Aphyoplatys duboisi and....

**RonWill** · 3rd Dec 2012, 10:25

Originally Posted by Draka

Haha jungles seem to be a low-maintenance way of getting a few surviving fry huh

Low maintenance jungle tanks are not by choice, really. Given the time spent, or rather the lack of it, with my home tanks, I've lost many fishes and batches of juveniles. Losses include non-killies... Corydoras hastatus, C. Venezuelanus sp. Black, Manacapuru-cross angels, etc... Temps in my hall tanks just aren't ideal.

*ahem* little wrigglers were there many moons ago, even before we realized what they were

**Shi Xuan** · 3rd Dec 2012, 10:30

Originally Posted by stormhawk

I might go to Penang again later next year so maybe.. I might be able to bring back some other species. No promises though.

JY, if you do, I could ask you to help me obtain a pair or two of Aphyoplatys duboisi. They are too good to miss out.

**Draka** · 3rd Dec 2012, 10:39

Originally Posted by RonWill

Low maintenance jungle tanks are not by choice, really. Given the time spent, or rather the lack of it, with my home tanks, I've lost many fishes and batches of juveniles. Losses include non-killies... Corydoras hastatus, C. Venezuelanus sp. Black, Manacapuru-cross angels, etc... Temps in my hall tanks just aren't ideal.

*ahem* little wrigglers were there many moons ago, even before we realized what they were

Haha I know la, just teasing you nia. I do like the added "safety" of the plants though, as recommended by you know who.

Aha, don't be so quick to confirm the name har. I've been through these things with a 60x microscope, and though I can't be sure if we have got the same one, since I had two sources of these, one from GC unker and the other from Superstar Aquarium, they really don't look like D. sp. leh. I'm getting a 100x microscope to look at these once my bloody exams are over, and I'll be checking with GC unker also what he has

Suffice to say though, they should be something closely related.

**Shi Xuan** · 10th Jan 2014, 17:46

A while back, I passed a pair of my breeding adults to Sam, along with most, if not all of Ronnie's duboisi. Prior to that, I've been keeping them in a plastic critter container, with peat, dead leaves, Java moss and bladderworts. No aeration and water changes, except for the occasional top up of water that has evaporated. It stood at the highest shelf of my steel rack, receiving only partial sunlight that seep through the window sill.

Being such a reclusive fish, I didn't bother to check on them and let nature take its course. After giving away the pair, I left the tank as it is, until one fine afternoon, when I decided to take a look at it, to see if the pair has laid any eggs before I gave them away. Indeed, I was really surprised - not to see eggs, but two fry. Then a day before, a third one was seen but it darted away after remaining stationary for a few seconds.

So here it is, their "Natural habitat";

**Rutilans** · 10th Jan 2014, 20:25

Congrats bro!

**Shi Xuan** · 11th Jan 2014, 00:05

Well, they have actually been in there for quite some time, just that I'm lazy to post any photos of them. Taking a good photo of them is hard, being such a shy fish and I didn't like the idea of tearing down the tank just to catch them for a good photo shoot. However, I'm pretty sure I have at least a pair in it. One of the fella already has the markings of a male and when the light falls on the side of the tank, the faint blue on the body starts to glow.

At least I manage to spawn them, so I'm going to stick with this natural spawning method and besides, it's almost maintenance free.

Here's a photo of how this fish looks like;

Photo taken from sfbaka.net.

**stormhawk** · 11th Jan 2014, 02:38

Messy tanks are always their favorite. Keep them going Shi Xuan. I just got no space for these little guys at the moment. Sam has his population back on track with a lot of fry now.

**Shi Xuan** · 11th Jan 2014, 10:49

Originally Posted by stormhawk

Messy tanks are always their favorite. Keep them going Shi Xuan. I just got no space for these little guys at the moment. Sam has his population back on track with a lot of fry now.

Yeah, I'm sure he does. Saw it on Aquabid.

I'm going to try continuing the line. No one else has this fish except for Sam. I think it was a good idea sharing our fish around.... good way to keep it going.

**RonWill** · 13th Jan 2014, 23:23

Originally Posted by stormhawk

I just got no space for these little guys at the moment

You did tell me about keeping a pair while the rest went to Sam... so... ??? Try not to kill them eh *big evil grin*

**Shi Xuan** · 13th Jan 2014, 23:46

Originally Posted by RonWill

You did tell me about keeping a pair while the rest went to Sam... so... ??? Try not to kill them eh *big evil grin*

Just checked the tank and found another 1 cm fry, so this bring the total number to four. Looks like a peat substrate with plenty of moss and bladderworts work for these little fish. Temperature doesn't seem too critical for them.

So..what killies do you have now?

**stormhawk** · 14th Jan 2014, 02:31

Female found dead behind the sponge filter so I passed on the 2 males (1 kinky back) to Shi Xuan to pair up with his juveniles. Going to get 1 species of annual in again, maybe constanciae.

**Shi Xuan** · 22nd Feb 2014, 23:56

Updates....

No photo of the fish yet. Tried my best but one of the male darted off as I readied my camera. As of writing, they are about 1 - 1.5 cm. Not much information about them but I heard someone mentioning that they are only fully mature in a year's time.

Managed to catch a glimpse of the males though and even at 1 cm, they are showing a subtle blue.

As for the pair of males Jianyang passed me, they have passed on. Not sure why, I guess it's the change in water parameter when I did a 30% water change (They are kept in a separate tank). Seems like they prefer "old water". Natural breeding works for these fish, just like Pseudepiplatys annulatus.

**Shi Xuan** · 23rd Feb 2014, 23:55

Managed to catch one of the males swimming near the front tank and so here he is;

Pardon for the lousy photos. It's an old acrylic tank and there are some scratches on it. I have a few more fishes hiding in the moss and I think this is the bolder one.

**stormhawk** · 26th Feb 2014, 05:08

They are beautiful when kept in the right setup, otherwise people just see them as some puny nondescript fish.

**Shi Xuan** · 26th Feb 2014, 11:29

Originally Posted by stormhawk

They are beautiful when kept in the right setup, otherwise people just see them as some puny nondescript fish.

I do agree with that. People think they are not much of a looker compared to many other killies but I beg to differ. Indeed, when kept in the right setup, their subtle colors start to glow; blue and yellow.