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Here’s an update. My quindecim pair have spawned several times. They prefer a slightly larger clay tube. I’ve only pulled the tubes and put them in a hang-on, flow-through tank three times. Once the fry didn’t make it (had to travel and hard to find skilled paramecium feeders!) but twice they did. However, only 5 per clutch. So now I have ten juveniles. If you really need some, let me know.
Peter Beyer and I collected Parosphromenus allani in Sibu in Sarawak, Borneo in December 2015, and have been trying to breed them since, Peter in Germany and me in Seattle, USA. I think Peter gave some to Hallman who also has been trying (I hope to meet him in September). Surprisingly and frustratingly, none of us succeeded (to the best of my knowledge), as the males showed very limited interest in the females, even when separated into pairs. Well, today we’ve had a BREAKTHROUGH! I noticed two young juveniles in one of my 10 gallon tanks housing a pair. I never saw them breed or lay eggs in the clay tubes and film canisters I provided, but apparently they bred surreptitiously, perhaps in the bogwood or catappa leaves. The water is very heavily stained, making observation tricky, but I’m guessing there are a couple more offspring in there. I am thrilled, as we now have proof that it’s not impossible to breed this species – the “true” allani!
10 gallon tank, Ph varies between 5.3 and 6.0 (my meter isn’t great)and lots of tannin. The hardness is probably about 50 microsiemens but difficult to measure because I treated this tank for velvet five months ago and ever since the hardness measurements are confounded. I confess that I change about 20% of the water every two weeks, not ideal but my work schedule is sometimes brutal. Neglect and patience seems to have been the key, rather than any secret trigger. Has anyone else experience breeding P. allani from Sibu?
I have 3 pair of the WC fish that Beyer and I collected in Sarawak. Little courting so far. I got eggs in a clay tube just once and unfortunately they went bad and were lost. Each pair is in a separate tank. Let me know if you succeed in getting fry. We need to succeed.
Found the male guarding eggs in that one inch clay tube two days ago. Our first ones! But I’m traveling to China on Friday and am not sure if my young son has the skill or passion to feed and raise fry while I’m gone. I’ll set up some vinegar eels and see if he can do it.
I found a photo I took last month
of one of the destroyed habitats for wild Red Bettas near Lundu, Sarawak.
And here’s a photo of the nearby countryside, which is beautiful.
Photo taken by Peter Beyer. Seek his permission to use.
Apparently senseless habitat destruction near Lundu, Sarawak. This is the habitat of red bettas.More photos, which I took last month, of the sad destruction of the peat swamp home of Paros allani near the Sibu airport.
Hope this works. A short video clip showing one of the Paros collecting sites near Sibu, Sarawak, with Michael Lo catching Paedocypris species and some putative six-banded tiger barbs under water — Desmopuntius hexazona.
Does the video work?
