Wild Micropoecilia branneri

[Shi Xuan]

Loakita, I think your best luck, would be Aquabid. I'm starting to realize that our custom clearance has become more stringent, and shipping live fishes around, is like a game of Russian Roulette. Stormhawk/Jianyang would know better.

[doppelbanddwarf]

I'm down to 3 for the 3rd generation. The fry really need a lot of plant cover to survive. In terms of water condition I think they are adaptable. I kept them in low ph with some juvenile apistos which is also the main reason I'm left with 3 for this batch as the juvenile apistos became more aggressive over time. On the whole they are much less reproductive compared to guppies or endlers.

[stormhawk]

Amazingly, those M. picta males are still at C328.

Doppel, at least your picta survived. I don't think I have the space for any livebearers at the moment.

[doppelbanddwarf]

Y618 had a tank of male pictas the last few times I went too.

[loakita]

well once i've tried aquabid, from USA vendor... the shipping rate is killing me, and the fish condition is so bad due to the long journey. Well maybe next time i go to Singapore....no i'm planning to go to buy some micropoecilia for sure !!!!

oh yeah about picta, some said they succesed breeding pictas with simulate swap invoirement, meaning lots organic waste, tanin, and salt...fun i don't have to do water change that much! anyone have the same experience ?

[stormhawk]

I don't quite understand you loakita. Are you referring to a simulated "swamp" environment?

As for Aquabid, shipping live fish via mail is not a good idea, where SingPost is concerned. You cannot do this legally and shipping periods can differ from a few days to 2 weeks or more depending on the method the seller uses. Global Priority Mail for any package from the US can take roughly a week or so to arrive. EMS is roughly 3 days or so but the cost is astronomical for a single person to bear.

[Shi Xuan]

Jianyang, I think he's referring to the environment which Ronnie use to raise fish fry, that is, lots of mulm.

As for Aquabid, he's from Indonesia, so Singpost is a no-no where its concerned. That will subject to his country's regulations then and as for live fish shipment, I think it very much depends on the seller. The last EMS I did, was from Japan and the fishes arrived well albeit skinny but it would be the last time I'm going to attempt it.

[stormhawk]

I wouldn't consider Ron's old mulm boxes to be swamp-style though, given that these livebearers may come from estuarine habitats. I think loakita was referring to a mangrove swamp environment, where the water changes from fresh to saltwater during high tide, then back to fresh at low tide.

A long time ago my brother sent a package to a friend in Indonesia.. it took one month. Delivery is really slow and if he wants items from Aquabid, he better use FedEx or some other reliable courier service.

[doppelbanddwarf]

I would say these picta are very hardy fish and should be able to breed in most environments. The problem is the brood size is not large to start with and the parents will attack fry. I have removed gravid females to large external breeder boxes to try to save fry. Even then if I'm not observant then I will only know there are fry when some have died.

[loakita]

Sorry for the misspelled i mean swamp environment ... not that good in written english folks, i just learning english from TV hehehe ! google translator from now on .
What i'm referring as simulating swamp is non bare bottom tank, lots of mulm, lots of aquatic plant, tranquil water flow ...yes this babes like it dirty ! anyways i just share you the link okay :

http://endlersusa.com/viewtopic.php?t=213


I have a chad with this guy "emeraldking" Stan... he succesfull breeding pictas, i just thought its make sense to simulate swamp ...the are in fact called "swamp guppy" ... well next time i'll try his ways, i dont mind to do less water changes, at all !!.

i really into this micropoecilia species, so i hope you guy with some experiences in keeping this species keep sharing.

Cheers

[loakita]

Jianyang, I think he's referring to the environment which Ronnie use to raise fish fry, that is, lots of mulm.

As for Aquabid, he's from Indonesia, so Singpost is a no-no where its concerned. That will subject to his country's regulations then and as for live fish shipment, I think it very much depends on the seller. The last EMS I did, was from Japan and the fishes arrived well albeit skinny but it would be the last time I'm going to attempt it.

yup i've been beeting with higher risk importing from USA, so i think i can tolerate risk to import from Singapore... from my experience it only takes one weeks from HongKong to Indo, so i think Singapore should do even faster. It just so nice to know i can acquire this fish from somewhere near, next time i go to Singapore i'll grab one.

[loakita]

I would say these picta are very hardy fish and should be able to breed in most environments. The problem is the brood size is not large to start with and the parents will attack fry. I have removed gravid females to large external breeder boxes to try to save fry. Even then if I'm not observant then I will only know there are fry when some have died.

i had 10 fry last time, using breeding net ...it always give better protection for fry even if you compare with dense aquatic plant. I don't have problems with parents attacking the fry...the parents die soon after hehehe

[shrimppaste]

I think I just saw them at C328 today.

[loakita]

I think I just saw them at C328 today.

i hope you enjoy your self teasing me...goss i wish C328 have a branch in Jakarta!!!

[Shi Xuan]

i hope you enjoy your self teasing me...goss i wish C328 have a branch in Jakarta!!!

Those are Micropoecilia picta "black" males, no females where its concerned.

[stormhawk]

loakita, there's no big fish market like Pasar Pramuka in Jakarta?

[loakita]

loakita, there's no big fish market like Pasar Pramuka in Jakarta?

Hey Stormhark have you been to Jakarta ? ...memphhh i've tried Jalan Kartini's fish market, i'll try Pasar Pramuka then. Exotic LB its not really that trend in Indonesia, even in the hobbies, mostly fancy guppy only ...but we have lots exotic wild beta here..., im thinking to start collect some, i like wild fish.

[stormhawk]

Nope not to Jakarta, though everyone knows Pasar Pramuka is the best place for exotic birds. I was hoping they might have a special fish market at Jakarta, like the one in Surabaya. My brother spoke to me of the fish market in Surabaya though he did not specify what they had.

I think it is the same situation in Indonesia for livebearers, as it is in Singapore. Only guppies get attention and the rest = feeder fish.

[Shi Xuan]

The best bet for livebearers would be USA, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. It could be the asian mindset, and it's even degrading in Singapore, where they are reduced to utter "longkang" fishes and I don't think it will change for anything better.

BTW, as far as I know, there's a medaka museum for fishes of the Cyprinodontiformes order, in the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanic gardens;
http://eagle2004.blog3.fc2.com/blog-entry-491.html
http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~platy/HSM.html

On a second thought, there's two forumners here keeping livebearers, Kim and Svein. I'm not too sure what happened to the latter, because it has been a long time since he last posted, although I hope he knows that killies.com has been relocated here and comes here frequently.