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AMAZONAS 76 Above, left to right: If the opponent doesn’t swim away, but spreads his fins, then the dance begins. Here a large old male is challenging a young tank-bred male with orange-tipped pectoral fins. The older these fishes get, the longer the first rays of the first dorsal fin grow. Adversaries typically carry the dorsal and ventral fins stiffly extended. Initially they remain at a short distance; as hostilities progress they come closer together and use laterally directed movements to send little waves of water toward each other. These two are near the end of their battle. They have come very close together and the younger fish (foreground) is about to give up. It is unclear why, but all disputes end in this way and the loser is not harmed. territories. Females swimming into these little territories are not courted by dancing, but approached from the front with gentle head nodding. If the female doesn’t swim away, the courting male turns next to her, quivering briefly. They swim beside each other in the direction of a spawning substrate—in my tanks this is a mop or a clump of Java Moss. This spawning procedure can be seen every day; the entire group is constantly ready to spawn if well fed. I collect the eggs regularly and incubate them in a bowl in shallow water. The eggs are around the same size as those of other small blue-eyes, such as Pseudomugil gertrudae—about 1.2 mm in diameter. Not at all difficult Unfortunately, not all the eggs developed in my tap water, which had a temperature of 77– 80°F (25–27°C), a pH of 7.5, and an electrical conductivity of around 350 μS/cm. I assume that the species actually inhabits the swamps in the drainage of the Kopi, and thus lives in very soft black water with a low bacteria count. In the case of eggs transferred to 100 percent reverse-osmosis water, the larvae hatch after 10 to 12 days without problems. If I hatch them in bowls filled with tap water, I have to help at hatching time (Evers, 2011). I feed the adults daily with Artemia nauplii, live or frozen Cyclops and water fleas, and very occasionally with very high-protein granulate. The frequent feeding of such granulate and Artemia nauplii isn’t healthy for the fish. Like other small species of blue-eyes, the females, in particular, become misshapen and fat if their diet is too rich. Their bellies become distended and they must be put on a strict diet or you will lose them. Feeding them entirely on pond
foods appears to be just the ticket, and leads to healthy, very agile fish that spawn readily. Rearing the hatchlings is easy. In the first few days they will eat rotifers and Paramecium spp., and also take very finely powdered flake food from the water’s surface. After a few days they can manage freshly hatched Artemia nauplii. I have achieved the most rapid growth with sieved Cyclops and Diaptomus (copepod) nauplii, which are taken very readily. However, it goes without saying that there should be no stingers among the Cyclops to endanger the entire brood. If the eggs are collected regularly—I get up to 15 a day from my group of wildcaught fishes, but usually fewer, as they are probably also egg-robbers—you will soon have a considerable number of youngsters swimming around. I have now put together a large group of young fish, which have already started spawning at the age of four months. Other aquarists have accumulated an impressive number of young as well, so these splendid little fellows are safely established in the aquarium hobby and no further imports will be required. I wish these orange and blue flashes a successful aquarium career. They are extremely colorful, not the least bit shy, and not difficult to keep and breed. What more could we ask for? REFERENCES Allen, G.R., K.G. Hortle, and S.J. Renyaan. 2000. The Freshwater Fishes of Timika Region, New Guinea. Timika, Indonesia, and Roleystone, Western Australia: Tropical Reef Research. Allen, G.R., A.W. Storey, and M. Yarrao. 2008. Freshwater Fishes of the Fly River, Papua New Guinea. Tabubil: Ok Tedi Mining. Evers, H.-G. 2011. Schlupfhilfe. AMAZONAS 37, 7 (5): 11. Bottom, left to right: Freshly hatched fry remain near the water’s surface and immediately begin to feed. They have bright blue eyes from the start. This juvenile is around three weeks old and grew up in the adults’ tank. It was the only survivor: apparently any smaller siblings that followed were eaten. In larger aquariums, however, it should be possible to rear lots of young without any major intervention. AMAZONAS 77
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FRESHWATER AQUARIUMS & TROPICAL DIS
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EDITORIAL AMAZONAS 4 Dear Reader, A
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AQUATIC AMAZONAS 6 NOTEBOOK by Dr.
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AMAZONAS 8 TM Top: Xingu version of
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AQUATIC AMAZONAS 10 NOTEBOOK A new
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AQUATIC AMAZONAS 12 NOTEBOOK the mi
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AQUATIC AMAZONAS 14 Right: Preserve
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AMAZONAS 16 AQUATIC Peckoltia otali
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AQUATIC AMAZONAS 18 NOTEBOOK artic
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20 Does size matter to you ? We bet
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AMAZONAS 22 Revolutionary Lighting
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AMAZONAS 24 COVER STORY Pterophyllu
Page 26 and 27: AMAZONAS 26 Pterophyllum altum from
Page 28 and 29: AMAZONAS 28 base of the dorsal fin.
Page 30 and 31: AMAZONAS 30 scientific literature.
Page 32 and 33: AMAZONAS AMAZONAS 32 A life with an
Page 34 and 35: AMAZONAS 34 Above, left to right: O
Page 36 and 37: AMAZONAS 36 tions to produce good f
Page 38 and 39: AMAZONAS 38 Unfortunately, the tank
Page 40 and 41: AMAZONAS 40 some of the young in ou
Page 42 and 43: AMAZONAS 42 COVER STORY Pterophyllu
Page 44 and 45: AMAZONAS 44 Wild-caught pair from t
Page 46 and 47: AMAZONAS 46 Above: The young are fe
Page 48 and 49: AMAZONAS 48 COVER STORY Angelfish:
Page 50 and 51: AMAZONAS 50 Despite this preservati
Page 52 and 53: AMAZONAS 52 Stephens really hits ho
Page 54 and 55: AMAZONAS 54 Some of the latest exam
Page 56 and 57: AMAZONAS 56 Slavkov’s Bulgarian G
Page 58 and 59: FISHKEEPING BASICS Common health pr
Page 60 and 61: AMAZONAS 60 Inspired by Mother Natu
Page 62 and 63: AMAZONAS 62 Avoiding trouble As lon
Page 64 and 65: AMAZONAS 64 their introduction befo
Page 66 and 67: AMAZONAS 66 FISH ROOM TOUR article
Page 68 and 69: AMAZONAS 68 A female Aulonocara jac
Page 70 and 71: AMAZONAS 70 Pairs of shell-dwelling
Page 72 and 73: AMAZONAS 72 Above: Pseudomugil gert
Page 74 and 75: AMAZONAS 74 HUSBANDRY & BREEDING Wi
Page 78 and 79: AMAZONAS 78 HUSBANDRY Chilatherina
Page 80 and 81: AMAZONAS 80 The next morning, thoug
Page 82 and 83: AMAZONAS 82 From Thailand New Snake
Page 84 and 85: AMAZONAS 84 It wasn’t long before
Page 86 and 87: AMAZONAS 86 Above: The young of Cha
Page 88 and 89: 88 UNITED STATES Arizona Aqua Touch
Page 90 and 91: AMAZONAS 90 SPECIES SNAPSHOTS ➊ T
Page 92 and 93: AMAZONAS 92 SPECIES SNAPSHOTS Hypop
Page 94 and 95: SOCIETY AMAZONAS 94 CONNECTIONS U.S
Page 96 and 97: 24/7 VISIT OFTEN: • Web-Special A
Page 98: AMAZONAS 98 UNDERWATER EYE Mustard
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