New member, trying to identify the species I’ve bought

[Paul Molyneux-Berry]

Hello!

I’m Paul, I live near Manchester (UK) and bought my first pair of Parosphromenus on Saturday. They were sold as deissneri but I’m certain they are not that species.

I’m a moderately experienced fishkeeper and have bred several catfish, tetra and cichlid species, including Dicrossus filamentosus which requires similar water conditions to the Parosphromenus.
I’ve been thinking about trying some Paros for a while, but not seen them for sale for a few years. On Saturday I came across a tank of them in a shop I’d not visited before, and picked up a pair.

They’re now in a 28L tank which has water parameters that are at least approaching what they need (presently KH 0.3, pH 5.5, Cond 100us/cm, lots of tannins) They seem to have settled in well and look much better than they did in the shop. They appear to be courting. These photos were taken less than 24 hours after I bought them.

I’d be interested to confirm which species they are. Having reviewed the profiles on this website I think they are from the bintan-harveyi group, Since they were in a regular fish shop I suspect they are a more common type such as P. spec ‘Sentang’.

Many thanks,
Paul.

[helene schoubye]

Hi Paul, and very welcome here.
I agree to your own thoughts regarding the belonging to the bintan-harveyi group, – but that is probably also the best we can say at the moment.
I bought some paros in Copenhagen a few months ago, – they look really similar to yours.
With this kind of fish we will likely not be able to really pinpoint which type, sp. etc that it is, – at least not untill we have a really good photo of a flashing ‘adult’ male in full colour. That may help.
Theres also always a chance that even they look like some of the types we know, – they may even be different – another variation.
The fish I have, actually are really really beautiful and strong fish. They were ‘said’ to be from Sumatra, – but then of course they were also labelled as sumatranus :blink: in the first place. That just shows you how difficult it is.

If you live in Manchester you may know one of our members John Walsh, who also live in Manchester, – perhaps he may be able to help you with a better id at some time. I can give you his adress if you wish to, – will send it in a mail then.

[Paul Molyneux-Berry]

Many thanks for the welcome and the helpful thoughts and ideas. Even if we don’t know the exact
‘species’ then it’s still useful to confirm which group they are from, which will help me understand their needs.

Hopefully I will be able to keep them healthy so they will mature and breed. I’ll keep observing and taking photos when I get a chance. The tank is lit only by natural light on a north-facing windowsill so in the winter I can only get good photos when I’m at home in the daytime.

I don’t know John Walsh; most of my fishkeeping contacts in the Manchester area are catfish specialists. But it would be good to be in touch with him about Paros and hopefully I can learn from his experiences too.

Regarding live foods, I have cultures of daphnia, moina, grindalworms, microworms, blackworms, saltwater copepods and rotifers, plus brine shrimp hatcheries. Are all these good for the Paros?

Best Regards,
Paul

[Rafael Eggli]

Its great to hear that you dtarted paro aquaristics and I hope you and your fish will be doing great. At least some of the fish in your pictures are still rather young. Once they mature completely and color up more they will be more easy to determine. How many fishes do you have?

I think that indeed in some of the pictures one of the females shows “sexy eyes” – the vertical black line theough the eye. If this intensifies and the flashing of the male becomes more frequent, they will soon build a nest. However you mainly need to focus on feeding now so that the females will soon grow eggs…

Greetings Rafael

[Paul Molyneux-Berry]

Thanks Rafael!
I only have two fish, a male and a female. They’re quite small, maybe 20mm SL, so as you say they may need some more time to mature.
I am feeding a variety of live foods and they have both been eating well on worms and invertebrates.
Thanks again 🙂
Paul

[Rafael Eggli]

That sounds good! If they are only two centimeters long, it will take another few weeks to months for them to fully mature and then you will be able to take pictures in full display enabling mich better determination. However, if you, as I hope, are going to participate in the census I would suggest you simply call them what you think they are – eg. bintan ct. (ct being commercial trade) you could also ask the reseller to find out what location they were caught at. This might help as well.

Your feeding is good however do not overfeed them. They do really only need small amounts of food and every leftovers threaten to spoil the water quickly.

Greetings Rafael

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