Hypsolebias flammeus Nova Roma

[stormhawk]

An update on my Hyp. flammeus Nova Roma:



The largest of my 2 males. Both shots show the same fish. It's already beginning to form the distinctive ray extensions in the dorsal and anal fins, giving hints of a possibly beautiful male.



A possible young female, given the rounded dorsal and anal fins. No pattern in the tail either. Only time will tell if I have a single viable pair out of 8 juveniles. I am pretty happy to see them growing up, albeit a little slower than I expected. They are fed daily on a diet of tubifex worm, Moina and grindal worms. I have one little runt but I expect it to survive.

Just to show how a male flammeus will eventually look like, see this link:



An old male from my previous set of flammeus, photographed back in 2005.

On the other hand, my Hypsolebias flagellatus Malhada NP 06/09 turned out to be 2 females..

[Shi Xuan]

I think Hypsolebias flammeus is one of the most beautiful South American Annuals, with all the colors and stunning finnages. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Hypsolebias auratus eggs to arrive from Brazil. This golden SAA is another beautiful annual.

[stormhawk]

We had auratus in the past when turaco aka Gan was still active. It is a stunner too.



A young pair that I previously owned. They were semi-easy but very skittish. The males get darker on the rear half with age.

[Shi Xuan]

Yes, they are stunners. I read the past threads before and all are inspiring episodes of killie adventures.

[stormhawk]

Finally.. spotted a proper female among the juveniles:



And the runt is finally growing up a little:



Since I didn't get a male from the flagellatus, here's a pic of one of the 2 adult females that I am stuck with..



They are at breeding size but alas, no male to pair up with.

[Shi Xuan]

Looks like the flammeus is faring better in terms of sex proportions than flagellatus.

If you still remember in one of our private conversation, you told me about the softness of your local tapwater. Is there any chances you will be using coral chips for the flammeus breeding tank or boiling some cocopeat with lime when the time comes? I've read that only the current Simpsonichthys (boitonei, zonatus etc.) prefer an acidic environment and nothing else.

I hope you will collect more eggs this time round.

[stormhawk]

I might have a piece or two of coral in there when they are moved to bigger quarters.

[Shi Xuan]

I think I need to get a bag of coral chips soon. Regretted throwing them away a long time ago.

P.S How's the Aphyosemion hera eggs? Have the remaining ones hatched?

[stormhawk]

None that I could see. The tub was overgrown with floaters and I had to go off. I think only the sole fry is surviving. When the shrimplets died they probably caused an ammonia spike.