About Boraras brigittae

[TS168]

Hi anyone has more information on this fish?

1.Do they like flowing water like guppy?
2.How to differentiate between male and female?

I find they like to swim near running water and they always swim around looking for food.
I have the feeling that it will attack baby shrimp if there is any.

> --------UPDATE.START -------- <
1.Temperature: 22-30degrees
2.Will breed under warmer temperature and with sufficient plants to protect them.
*******************************************
1. They like slight running water/fountain type of flow.
2. They prefer worm. In fact the also eat Alage tablet bits.
3. They not afraid to swim alone. And they are not timid.
> -------- UPDATE.END -------- <

If you find any of the above is wrong please do so to highlight it.

[hwchoy]

Teck Song,

Given their small size they probably would be found in slow flowing or still water, amongst heavy vegetation. Certainly the related B. urophthalmoides is found in such swampy conditions in Narathiwat in southern Thailand.

I would suggest clean, slightly flowing water with lots of fine leaved plants for them to feel "safe".

Generally can assume those with lighter colours and deeper bodies to be female. Do observe and let us know.

They probably feed on small organisms, but I wouldn't quite call it "attack". If you have shrimp larvae (if you can see the baby shrimp it probably will not fit through the Boraras' mouth!) then you ought to have heavy vegetation like hairgrass for their protection.

[TS168]

Thanks Choy,

I have them in my small 1FT "FivePlan" tank. Have 5 of them only. got it afew days back.

They are fast to adapt.

I only on my hangon filter at night. And always see them swimming at the corner where the water flow down. I think they have help me clear off the worm in the sand as i did see a couple of time they go in search on the gravel and pull out the small worm.

As it help to solve my unknowingly overfeeding which lead to the growth of worms...

I believe they could be easy breed in our environment.

Just wonder if it possible to keep them in a container of still water? Which mean no pump/filter at all.

[Green Baron]

I think I saw the fish at Eco-Culture last week. Can't remember how much, maybe $1 each.
I am thinking of getting a few for the moss tank in my office
Gan

[hwchoy]

BTW they are so small you should get a slightly larger shoal, like 6-12.

[timebomb]

you should get a slightly larger shoal, like 6-12.

6-12??

When I think "shoal", I think of the number 100

But seriously, small fish that shoal have safety in numbers. The more you have, the happier they are.

Loh K L

[TS168]

I think I saw the fish at Eco-Culture last week. Can't remember how much, maybe $1 each.
I am thinking of getting a few for the moss tank in my office
Gan

Are you sure only$1?
I got it at $1.8

[Nonn]

Maannnnn....I can catch 30 of their close relative -B. uropthalmoides- in one scoop. Who want to buy that for half the price of the B. brigthae? I can get you as many as you want.

Choy, the B. uropht, do exist all the way up to the central plain of Thailand IN NUMEROUS NUMBERsssssss.

[hwchoy]

heh heh Nonn, I actually do not have the distribution information for the B. urophthalmoides, Narathiwat is the type locality (swamp in Sai Buri). :wink: Can you tell me where the distribution extends to (by province)?

[TS168]

Maannnnn....I can catch 30 of their close relative -B. uropthalmoides- in one scoop. Who want to buy that for half the price of the B. brigthae? I can get you as many as you want.

Choy, the B. uropht, do exist all the way up to the central plain of Thailand IN NUMEROUS NUMBERsssssss.

Hi Nonn, How are you?
Do you have a photo of the B. uropthalmoides?

Thanks.

[hwchoy]

Teck Song, it is urophthalmoides. Some specimens show reddish coloration on the body and along the dark stripe but no where like the B. brigittae. Some people get totally confused with the two species so I'll repeat it here: the B. brigittae is long and slim and comes from maritime southeast Asia; the B. urophthalmoides is shorter and "stocky" and comes from mainland southeast Asia.

[Green Baron]

I think I saw the fish at Eco-Culture last week. Can't remember how much, maybe $1 each.
I am thinking of getting a few for the moss tank in my office
Gan

Are you sure only$1?
I got it at $1.8

Maybe it was $1.80. Wasn't paying attention to the price as I was there to buy LushGro Aqua. I thought $1.80 is a bit expensive.

[froo]

Nonn, what swedish fish do you want to trade to? :P
I saw Mr Thorup had some B urophthalmoides and Betta splendens from his Thailand visit, did you show him where to expolore?

I hope to vizit Singapore and Thailand in more than just a dream in the future.

/Pär Jansson

[cheeboonyong]

the B. brigittae is long and slim and comes from maritime southeast Asia

Hi Choy,

what do you mean by maritime vs mainland? Marine? I'm pretty sure this is a freshwater fish.

Thanks in advance for clarifying

[froo]

what do you mean by maritime vs mainland? Marine? I'm pretty sure this is a freshwater fish.

I guess its the islands and in this case Borneo.

Pär

[TS168]

Nonn, what swedish fish do you want to trade to? :P
I saw Mr Thorup had some B urophthalmoides and Betta splendens from his Thailand visit, did you show him where to expolore?

I hope to vizit Singapore and Thailand in more than just a dream in the future.

/Pär Jansson

Welcome to Singapore Jannson if you happen to come. Here very sunny. And have alot of LFS everywhere.

[hwchoy]

Yes, Froo is right. Maritime southeast Asia roughly refers to the Malay peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Riau Islands, parts of Java and Kalimantan. These used to be a single landmass known as Sunda which is now mainly submerged under the South China Sea.

You see the present day freshwater fish distribution were formed since the day when the Sunda landmass was exposed during the last ice age. This is why many fish species distributed in Sumatra and Malaya through to Kalimantan, and yet is not found in Thailand. A large rainforest and river system linking these regions are now under water.

[Nonn]

Hi,

I was just kidding about selling the fish. You all can come to Thailand and collect them youself. Yes, I know Jesper well. I'm the one who took him out on the collection trip. Everybody else is welcome to come.

Choy, I'm not sure what is their norhtern most distribution rank. I only know they are present all the way up here in the central plain and some part of Northern Thailand. On my own data, I collected them in Nakorn Sawan Province last year in the Boraphet swamp, but I'm sure they extended further north, a few hundred Km. more.

Some of them do get the red coloration yeah, and most of the time it is the male, newly collected male to be exact. They lost the red coloration in the tank, but not in the lotus pond I notice that the strip is dark green not black in the male as well. They are also smaller than female. The fish in your picture is female, Choy.

[hwchoy]

Nonn, do you use Encarta Atlas? You can stick "pins" on that atlas and export the pins so other Encarta users can load them and see the location, very useful for showing killifish locality and such things as Boraphet swamp

The pic I have is a fish whom the LFS says came from Vietnam. Now I am no longer so sure the data is right so I will be changing it to just the type locality instead.

When you say it is a female, do you go by the shape or coloration? I once bought 20 specimen of this fish (from another LFS) and gave them to Peter Chua (he is not in this forum I think). Initially they were all the same golden colour but overtime his started showing red over the dorsal area, to the extend some visitors to his house insist they were brigittae. One possibility is that his tank is near the window, perhaps UV in sunlight keeps these guys reddish. I notice all my other fishes in my outdoor pond are much redder and colourful.

[Nonn]

No, I don't use that map thing. I don't even know what it is :P Please point me to where I can learn about it. Boraphet swamp is also type locality of the famous and bloody cheap Red-tailed Rasbora, (Rasbora boraphetensis)

Take a look at the page below to see the newly caught B. urop.. differences between male and female. Sorry the fish are not palarel.
http://www.siamensis.org/survey/s039.asp