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It is disturbing to think that in nature, due to outside influences that a species could/will produce very skewed sex ratios. Due to survival instincts and the drive to reproduce, it is quite possible to see “natural” hybridations also.
A possible example might be the new Ampah which is being sold as Filementosus and is more than likely being collected from the Filamentosus collection sites. It seems a little strange that this “species” just showed up and in large numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this happened, but it could with many species of Paros as their wild population decrease.
Just a thought here but disturbing, new species could be evolving with the ability to survive in the new man made enviroments.. we would notice this in changes to the fish with difficulty to identify.
I understand that in the natural enviroment hybrids rarely survive, but what is going on is not natural. I have seen this happen once where man has interfered.
Correction, maybe I should not use the word species, as much as different “forms” of a species.
Yes, the Paros go crazy for the blackworms. I had no luck yet in trying to grow them, Black worms are high maintenance live food. I’m now mixing in some frozen bloodworms (some kind of midge larva) with the blackworms, and the fish are starting to eat them too. I have no place near to get small cultures of Blackworms.
Moina culture is my favorite, easy and fast production but the fish need a good variety of foods. They also love Brine shrimp.As far as I know quindecim has not been available in the US yet. Have not seen it thru any of the retailers yet nor has Bill Little ever mentioned it. Mark with Anubias Design seems to have disappeared.
The Wet Spot and Rachael seem to be the most reliable importers to the states. I post whats available fairly regularly here on the forum. Mostly from Wet Spot as Rachael’s supply seems more limited.
I just got in 6 Parvulus and acclimating them now… cute little fish, they are appox .5 – .75 inches.
I also stopped off the road today and picked up some aged bamboo. I liked the idea of bamboo caves and they will look nice in the tanks.
It’s also time to work on getting some pictures for you all.. I’ll see what I can do in the next few days I hope. Especially the Filamentosus, which are looking very similar to the Ampah, by the pics that were posted. ???
I would not use Hydrochloric Acid.
My neighbor is a chemist in the Nuclear business… He recommends Phosphoric Acid as also mentioned by Peter from his early days of adjusting pH.(it has no affect on the TDS) According to my neighbor, Phosphoric is a good organinc acid that will not harm fish, plants etc. as long as used with great caution ie: just a drop or 2. It can crash your pH if not not used by the drops (small drops) He has been very helpful in explaining ph and possible ways to adjust it safely. He brought some to me to try.. it works well.
As to using tannins, my technique of percolating peat moss is working wondefully. I keep the peatmoss in a large container soaked in RO water. After about 3 weeks “perc” it thru an old electric coffee maker thru the filter… mix it into RO water to get he darkness you want. The neighbor is really into, the Paros Project but unable to keep any fish due to time constraints so is helping me in anyway he can outside of the actual fish keeping.
I use a very slow drip method.
Also I have 2 tanks waiting at a Ph of approx 6.8 I will introduce the fish to those tanks after the slow drip from pH 7.5 (Wet Spot keeps them at 7.5)
Then I slowly Lower the pH in each of the tanks with the Paros to get a pH of at least 5 if not lower.
My last order was for the Filamentosus and all 6 are well and in a pH of 5 for the time.
They seem to be quite adaptable as young fish, and as they mature, I will adjust for optimum breeding range water parameters. There is more than likely a broad range in their natural enviroment during rainy and dry seasons, that the Paros family has adapted to. Actually I was surprised at 100% survival from the dealers… Better than Apistos and other soft, acid water fish I have ordered in the past.
Just make slow changes and all should be ok!
Thank you Helene… I am struggling with that decision every day. It shows everywhere I check, that they are difficult to breed. I was thinking of ordering 6 of them this coming week. Saving them from the distributer and the general aquarium trade is not a bad idea either. I would be able to pass them on later to a more experienced keepers if necessary.
I meant thank you for the encouragement!!
Thank you very much! and please keep the pictures coming. I recently got 6 Filamentosus and am beginning to question the possibility of them being “Ampah”. They are still young and approx 1.25 inches so I must wait til mating behaviour to know for sure.
Quick update on my end of the project:
The young filamentosis are doing great. The males are developing the filament and the females are staying a lighter color, some almost tan colored and their horizontal stripes sometimes show as a series of squares.
I will seperate the pairs when I see breeding colors and a sign of possibly, hopefully pairing off.
The Moina cultures are blossoming in the culture with a heater, the others I let stay cool to slow them down.. easy and quite productive.
I’m getting Blackworms today and have that all ready.
I’m at the point to read more, keep and eye on parameters,etc. and wait, patience is most important.
BTW it seems that Amazon Frogbit (limnobium laevigatum) makes a very nice floater
This is fun… my Blackworms arrive tomorrow.
Will let you know Mr. Little how it works out!… And can send some to you if you would like. Min order was 3/4 pound…. .34 Kg
California Blackworms ship fed-X overnight in the US, price included for shipping, built into cost for US customers.
I also feed live artemia larvae. I catch them in a small airtube syphon. Then rinse them well with some tank or supply water. So far, I’ve seen no increase in TDS, Martin is correct, but the key is to be sure to rinse them well (they will live long enough to for the fish to feed). I use a coffee filter to drain and rinse them.
This has been a very good and enightning discussion.
I have been using Canadian Peat Moss and originally thought it was not very acidic.
Have discovered that if I saturate it, let it sit 2 weeks or so and then I run RO water and percolate the peat in an old electric coffee maker, I get good acidic water, low TDS and very nice tannic acid from it.
It’s so dark sometimes that I pour 11 cups of percolated into 4 gallons of RO water.
Now I’m getting a fairly stable mix of the range of pH 5 to 5.5
The pH does creep up slowly since I cant replicate a Malasian swamp for constant flow seepage, but it is easy to control.
The cloudiness from a bacterial bloom is usually very short lived and when it passes, the tanks do become crystal clear. Is not harmful to fish.
Some folks get it from adding driftwood and in some cases just setting up a new tank, the fresh tap water will cloud over for a few days.In a natural enviroment one would have to assume that the bacterial actions are done while the water is leaching through the peat and leaf litter.
Here across the pond (US) we have Cider Vinegar @ 5%, and white Distilled Vinegar @ 5%.
Distilled white vinegar would be the best (less organics) to try. Either of course, could cause bacterial blooms and the raw cider vinegar could seriously cause more serious blooms which could effect oxygen levels etc.
All our streight vinegars are made from fermented apple juice. I would not use flavored vinegars (as mentioned by Peter) as used in salads etc. either.
The acidity is Acetic acid which should be safe. It should also be stable in a tank but you should be cautioned to test often in your tank/tanks…until you are sure it reacts ok with your setup.
I did use vinegar years ago in some tanks and it worked. BUT I can’t remember why I stopped using it.
So, if you want to go ahead, with a PURE DISTILLED VINEGAR and of course GO WITH CAUTION.
I understand Peter’s concerns and they are valid, and I would only tell you to try it with the distilled version of vinegar, and again with no fancy flavored additives.
The Wet Spot is getting (hopefully) Parvulus and Sintang next week. They still have Ornaticauda.
I’m not sure what the heck Sintang is, seems to be a generic name in the industry, and have found several different pictures of them, but mostly may be “Blue Line”
The young Filaments are doing well and I’m fairly confident that I will have 2 pairs out of the six fish.
The males are darkening up and the filament is growing well. The females are lighter in color.
I will try to get some pics for you all, but, always struggle with good aquarium pictures.
