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It was recommended that I say something about the American fish stores, so I am sharing what I’ve seen and how I think licorice gouramis and fish from that habitat should be popular here.
When betta channoides and albimarginata were bred and sold at Uncle Ned’s Fish Factory, they sold extremely fast. I was told by Ned that they are less expensive because they’re bred, and at a reasonable price the demand was huge.
This is something to note in general, there is a huge amount of enthusiasm for aquariums. When I go to stores here they are usually busy and there is lots of turnover of all kinds of different freshwater fish. There is no shortage of people who want all kinds of rare and obscure fish.
Discus are always present, at every store. Reef tanks are also popular, and considering the cost and effort and time involved in them I don’t think the problems that exist with peat swamp fish should be an obstacle to their popularity here.
If people can get licorice gouramis and other peat swamp fish in the stores often enough for them to become more well known, they will become staples of the hobby. They offer a chance to have a planted tank with no effort (by default, the only plants that live in these tanks are no maintenance varieties.)
The appearance, behavior and biotope nich are all perfect for the kind of people who want to sit and stare at an aquarium! A jungly, almost amphibious and kind of primeval feeling aquarium is something tons and tons of people would want. The real problem is live food, but if the fish became popular I think the live food availability would skyrocket. Like I said it can’t be harder than a reef tank, and there are so many people who put in time and money for the fish hobby, and want to see something new and interesting. So these fish should find their place, it would be sad if they went extinct before they became popular because it almost seems inevitable that they will be popular. I will try and be one of the breeders who makes them available at the local stores, that is how they can catch on, more than any other way.
Dwarf cichlids, discus, African cichlids, oddballs, stingrays, predators, these are selling like crazy. So it’s inevitable that endangered peat swamp fish should be popular here, and it seems like it’s a heartbeat away from permanently securing their existence, having Americans mass producing them and buying them. There are so many popular hobbies (gardening, aquariums, reptiles) that have appeal that is encompassed in peat swamp tanks, I think it is a matter of exposure for them to become popular. Since it would be somewhat new to many people who are already really intensely focused on aquariums that could be the spark.In light of the recent “they’re all doomed to extinction” remark I think this was a little optimistic. But it does seem like if they were seen in stores more often, they would become as popular and common as other popular fish that also are demanding for the aquarist. And the fish room setup that they require, this is probably appealing to people, like a greenhouse is, and since people are becoming conscious of being “green” in general, maybe. Looking at things in an ecological way is great when you have ambassadors for it in the form of peat swamp fish that are beautiful and interesting. Planted peat swamp tanks appeal to a certain wavelength of thought.
I agree with you in many of your thoughts, I have the same thoughts for the danish scene, – but I must say that in my last five years of myself being very enthusiastic about parosphromenus it still has not really developed this way. A few shops have become better in getting good quality licorice gouramies, – but the people I have known which have taken it on, dont last very long. One problem is the food for sure, another the fact that they dont breed, and therefore die out.
Getting the fish to breed is difficult on a regular ‘basis’ I quess. And in particular for ordinary people, so they end up with one or more same-sex fish, and then it ends there.
Maybe also the fact that there are so many different species makes it difficult, – because its very often not the same the next time you find it in a shop.America has so many people, and so many people who spend money on fish, and who keep reef tanks, discus and other aquariums that need more than minimal attention, I feel like if peat fish were available often enough for long enough, they would then become permanent fixtures. Producing huge amounts of any freshwater fish will be done if it is profitable, and the kinds of people who want these rare fish that require extra care are the kinds of people who will pay more for their hobby. So it should be worth it for people to breed them, people will pay for rare gouramis when they’re available, like I said with betta channoides, and betta macrostoma is actually becoming more available from what I see on aquabid and also offered at same store I mentioned as unsexed juveniles.
I don’t know if this will work out how I think of it, but the fact there is such a huge amount of money and attention that can be directed towards aquariums here, it seems like it might not be impossible to use that to preserve some species. If people care about discus, reef tanks etc. why not peat fish, they have a certain appeal in the fish themselves and the tanks they are kept in. And may even have advantages over other aquarium fish, in a way their natural habitat makes them really appropriate for aquariums, they live in very small shallow bodies of water, unlike some large fish and saltwater fish that seem out of place in captivity. The complete experience and the ecological perspective are there with these freshwater fish.Hello,
I would agree with some statements posted about captive breeding but..even the bettas species like channoides or albimarginata do not produce hundreds or thousands of fry at any given time….when compared with more productive species like the easier barbs, danios or rasboras. If that were true many pet stores would be stocking domestic bred channoides and albimarginata all the time and prices would be in the $3 or $4 per fish, compared to $20 per fish (typically even at Neds). One possibility would be to have commercial breeders in SE Asia work with the easier Paros. species and produce them from time to time. I would not say that it is an easy undertaking as the fish are not the most productive. And they can be delicate as regards shipping requirements, which makes them an expensive fish to acquire. But similar attempts have been done with Malpulutta kretseri (which is seriously endangered in Sri Lanka) and you do get fish coming into the hobby although at high prices ($150 per pair on the list when they are available). It does mean having someone take the time and effort to breed the fish and the aquarist pays for that dedication and care. Currently it is still cheaper to go out and catch a lot of peat swamp fish in SE Asia, than it is to breed them commercially and make a profit. Just my 2 cents !I think you are both right – 🙂 ..
I have bred both albimarginata and malpulutta, – and they are still much more easy and ‘reliable’ than paros, though. But I guess it is possible to breed licorice gouramies in larger numbers if you really put an effort into it.But another thing is that I really think that one of the purposes (just one of them ) of this home page is to continue to widen the knowledge of Parosphromenus, especially through showing real detailed and good photoes and in this way open up many more peoples knowledge about their speciality and their extreme beauty. Because that I am sure is the way to have people really become interested.
But nobody notices those tiny black and white fish when they are in the shops. They really need ambassadors 🙂 .. which is what I think we can try to be here. And I am happy to say that thanks to many people we have a lot of wonderful photoes, which eventually will be put in much more places around on the homepage. As of now its mainly in the species sektion.It’s true, there are some obvious problems I wasn’t aware of or didn’t think of, maybe a more realistic hope is that in stores which already keep less common fish, there is a chance for them to become more common, well known and reliably available, and then find a potential audience that may be big enough to help conserve the fish.
Extra time and money for a fish that might die, for reasons you can’t control, that your store doesn’t need to sell to keep existing, seems like what wild blackwater fish are right now, even to the stores that sell almost everything.
But these places will probably sell them if they’re available locally and are easy for them to acquire and house.
And maybe there are some people who will learn to appreciate the whole experience of breeding the fish and understanding and imitating their natural habitats. It only adds to what are already appealing fish, and maybe if there are people who will pay for and maintain reef tanks, there are some people out there who will keep blackwater tanks even though it’s not as easy as most freshwater aquariums, and in some ways an acquired taste.Jacob, I like your attitude very much! You are a fighter for better aquaristic manners and you have a deep trust in the power of knowledge and reason. Maybe, some thoughts of yours are too optimistic and some others are not as realistic as they ought to be, but you don’t give up.
I think that the future of the hobby needs people like you are. So, go on!
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