribed species in this genus.

[timebomb]

Thanks for your answers, Wright and Jianyang. Life on earth is filled with such varieties, it's never easy to identify species correctly, I suppose. I think I got another few Licorice Gouramies in my tank, if that's their common name. I'll see if I can get some good pics tomorrow.

Loh K L

[MrTree]

That's an undescribed species. It looks like the species with the invoice name of " Parosphromenus sp "Blue Line", and it will stay unnamed for quite a long time I think.

Cheers,