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Bartian noticed – looking at the same photo in the IGL-Forum – that my male has no colours in the caudal fin. And he is right – I looked through all the photos I took today – the male never shows any colour in the caudale.
Not even here:
What do you think??
Hello, Helene,
I hope it’s ok when I use your thread to show my very first paros 🙂 ………. It’s P. nagyi “Pekan Nenasi” – so I think it fits quite well into this thread.
I got them yesterday, they were bred by Thorsten Kolb and Anne Pähler – whom I thank again for the wonderful fishes!
The photo (I hope I succeed in uploading it …) shows the fishes exploring their new home, the male on the left.
Thank you, Helene – no problem!!!
No, I will do it as I planned from the beginning – in the small tank only one pair of paros.
And I think I will not try to change the water parameters in the bigger tank. It’s a bit too risky – I don’t think that I will really be able to lower the conductivity from 250 to 50 µS without emptying the tank and removing the soil.
I think I’ll keep either Pseudosphromenus and Boraras (Asia set up) in the 120 liter tank – or (rather?) Microctenopoma ansorgii together with Aplocheilichthys normani or myersi (Africa set up).
And I will make a first try with a single Parosphromenus pair in the 27 liter tank. And then …….. let’s see….
Helene, please don’t misunderstand me – I never had in mind to keep Paros and Boraras together in the 27 liter tank at the beginning. I thought about keeping them together in the 120 liter tank. I began to think about it in the smaller tank, when you wrote in your first answer
But I think, that of course it is possible, and sometimes really a very good idea. In your case, the 27 liter is ideal for a pair or a smaller group. My experience is that they can feel very comfortable with small tank mates such as boraras.
Now Kevin said
Hi I used to keep my Paros with small Rasboras. They make very good tank mates and in my opinion play the role of dither fish giving the Paros confidence to come out of hiding.
And as you see from my questions regarding tank/ flock size and food competition – I still have reservations ……….
Thank you, Kevin – that’s what I had in mind, and it seems that several keepers made good experiences in keeping Rasboras/ Boraras and paros together.
I think about two aspects:
– How many Rasboras can I keep in such a small tank as recommended for paros? For example, my 27 liter tank? Rasboras like to live in small flocks, one shouldn’t keep too few of them. But how many are appropriate?
– I keep 8 Boraras maculatus together with a pair of Badis kanabos (and their fry) in a 54 liter tank. The Badis are slow feeders, too – they have to observe an object for a while to be sure that it’s alive and edible. The Rasboras are very fast and eager to feed. The combination Boraras/ Badis works well because of the differences in food size – the Boraras eat only small food, the larger remains for the Badis. But as I hear, paros also eat very small food, and very slowly. What about the food competition in keeping Parosphromenus and Boraras together?
[quote=”helene” post=1237]I often find that gravel is a big problem in changing water parameter, – some gravels might have a big influence in drawing up parameters such as ph-value.[/quote]
Yes, that’s what I think.
I set this tank up for fishes that like average water equivalents (neutral pH, middle hardness) – with no focus on very special requirements.
I often make water changes only with rain water – because I do not want to amplify the hardness. And the conductivity always raises up to 250 µS again ……..
[quote=”bartian” post=1233]That’s as easy as starting a new tank. Just start changing water with rainwater(I use RO) and after a while the water will be very soft. Then start filtering over peat.
I did it in several tanks.[/quote]Thank you – and you succeeded in bringing down the conductivity this way, too? I think the conductivity depends on the complete setup – not only on the water, doesn’t it?
[quote=”helene” post=1231]Unfortunately it is not possible to change this setting, – the only alternative is to use the place where you can write personal text for this information.
Or you can do as I did 😉 – by mistake I turned the dates around, so it showed the wrong date but the rigth year ..[/quote]😆 😆
I tried 00/00/1960 ……… but the system doesn’t even allow this …….
Last night I thought about how to change the water parameters in the running 120-liter tank ………… and I think, maybe you are right, Helene, and it’s too difficult to change the parameters in such a lot of water in a running system.
The actual water parameters are pH 6,5 – KH <4 - GH <8 - it would not be the greatest problem to decrease these, because it's rain water mixed with tap water. Our rain water has no measurable KH and GH, a TDS of around 30 µS and pH 6,0 - if I take pure rain water, I can easily lower the pH to 5 or 5,5.
But the TDS in the tank now is around 250 µS ....... I think due to the soil, the rocks and organic material like hazel twigs etc. in the tank. I'm afraid - to lower the TDS would mean to empty the tank. And that's something I do not like to think about .........
Does somebody else here have experience in changing the water parameters of a running system?
[quote=”bartian” post=1226]Because of lack of space, I put a pair of sp. Sentang in a meter-aquarium with Dicrossus filamentosus with quite acidic water. The paros became very active and were not shy at all. After a while I even added a pair of Apistogramma agassizii.
They are making a nest and are courting at the moment, thus seem to thrive.[/quote]
Thank you – that gives me hope!!
Thank you, Helene, for your answer. And thank you for showing me the link to this wonderful tank! That’s my ideal of a tank – open surface, plants growing inside and out.
The tank this thread refers to is not covered, too – because I keep my miniature orchids and tillandsia hanging over it to benefit from the ascending humidity. I plan not to fill it up to the rim, when I change the setup, but to leave a little space to let Pistia grow on the surface.So if you think there’s still a chance to breed Parosphromenus even if they are not separated pairwise in a small tank, I think I will try it. It’s surely more of a chance for breeding than deciding not to keep any paros in this tank at all 😉 ………It’s not my intention to keep several species in a mixed community. Just some individuals of one single paro species (how many??) and a small flock of Boraras, to give the paros the quiet they need.
There are still some Tanichthys in the tank now, which will have to move ….. And I have to change the water settings. The water now is very clear and not peat-filtered. The plants will have no problem with the new water, I think – they are Microsorum, Fontinalis, Cryptocoryne and Najas guadalupensis. The picture shows the actual setting – just to explain why I don’t like the idea of separating the tank into two halfs.
[quote=”bartian” post=1190]Since paros demand premium water this risk is higher, so be careful.[/quote]
I will!! The frame for the lid is already in the works …………
Helene – I didn’t find any button to send you a PN, so everyone please excuse a short OT note :blush: :
The link to your homepage is corrupt, the URL is not right. Please replace http//:www. Then it should work. (It would be a pity to miss your website!!)
OT off
Thank you all for your advice!
Bartian – it were no publications on other anabantoids, I indeed read it in special publications on Parosphromenus. I know that many Betta species are very “jumpy”. My Badis species live in completely filled tanks without any covers – they don’t like to come close to the surface, not even to catch floating food – and I am sure they won’t jump. It’s more likely that sometimes a shrimp will jump out – the Red Cherries are the jumpiest.
But ok – I will put a lid on my new Paro-tank. As I don’t like to cut off the water surface from fresh air, I will cover a self-built frame with fly screen and put it on the tank.
