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I agree with you and did the same with apistos, but never added any more extract than the leaves and driftwood would supply. My question is, is really necessary to add more humic acid and tannins than what is provided by the acidic leaves and drift wood.
I have noticed that oak and beech leaves seem to provide a lighter or less intense tannin staining. The fig leaves are heavey in tannins….does that really biologically make any difference to the fish? With other species I’ve had, it did not seem to make any difference as long as some staining was apparent. But having black or golden water didnt matter as long as some tannins were available. I do use pure RO water with a variety of leaves soaking in it giveing the water a yellowish or golden color. Since it (tannins and humic acid are not easily measurable) is lightly colored do we make more “blackwater” additives just to be safe?
I know Paros come from a variety of blackwater systems and would never keep them in pure RO water…. but we seem to have no measurement of humic acid and tannins other that its color.
I have no intention of keeping any fish that I like in my tap water. lol It’s only suitable for rift lake cichlids.
this is too funny, I knew what you meant all along!! lol
I’ll send a pic to Little ! or post one. .. just kidding
Congratulations on the spawning!! I hope all goes well.
today, round noon I peaked and observed a small clutch of eggs stuck on the roof inside the cave. Looked good. I was a fairly small clutch so could be another females first try.
This afternoon the male was out and not returning to the cave, the eggs were gone, he doesn’t seem to be guarding anything elsewhere in the tank so I will mark, breeding #3 a failure… at spawning. Not failure for me, learning something new almost everyday.
Thank you Peter, we can only hope for the best.
The spawning ritual is as decribed in the literatue, his darting around is quite sudden and extreme. That is what caugh my attention… I thought I had a fish in distress as seen from across the room.
He did indeed make sudden jumps around her taking up a good bit of room. Then would drift toward her and do the little snake dance, flaring fins and intense color. She responds by either drifting away or flaring back at him and sometimes a little nudge. Occasionaly they would press against each other and finally ended up in the cave.
I still havent looked into the cave but am sure there are eggs. He is letting nothing near the cave, and doing regular patrols around the front and then back in, very attentive and protective.
I will wait and not bother him for a few days as this is his third spawning and hope he got it right. As long as he is hanging out and guarding the cave all is well. He quickly abandoned the other spawns.
I was able to witness the complete Parvulus mating dance today!! Amazing!
Unfortunatly it seems they are spawning under an oak leaf and I will not be able to observe the nest, and egg developement, as I am afraid to disturb the leaf.
Maybe if lucky he might move it all to a cave?Oh well, I hope to someday see babies. I did drop the pH to 3.5 in time for this spawning.
15 minutes later:
So they haven’t spawned yet and I moved the leaf enough that I’m hoping he selects the cave. She is quite plump and very yellowish ,sticking close to him.
hour later:
Both fish have moved to the cave! I just moved (had to put my hand in the tank to move it… they both ignored me) the leaf he liked is now resting on top of the Bamboo. They are in the cave now so I’m staying away, I’ll know how well they did if he begins quarding the entrance and running in and out.
Very nice setup!!
I am contemplating getting Blue Line soon, just waiting for the dealer to get in this weeks orders.
Thank you all for the replies! I understand the confusion better with names, and species, and forms, and types. Wew!!
I guess the best thing to do is order some on Monday and wait and see what arrives in the surprise package. They usually send very small fish..except for the small parvulus which were young adults.
The fish are being offered by the “Wet Spot” here in the states… they usually get Paros every week or two, which is nice… the only regular source available that I know of. He never knows exactly what is coming into stock, since I believe that they are all ordered as Paros gouramis. Examples are the spec Ampah which as young fish came in as Filamentosus!
(which I still believe are Ampah as they are showing no signs of reds or browns)I must wait until I see actual spawning behaviours.Interesting behavior today with the Parvulus:
The male has begun “dancing” today… very intense colors this evening. I noticed a nice plump female folowing him, and would actually attack him and chase him. Nothing serious but I assume she is ready now and he is not quite?? Funny behavior (interesting). Every time I watch these little guys, something new shows up !!! again, what a fascinating fish!!
The other spawnings occured in the mornings so I am hoping that tomorrow I’ll have another brood.
Also I have lowered the pH to a bit below 4.0 as recommended by others here.
New problem today.
I had a second spawning this morning. It was a mess. Eggs were stuck all over, not organized and were eaten shortly later.
Would this be because of 2 males wanting to spawn? Would one destroy the others nest or interfere??
My only option is to seperate them but I dont have a tank ready. I could put a pair in a 2 gallon jar, same water setup etc. I have seen no fighting but if a female is ready I’m sure there has to be some problems with 2 males also ready… or might I be safe until the tank is prepaired?
Interesting topic.
Obviously the European fish hobbiest and fish breeding is way beyond our techiques here in the states, as far as the techniques are concerned. A good example is this topic. Funny I thought I came up with a good idea… it is, but an old idea, lol
Very often the recommended plan is to just buy Black Water Extract or throw some leaves in the tank and wait!!
I remember years ago that finding Appistos was a nightmare… but Europe was already years ahead of us.
Thanks to internet and better communications we are now able to share and the lag of info is getting shorter.
It is a male, thats what I meant by he showed his colors …. full courtship display.
But privious to the display that is one that I suspected only because of the brilliance of the fin borders (more so than the others)… I was not aware the females carry that much of the color too. I have not yet seen that on the others(only very thin color borders). Of course when we buy wild caught they could be at any age.
the suspect second male showed his colors tonight! I supected he was “in hiding” as a male but the give-away seemed to be the bright electric blue boarders on his unpaired fins, all else looked identical to the females.
Very pleased with getting 2 pairs out of a random scoop of six fish.
Thank you Peter. Nothing will keep me away from these amazing little fish!
I have been keeping fish for 49 years now, and think I have finally found the one type, Paros!!After watching them for days now, the fish are not the Babugus form. The male
seemed to show more red at first, but is definately the more common or normal form.
It is too bad though that the dealer will not reveal or does not know the source of the fish or locations of their capture, but I do understand his business is retail distribution.
