Pterolebias phasianus Mato Grosso

[stormhawk]

Just to share, an image of a young Pterolebias phasianus Mato Grosso pair, courtesy of A.Rashid.



(Image resized, please click to see fully)

The male is a stunning beauty.

Currently have two males and I think 4 young females in the group. With the exception of the dominant male, the rest are still quite small. I will need to beef them up a little.

Any other foods I should give them? Apart from the usual tubifex worm that is. I was wondering if earthworms would be a good idea for these guys.

[timebomb]

Nice fish, Jianyang. Does Rashid have more?

I hope you are not keeping all the fish in one tank. If there are 2 males and 4 females, you should split them into trios in separate tanks. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, if you know what I mean

Loh K L

[stormhawk]

Nope he doesn't have anymore. He passed me all of the surviving fishes. Yes I understand I shouldn't put all the eggs in one basket but they're in two separate tanks. The "females" are still very small. Fattening them up with tubifex and BBS when I hatch any.

I'll be putting a deep container for them to spawn in. Bought some glass containers from Daiso to try out and it works for my igneus to some extent.

[stormhawk]

Okay, finally managed to get a decent shot of the smaller male in good light. He's a feisty little fella. Was doing some "tail-slapping" with the individual that's just beside him in the image.

[RonWill]

Jian Yang, for a genus I know nothing about, these fellas sure look good. Raise them well and I hope to see them posted up for species maintenance.

Curious nonetheless, why did Rashid gave them all up??

[stormhawk]

The phasianus is a unique species within the genus Pterolebias. It is by far the most colourful Pterolebias but its finnage is nowhere close to that of the longipinnis.

From what I remember, I think Rashid said he needed the space for his labyrinths, and seeing that their growth rate was pretty slow, I suppose it can put a damper on a keeper's face.

Anyway, I hope these guys work out well for me. The problem right now is the size disparity amongst them. I know for sure that I have 2 males, of which the dominant male is already close to 5cm. He's a stunner alright, but very shy too. I'll post up details about them as time goes by.

One point, apparently they're not too fussy about food. The ones with me have started feeding on the tablet food that I use to supplement the diet of the pygmy corys in their tank. They behave alot like Rivulus, with all of the sinewy movements. I would say their behaviour is akin to that of a snake.

[A.Rashid]

Curious nonetheless, why did Rashid gave them all up??

Yup Ronnie, they are a slow grower, tried beefing them up with live food everyday but their growth can kill me, even my apisto outbid them.

Had you and JY in mind when I want to give up on them due to space constrain but one stupid day I forgot to close the lid and the next day I saw about 7 out of the tank. With the remaining 5, I passed it to JY.

[stormhawk]

Finally managed a pretty decent shot of the male. Took his picture with a torchlight because he's very shy when the lights are on.


(Clickable Image)
This is the largest pair I think. I hope this "female" is a female.
They don't seem interested in the spawning jar however.

[stormhawk]

Another new pic, image only edited for sharpness and brightness. The two males squaring off in the tank. They spar just like fighting fishes do.

The both of them will quiver from side to side in an undulating movement and then they will slap their tails on each other.

[RonWill]

If anyone is interested, there's a listing from a Brazilian seller for
Pterolebias phasianus Caceres.

[stormhawk]

Above is a shot of the breeding tank which they reside in, along with some Corydoras pygmaeus as scavengers and tankmates, plus some small red ramshorn snails. Just added in the breeding container today. They haven't shown much interest in the container. I hope the peat layer is deep enough.

I do know that I have 2 confirmed males, but the problem is I'm not sure if there's any good females in there. I might have sleeper males instead. Anyway the container is in there and I hope in a week's time my gamble would have paid off.

[stormhawk]

Looks like I have a whole bunch of males on my hands. They're growing up very fast and I know I have at least 4 males. The remaining 2 look like they're females.. or maybe sleeper males, I don't know.