Anyone keeping parosphromenus?

[RonWill]

Hi folks,
Just wanted to know if there's any way to encourage these Paros to hide less and be more showy?

I've gotten curious and recently acquired 3 pairs of wild-caught Parosphromenus ornaticauda (no thanks to this thread )

These 'Redtail licorice gourami' were supposedly from Borneo, West Kalimantan.

The female was more photo-friendly


Shooting the male was another story, hiding within the folds of ketapang leaves.


Extremely un-cooperative, but nice finnage colors nonetheless.


Any ideas how I can get better shots of them (without the fright colors?), less the tannic-stained water.

[stormhawk]

Feeding time. Lure them out with live foods. They'll come into shooting distance in a short while. If you're lucky, the males will do some displaying with each other. My two Parosphromenus are always out in the open even in bright light. :wink:

[RonWill]

Dear all,
I was wondering about something. If the Parosphromenus maxs out at 3cm and remains relatively shy, how good are my chances of them being killie tankmates for the less pugnacious species, like splendopleure?

Pseudomugil are showy but it'd be nice if I can get the Paros to spawn too. Any tips from the more experienced breeders?

[MrTree]

This species is probably the most shy species available in Singapore. They are shy in the nature else they would all ended up in the snakehead's stomach already.

[RonWill]

Thanks Zhou Hang for confirming that they are shy. Anything I can do to bring them out into the open? The males are really good lookers! and what about the possibility of spawning them?

I must admit that working with the killies kept me very busy and have not done much research on the paros. Any further information you can provide will be appreciated. TIA.

[stormhawk]

Ron, I could not get a proper file on breeding Paro. ornaticauda but this is a spawning excerpt on Paro. paludicola. Translated from Dutch using Altavista's online translator. Website hosted by the Dutch Labyrinth Fishes Association - NVL.

Breeding Parosphromenus paludicola

I have a rather old book on labyrinth fishes given to me by a cousin. In it there are details on spawning Paro. filamentosus, a larger species in the genus. There is another book by Tetra publications, one written by Horst Linke on the subject and also includes several species descriptions, including Paro. ornaticauda.

Locally, I believe Mr Tree was the first to spawn this species. :wink:

[stormhawk]

Ron, these Parosphromenus species would be good tankmates for smaller Simpsonichthys species like fulminantis and magnificus. These do not bother the Parosphromenus. I do not trust Aphyosemions with any fish for that matter. Saw my aquarium strain A. striatum male biting the tail of one of my small Boraras merah a few months back. Not a nice sight.

SPLs would be fine provided they're just as shy and retiring. Perhaps the XIP would be great tankmates considering how sedentary that species is.

[MrTree]

I was lucky. Very lucky in fact. Apisto approach would do well for these little fella or wild bettas. They built the nest under a small pc of driftwood. I think raising the fry is a bigger challenge..I failed.

Petfrd has a article on breeding P.paludicola written by our friend, Zahar from Terengganu.

Horst Linke has a nice picture of P.ornaticauda, it was used on the description paper too.

Cheers,

[stormhawk]

ZH, its no challenge if you have access to multitudes of live foods like Ronnie here. :wink:

Ron, yes they do breed like apistos. A cave-like structure with a lower water level will help. They are very shy and retiring species in nature.

[RonWill]

They built the nest under a small pc of driftwood. I think raising the fry is a bigger challenge..I failed

Zhou Hang, thanks for the tip. I'll go rig up a low tank and see how things go. Getting fishes to spawn is a challenge, but raising super tiny fry to adulthood is helluva satisfying! Attempt the paros again and if you need paramecium, let me know.

I'll search for the P. paludicola and see what I can apply from there.

Jian Yang, the 'multitudes of live foods' isn't gonna help when there is no brood to feed.

Understanding what makes these little buggers tick and being able to induce spawning is only the first step.

Raising fry, as with everything else, is also subjected to Murphy's law. Sometimes, just when we get them right, we can also easily lose an entire batch.

What differentiate a competent breeder from an 'accidental' breeder, is a 'never say die' attitude. You fail, you try again.

[stormhawk]

Ron, what makes these Paros tick is acidic water. You don't need ketapang leaves to keep them alive in the tank. My pair of mismatched (assorted) Parosphromenus are doing very well in my 3ft planted tank using ADA Amazonia as the gravel bed. pH of the water is around 6.4

The two have been rather flirtatious but I don't intend to see them breed. Keeping them in a small 1foot tank with a low level of water plus some hideaways like what you did with the simplex will work. Just ensure that they get soft acidic water.

With ADA Aquasoil I don't get the stained water effect that is really a pain when it comes to seeing your fish in the open. They love all sorts of live foods, especially daphnia and BBS. My pair of Paros have taken to feeding on sinking tablets and Sera Microgran together with the Corydoras in the same tank. :wink:

They get the occasional treat of tubifex, bbs and daphnia (when I get them that is) and the male Paros is showing wonderful colouration. The female has always remained drab though although she's one fat chick.

As for "no brood to feed", why don't we all send our fry to you for raising.

[stormhawk]

Ron, pictures of your P. ornaticauda that I shot last night. The male's picture is real blurry but at least I can make out the bugger.