Temperatures ? seasonal cycles?

[VAN BESIEN Hugues]

Hi,

What water temperature are you giving your paros ? and how do you let them change?

I know from experiences with other black water and/or forest dwelling fishes (microctenopoma, little red bettas) that in these shadowed places, the temperature of water is not so high as one can think, and that the indication given in the aquaristic literature show too high temperatures (25-26°), so I give rather 22-23°, and in particular cases nor lower temperatures. It make fishes live longer.

I know too that too long time with even temperature don’t respect biological cycles and that change, for exemple, can induce spawning.

Paros are forest dwellers, but are to be found near the line, where seasonal changes are weak and temperatures the highest.

I usually have my paros about 23-24° C, and it can be that in the summer, it goes higher about 25-26° or even more for a short time. It’s clear that spawning is seasonal, that is, there are time for spawning, and time for not spawning, but I can see no positive bind with temperature or actual season, and there is long not-spawning-time.

Now, and since a few monthes, none of my 4 species does seem spawn, although my water parameters are at best, better than sooner

So, I make the temperature higher and wonder if I should not introduce a night / day temperature change, perhaps 1-2 °, by coupling heater and light

So what to think about?
Are paros all the year spawner like many equatorial species?
Are there differences between paro species? Seasonal and not seasonal? Dry season or not?

Hugues (Douai, France)

[Patrick Guhmann]

Hello,

Today fishes are kept under stable, warm conditions. In early days of aquaristics nearly all species where kept in colder water than today, especially in winter. During the cold period, the fishes had the chance to recover themselves. This was right and important for subtropical fishes – but is it healthy for tropical fishes? I dont know.

I keep my Paros at 22-23°C and they spawn permanently.
I dont know if 22-23°C are the temperature-optimum of that species, but it works.

Greetings

[Peter Finke]

We have very little real knowledge on this temperature issue, I am afraid. What you both tell us, Hugues and Patrick, is surely correct. There is quite a lot of information on aquarium practices, but the information on the living conditions of Parosphromenus in nature is rather limited. There are reports on habitats with rather low temperatures, and there is the contrary, especially if the canopy of the wood is open or even missing. We should ask the friends in our Asian-section!! Will one of you do that? That would be fine!!
As the aquarium is concerned, I prefer the low-temperature-variant, with sometimes 21, but mostly 22-24 degrees Celsius. I have never seen a remarkable increase of courtship and egg-laying after a temperature-rise, only after a good water-change or a change of food. The experience of Hugues that the pairs often have long intervals with no courtship and spawning beetween long periods of spawning seems to be quite normal in this genus. We have to make clear that in nature most of these fish live at the longest one year, and that there is only one spawning period for them. What we have in the aquarium – no enemies and always good food and three or even more years of several spawnings – is quite unnatural for them. We certainly should try to get offspring by one of the first spawnings of them, but often that is impossible.
It would be interesting to hear from others how they think about that temperature question.

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