The Dwarf Badis, also called Scarlet, has transformed itself from the highly paid sensation of the year 2000 to the always available classic in aquaristics. It originates from northern India (North Bengal), where it inhabits clear, moderately flowing waters with sandy bottoms and rich underwater plant growth at the foot of the Himalayas.
In terms of care, Dario dario is very undemanding as far as water values (any tap water suitable as drinking water is accepted) and temperature (between 16 and 28°C) are concerned, but it does not eat dry food. Frozen food is accepted without problems, but live food is much preferred by the cute animal, which grows only 2-3 cm long. It is best to keep the little jewels in a group of 10-20 specimens, whereby the gender is irrelevant. This way animals are constantly visible and interact with each other without hurting or seriously mobbing each other.
Dwarf Badis, unlike the representatives of the genus Badis, do not engage in brood care. In an aquarium that is densely planted and where live food is given, young usually come up all by themselves from time to time to maintain the population.
For our customers: the animals have code 413773 on our stock list. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
Labyrinth fishes are among the most important ornamental fishes in the world. Their often bright colors and varied behavior make their care very rewarding. Most species also remain small, only very rarely exceeding the 10 centimeter mark. The exception are the giant gouramis (Osphronemus), of which there are four accepted species. They are not only a bit bigger than the other labyrinths, but they are really big: such an “underwater piggy” measures between 45 and 70 cm when fully grown.
The comparison with our popular carving supplier is not so far out of the air. Like the pig, the giant gourami Osphronemus goramy loves warm, nutrient-rich water, eats like a barn thresher without being particularly picky, and tastes equally delicious boiled or fried. As a labyrinth fish, it can survive in oxygenless water, in which case it uses its auxiliary respiration, making it a prime market fish. O. goramy therefore became an early domesticated animal of man and is now widely distributed throughout South and Southeast Asia.
Less well known is that there has long been a yellow (xanthoristic) and an albino breeding form. Both are also kept as ornamental fish in ponds in their native countries, because they are so undemanding. In our country they are of course only suitable for large and show aquariums, the water temperature must not drop below 15°C, otherwise there is a risk of disease and death.
At the moment we have some juveniles of both breeding forms in the stock. Among themselves juvenile giant gouramis are quite incompatible. Only after sexual maturity (at 20-25 cm) this changes, from then on they are very friendly with each other. Giant gouramis are bubble nest builders, producing several 10,000 young per brood. The brood care takes over, as usually with labyrinth fish, the papa. External sex differences are unknown, however it seems that it is the males that get the typical nutcracker face, while the ladies keep a “normal” physiognomy.
For our customers: Albino has code 440915, Gold 440913 on our stock list. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
This extremely rarely imported species originates from Burma. The charming fish attains a length of only 2-3 cm. The species is a close relative of the mouthbrooding chocolate gouramis, but P. ocellatus is a bubblenest builder although the eggs look like the eggs of mouthbrooders.
In the habitats of P. ocellatus appear heavy day-night changes of the water temperature. The species lives in muddy, shallow pools. By day water temperature rises easily up to 25-28°C, while during the night the temperature becomes as low as 15°C. The metabolism of the tiny fish is adopted to that changes. So one should try to imitate them (for example by switching off the heater along with the lamps) otherwise the fish will become very sensitive for various diseases on a long time sight.
For our customers: the fish have code 441233 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Parasphaerichthys: ancient Greek, means “similar to Sphaerichthys”. Sphaerichthys is another genus of fish. ocellatus: means “bears an ocellus”.
Suggestion of a common name: Ocellated dwarf chocolate gourami
Unfortunately imports from the Congo are only rarely possible. But now it was once again so far and among other species we have received nice wild catches of the Banded ctenopoma (Microctenopoma fasciolatum, formerly Ctenopoma f.).
The currently imported form – the exact locality is unknown to us – differs quite clearly in color from the animals we could import last in 2020, see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/microctenopoma-fasciolatum-2/ On the linked page you will also find further information about these attractive and interesting labyrinth fish.
For our customers: the animals have code 117002 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The kissing gourami (Helostoma temmickii) in its pink breeding form is one of the best known labyrinth fish. It is not actually bred as an ornamental fish, but as a food fish. The species grows up to 30 cm long under suitable (fattening) conditions and is considered delicate. In the nutrient-rich, turbid breeding ponds, the pink-colored animals are much easier to see than the green-gray wild form, which greatly facilitates control, care and fishing.
In the aquarium the fish usually reaches only 15-20 cm in length and is a rather peaceful, but in any case interesting ornamental fish for larger aquariums. The peculiar mouth is covered with numerous teeth, which are used to graze aufwuchs (algae and the small animals they contain). The famous “kissing” of these fish has nothing to do with expressions of affection, but is a form of mouth writhing, a ritualized fighting action widespread among fish.
The sexes are hardly distinguishable in the kissing gourami. The males are slightly less high-backed. Unlike very many other labyrinth fishes, kissing gouramis do not engage in any brood care, but simply release the spawn (many thousands in larger fishes) freely into the water during a labyrinth fish-typical embrace. The eggs have small oil droplets and therefore float on the water surface. In Europe breeding is almost not practiced, it is much easier and ecologically more sensible to import them from Southeast Asia, where breeding of Helostoma has been practiced for centuries.
The care of kissing gouramis is not difficult, any water is accepted, any usual food is eaten, it should only not be too coarse. The water temperature can be between 20 and 30°C. One should always keep several specimens, even if Helostoma temmickii does not need conspecifics for well-being. But it is interesting to watch the “kissing” of these animals and for kissing you have to be at least two…
For our customers: the animals have code 421302 (4-5 cm) and 421305 (7-9 cm) on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
It is a well known fact that the Betta splendens kept in the aquarium hobby as ornamental fish do not represent the species as it appears in the wild, but a domesticated fish. Initially this sport has been bred for combats, similar like sports of cocks and dogs. Only in the 1920ies, when supplying ornamental fish for the aquarium hobby became more and more an important economic factor for people in Southeast Asia, breeders started to select veiltailed sports and aberrant colour varieties. These fish are useless for combats.
The tradition of fish fights is still alive in many parts of Asia. Due to the high sums of money people bet here – and which lead to the ruin of many bet-junkies – these combats are under legal control, but in many areas they are also cultural property under special protection.
Here in central Europe is no interest in watching animals fighting and to bet on the winner, we are focussed on the empathy with the animal we keep. Nevertheless it is very interesting for a real enthusiast to get the possibility for studying these real fighters among the Bettas. These fish are called Pla Kat Luk Maw in Thai, which means about „biting fish of the earthen pot“. „Earthen pot“ refers to the traditional pottery vessels used for breeding the fish. There are Pla Kat Luk Maw mainly in blue, occasionally turquoise or wild colored fish appear.
For our customers: the fish have code 391019 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in limited numbers only!
The species status of Betta strohi is controversial. It is a form from the species complex around Betta foerschi (see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/betta-foerschi-bred/). Some authors consider B. strohi to be a synonym of B. foerschi, others a valid species. “Technically” the two differ by a rather inconspicuous feature, namely the eye line. In Betta strohi the line runs from the gill cover through the eye, in B. foerschi it runs below the eye. In living animals this is hardly ever visible, but in preserved animals it is. A very important feature is the coloration of the gill cover in mating animals. It is bright yellow in B. strohi and bright red in B. foerschi. But also to see this feature you need patience. If they are not in mating mood, the fish do not show it. However: also this characteristic is controversial. In the original description animals of B. strohi have red gill cover stripes and B. foerschi yellow ones!
Anyway: we have splendid, fully grown German offspring of this species in our stock. The breeder has studied the fish intensively and is sure that it is B. strohi. All species of the Betta foerschi complex are found only in Borneo, B. foerschi in the Mentaya River drainage, B. mandor in the lower Kapuas River drainage and B. strohi is found about 30 km south of Sukamara; there is no major river named there (but nameless rivers do exist).
In any case, these fish are a splendid as well as interesting enrichment for well maintained blackwater aquaria. B. strohi is a reserved fish, which can be socialized very well with other peaceful blackwater fish, e.g. rasboras, chocolate gouramis, pearl gouramis etc.. The sexes can be distinguished quite well by the extension of the fins. If you like, you can also keep several males together, they bicker, if at all, only harmlessly with each other.
For our customers: the fish have code 391023 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Which species is the largest snakehead fish? Unfortunately, this question cannot be answered unambiguously, because the expression “angler’s lingo” has already become proverbial for uncertain statements. Anglers (and not only them!) like to exaggerate a little. But indisputable is: Channa marulius from India belongs to the top candidates for the race. The largest documented catch of a Channa marulius was a specimen about 120 cm long that weighed 13.6 kg, but allegedly there has also been a 183 cm long specimen weighing a good 30 kg. Nevertheless, the normal size of the species is “only” about 50 cm, which is also quite decent!
In India, its homeland, there are huge, tame C. marulius that live in ponds in sacred temple precincts and are worshipped and fed by believers. These animals are so tame that they will take rice balls from your hand. However, rice is not an adequate food for these animals, which are predatory fish.
In the aquarium, Channa marulius are pleasant contemporaries, but they are reserved for owners of very large aquariums, zoos and display aquariums because of their size. Their aggression potential is low compared to that of other snakeheads. This changes at breeding time. Then these giants form pairs, which build a nest around the numerous brood sustainably defend. Nobody wants to be attacked and bitten by a 50 cm snakehead, because they have quite decent teeth and are really fearless!
The young animals, as we can offer them now once again after many years, are completely different colored than adult animals. As long as they wear the juvenile dress, they are schooling fish. However, when they lose the yellow longitudinal stripe they come into puberty, in which every conspecific is seen as a food competitor. Only when they reach sexual maturity do they become interested in conspecifics again. These phases are typical for large predatory fishes, especially during puberty it is impossible to keep more than one specimen in the aquarium. But with Channa marulius everything runs moderately and manners, why primarily the possible final size is a restriction for the suitability as an aquarium fish.
The flood of newly discovered Badis species does not stop. It is astonishing that 23 new species of these fishes have been scientifically accepted in the last 20 years and only four in the 200 years before! Badis pallidus was only described in 2019; it belongs to the immediate relationship of Badis badis and cannot be distinguished from it without intensive research. The native country of B. pallidus is Bangladesh.
We can now offer German offspring of this pretty little chameleon fish for the first time. Because of the great similarity to Badis badis no great aquaristic career can be predicted for this animal, but who knows? After all, since there are no significant commercial ornamental fish exports from Bangladesh, the opportunity to get this fish in the future should be very rare.
For our customers: the animals have code 368382 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
We have the probably most beautiful of all snakeheads once again available in limited numbers. This species grows up to 50 cm long in the aquarium, but normally they reach only 20-25 cm in the wild; our currently stocked fish are 14-18 cm long. The species is endemic (i.e. only found there) in northern India. They are mouthbrooders in the male sex.
For breeding, which is quite possible, the distinct annual rhythm of the fish must be taken into account. A hibernation at reduced temperatures, shortened photoperiod (i.e. the time when the tank is illuminated, it should be only 6-8 hours during hibernation or omitted altogether, depending on the location of the hibernation tank; in nature the animals hibernate in caves, there it is always gloomy) and without food. Feeding is the critical factor. Animals fed all year round become obese, animals that are too lean do not hibernate well; in both cases the sexual organs are degenerated, the animals then cannot reproduce.
The sexes differ in color and head shape, but these differences are of limited use, since by no means every male and female together form a harmonious pair; in this species the females are often very dominant. In case of serious breeding intentions, the acquisition of a group of specimens from which pairs can be formed is therefore strongly recommended.
For our customers: the animals have code 409013 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.
For almost 20 years, ichthyologists have disagreed on which rule of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature is more important for the gouramis of South and Southeast Asia: the prime directive, according to which everything else must be subordinated to the stability and universal applicability of scientific names, or the various rules that regulate which names are valid in synonyms (i.e. multiple names of the same genus or species).
Those who want stability use Colisa for western gouramis and Trichogaster for eastern gouramis, those who see rules more like lawyers use Trichogaster for western gouramis and Trichopodus for eastern gouramis. In this, the two camps are quite irreconcilably opposed to each other, a sad example of how things should not go in the scientific naming of animals and plants.
The species Colisa/Trichogaster fasciata, which belongs to the western gouramis and was described by Bloch & Schneider in 1801, has always been a problematic case in zoology. The specimen on which the description is based was lost, the drawing to the species is inaccurate and where the fish is supposed to come from (Tranquebar in India, nowadays Tharangambadi) no gouramis of any species could be found until recently, although intensive searches were made.
Until now Colisa/Trichogaster fasciata was considered to be either the large gourami of the Ganges-Brahmaputra system, which was described in 1822 and for which the name Colisa/Trichogaster bejeus is available or (my humble self counts to this) for a South Indian species, which has not been found again as a wild form so far, but which should rather originate from the west coast (Tranquebar and Pondicherry (= Puducherry), from where also a gourami is described, are both located at the east coast; the area was a French colony from 1673 until Indian independence, which is why both Bloch & Schneider and Cuvier & Valenciennes were able to obtain naturalia via ports there; this does not mean, however, that the fish were also caught there).
Now new life came into the matter. A team of authors around J. D. M. Knight believes that the fish described by Bloch & Schneider is our well-known dwarf gourami. They support their thesis with the fact that preserved dwarf gouramis can have a round-appearing caudal fin and that Bloch’s description of Trichogaster fasciatus explicitly mentions a round caudal fin. However, in reality NO gourami species has a round caudal fin and the dwarf gourami Colisa lalia/Trichogaster lalius was not found in southern India until 1999. It is extremely likely that the dwarf gourami there are due to abandoned or escaped ornamental fish which were not found there in Bloch & Schneider’s time. Nevertheless, Knight et al. are so certain that they declare Colisa lalia/Trichogaster lalius to be an invalid synonym of Trichogaster fasciata.
So now the dwarf gourami has three “official” names, depending on the personal opinion of the scientists involved with it, and five spellings: Colisa lalia, Colisa lalius, Trichogaster lalia, Trichogaster lalius, and Trichogaster fasciata. Whether one writes lalia or lalius depends on whether the name lalius, chosen by the first describer Hamilton in 1822, is an adjective or a noun; Hamilton did not comment on this. In the former case, the fish is called lalia (Colisa and Trichogaster are female (femininum), in which case the Latin word ending for adjectives is -a); in the latter, i.e., if lalius is a noun, it remains unchanged no matter what the gender of the generic name is. With fasciata/fasciatus (Latin for striped) this question does not arise, this is indisputably an adjective and must be adjusted in the gender of the genus. The striped gourami, previously called Colisa/Trichogaster fasciata, should be called Trichogaster bejeus according to Knight et al.
In our stock list, the dwarf gourami and its breeding forms continue to be called Colisa lalia. This has technical and economical reasons, but at the same time we are out of this name mess. The pictures for this post show Colisa lalia „Neon Colour“, Code 411605, „Flame Red“, Code 411705, „Cobalt“, Code 411555, and wild coloured, Code 411505 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Literature
Knight, J. D. M., Nallathambi, M., Vijayakrishnan, B. & P. Jayasimhan (2022): On the identity of the banded gourami Trichogaster fasciata with notes on the taxonomic status of Trichopodus bejeus (Teleostei: Perciformes: Osphronemidae). Journal of Fish Biology: [1-5].
Gold forms – also called xanthorists – are quite common in fish, even in nature. Ever since the beginning of man’s records of natural phenomena, there has been talk of golden perch, carp, crucian carp, tench and pike. Of course, such mutations occur much more often in breeding than in the wild, because there such strikingly colored animals soon become victims of predators.
In the case of the Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leerii, sometimes also called Trichopodus l.) a gold form has only been known for a comparatively short time. It is difficult to say whether this will become established on the market or remain a rarity. But compared to the first specimens we received in 2015 (see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/trichogaster_leerii_gold_en/ the animals we can offer now are much stronger.
The cute Flame Red Dwarf Badis (Dario hysginon) we have quite regularly in our stock. It originates from Burma (drainage of the Irrawaddy, Myitkyina District, Kachin State). More pictures of the species can be found here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/fischarchiv/dario_hyginon_2__en/
Partly together with the Flame Red another dwarf badis occurs in nature, which is already mentioned in the first scientific description: the “Black Tiger”. Concerning the measurable values the Flame Red does not differ substantially from the Black Tiger and therefore both were led for a long time “officially” also only as color variants of the species Dario hysginon. However, aquarium observations suggested that they are separate species, because they do not interbreed in the aquarium.
Now the discoverers of the “Black Tiger”, who originally classified it only as a variant of D. hysginon due to the paucity of material and the fact that it occurs together with Dario hysginon, have described it as a distinct species after all. It is now officially named Dario tigris Britz, Kullander & Rüber, 2022. The main differences from D. hysginon are in coloration and genetic differences, there are also minor anatomical differences between the two (fewer dorsal fin spines and vertebrae on average in D. tigris). In addition, the authors noted that Dario tigris only sometimes coexists with D. hysginon. Type locality of Dario tigris is an unnamed stream in Kachin State south of Mogaung.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to distinguish the two species in startle coloration from each other with certainty, which is why a certain mix arrives with us from time to time. Colored animals on the other hand are hardly to be confused. By the way, the females of the Black Tiger have, just like the males, a dot pattern in the neck, which makes it quite easy to distinguish them from striped females of the Flame Red.
For our customers: Dario hysginon has code 413783, D. tigris 413796 on our stock list. Please note that we cannot sort Flame Red and Black Tiger 100% and only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
Literature:
Britz, R., Kullander, S. O. & L. Rüber (2022): Dario tigris and Dario melanogrammus, two new species of miniature chameleon fishes from northern Myanmar (Teleostei: Badidae). Zootaxa 5138 (1): 001–016
In the north of India there are two Badis species, which are indistinguishable by color: B. blosyrus and B. assamensis. The only discernible difference that exists is the size of the mouth cleft. It is much larger in B. blosyrus and reaches below the center of the eye margin, whereas in B. assamensis the mouth opening reaches only just to the anterior margin of the eye.
It is problematic that practically always the two species are exported mixed, because they both live in the same region. Whether they are two species at all or “only” two ecotypes is uncertain. We are just completely unable to sort the animals here. To do so, each individual animal would have to be subjected to a thorough examination with a strong magnifying glass. The amount of work required for this is simply not affordable.
Since Badis assamensis is the largest of all Badis species known so far – it reaches a total length of 8-9 cm! – we therefore usually refer to the imports with jumbo fish as B. assamensis. Badis blosyrus remains much smaller, the largest specimen we measured has a total length (i.e. including caudal fin) of 6 cm.
Although we offer Badis assamensis and B. blosyrus on the stocklist, you always have to expect to get a mix of both species for the reasons mentioned above. Both species belong to the most beautiful Badis. If you intend to breed, you must acquire a larger number of animals, feed them vigorously until the females become recognizable by their outwardly curved ventral line (there are no other sex differences), and then put the breeding pairs together under close scrutiny with a magnifying glass. B. assamensis and B. blosyrus are typical cave breeders, with the male guarding the spawn until the young hatch.
For our customers: B. assamensis has code 368304 and B. blosyrus 368123 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The largest and most splendid of all snakeheads belong to the relationship of Channa marulius. This species occurs in India and attains a maximum length of about 120 cm. The largest specimen ever collected is said to have had a length of 183 cm and a weight of 30 kg. But most often the fish become „only“ 40-60 cm long. The counterpart of that species in Southeast Asia is Channa marulioides (in fact the specific name means „similar to marulius“). We were able to import that beautiful species now from Thailand. We are sure that is has the potential to grow as large as C. marulius, but the largest specimen recorded so far scientifically was only 65 cm long. Currently our fish are 12-15 cm long.
These snakeheads are piscivorous. Against other fish that are too large to be eaten C. marulioides are usually peaceful. The large snakeheads are highly appreciated as food fish in the countries where they occur, but they are also often kept in temple-ponds. Here the Channa become very tame, they are fed by the visitors of the temple and they can be even stroken. The elegant predators also become very tame in private aquaria. Due to the size one has to expect a very large tank should be at hand, but it is avisable to let the tank grow with the fish. A small fish is lost very fast in a too big tank…
For our customers: the fish have code 409134 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
For many Betta imbellis is the prettiest wild fighting fish at all. Of course, “the” Betta imbellis does not exist at all, because the widespread species looks somewhat different everywhere. It is the sister species to Betta splendens and in fact no human being is able to distinguish completely decolorized specimens of both species from each other. The only sure difference between Betta imbellis and B. splendens is the coloration of the gill covers of the males. These are blue in B. imbellis, while in B. splendens they have two red vertical stripes.
Often Betta imbellis is called the “peaceful” fighting fish, so to speak as a counterpart to the “warlike” B. splendens. But this is nonsense. It is possible to keep several males together in all wild forms of fighting fish – provided there is enough space and good structuring of the aquarium – also in the case of B. splendens. Conversely, territorial males of Betta imbellis can also attack male rivals quite violently. However, in such cases (as well as with wild forms of B. splendens) it usually remains with quickly healing fin damage.
We have just very nice offspring (xlg) of B. imbellis in the stock.
For our customers: the animals have code 382014 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Besides the orange colored breeding form of this gourami from Burma (see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/colisa-labiosa-orange-2/) there is also a very attractive, deep red colored breeding form. In order to keep these wonderful animals in their bright coloration permanently, it is necessary to provide certain types of food (e.g. Cyclops, Spirulina or also special flake food). Without the natural substance astaxathin contained in it, the colors will otherwise fade in the long term, just as in the case of flamingos, whose red coloration is based on the same substance. In addition to its positive effect on coloration, astaxanthin is also very healthy, as it is a natural antioxidant that reduces inflammatory processes. In human nutrition, astaxanthin is considered a dietary supplement.
But back to the Colisa! They are very beautiful and peaceful gourami, perfect for well-maintained community tanks with rich plant growth and also peaceful by-fish.
For our customers: the animals have code 411434 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
This snakehead, often traded under the name Channa cf. barca, originates from the northern Indian province of Assam. C. stewartii can reach a length of up to 30 cm (usually around 20 cm) and as a predatory fish should only be kept along with fish that are at least 2/3 of its body length. Besides living and dead fish they accept as food insects, worms, coarse frozen food and after habituation also food sticks.
Since their area of occurrence is not in the tropical area, they can be kept well in the unheated aquarium. They tolerate temperatures between 15 – 30°C, also to the water parameters only small requirements are made. Since they can breathe atmospheric air in addition to gill breathing, the oxygen content of the water is of secondary importance.
For the first time we can offer this magnificent breeding form of the black paradise fish. Our breeder writes about it:
How did I become aware of these fish:
In 2019, I saw a picture of blue paradise fish from Vietnam in a Facebook group for paradise fish lovers by chance. Being skeptical at first I did some further research on Facebook and found a few Vietnamese posting photos of such animals. These animals immediately fascinated me as a labyrinth fish lover and I started looking for a breeder in Vietnam who would sell them to me.
How did I get this paradise fish:
After some time, I had located a breeder in Vietnam on Facebook. At that time, the fish were quite new even in Vietnam and only known among hobbyists for a few years. He told me that the variety is called Royal Blue and it should be a breeding form from the Macropodus spechti. Due to the still high price in Asia, the small quantity I wanted to purchase as an individual, and the resulting single animal shipping, each fish would cost a fortune. I decided to import 3 pairs through a shipping agent at over 100 Euros each to still have replacement animals in case of any failures. Although this import meant a high risk for me, I decided to send money to the Vietnamese via Western Union and trust in the good in people.
Arrival and breeding:
Thank God, a few weeks later 6 young animals arrived at my place alive. They were as white as chalk and swam nervously up and down the glass of the quarantine aquarium. Also live food in the form of water fleas and cyclops, which I offered, had to be newly recognized until they ate it. As far as I have learned, paradise fish in Vietnam are mainly fed rice worms and Tubifex. Tubifex I have also tried, but made rather bad experience. Therefore, I suspect that there are either other types of Tubifex or fresher quality in Vietnam. Feeding high quality granules, live and frozen Artemia, Cyclops and water fleas seems to suit the paradise fish best with me.
After some time the paradise fish showed a nice, strong dark blue color and I could start the first pairs for breeding. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful at first, because the eggs were not fertilized and did not develop. That started well…
A few weeks later it worked and I had the first broods swimming, which I fed with infusoria and after about 1 week switched to freshly hatched Artemia. After a few weeks the fry started to develop color and I was curious if I had got purebred animals. To my great joy all fry became blue! These offspring now showed completely normal behavior and were accustomed by me to commercial food.
After a first post in the Facebook group of the IGL and the overwhelming response it was clear to me that this variety should be made available to a larger group of customers.
So much for our breeder. We have nothing to add to this, except to point out that the males of this form develop very lush finwork.
For our customers: the fish have code 425613 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Only from few breeding forms is so well known, when they originated, as with Colisa lalia “Flame Red”. At the same time the fish decorated the covers of all aquaristic journals worldwide in the early 1980s, so sensational were they found. The animals were bred in the Lim Choa Kang area of Singapore, a rural area at the time, where five farms were primarily involved in breeding dwarf gourami. According to a scientific study in 1985, 8,000 to 9,000 kg of dwarf gourami of the Red, Neon, Gold and Wild breeding forms were produced there annually, which at that time corresponded to a wholesale value of between US$800,000 and US$1,000,000. In comparison, the most expensive food fish that can be produced in such breeding ponds fetched just 1% of this amount at wholesale.
In 1985, the Red Dwarf Gourami was still the most expensive farmed species, costing 4-5 times as much as the “common” Colisa lalia. Nowadays this has all been put into perspective and all dwarf gourami cost similar. Every now and then we have XXL specimens of the “Flame Red” from Singapore in our stock. They are beautiful fish even after 40 years. By the way, in the breeding ponds in Singapore, these fish take just 5 months from egg to show size. Their overall natural life expectancy is 1-2 years. They are the orchids among the ornamental fishes, which will probably still find enthusiastic lovers in another 40 years.
For our customers: the animals have code 411705 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
The new Hellboys have a halfmoon tail fin, which means that when the tail fin is folded completely out, the edges are at a 90° angle to the longitudinal axis of the body. In a “normal” Pla Kat, this angle is smaller.
While the first Hellboys were predominantly red in color with a few speckles, they are now still red-grounded fish – hence the name, which refers to the comic and movie character Hellboy, an all-red, friendly but belligerent demon – but they have quite different cover colors, ranging from silvery-white pelts to koi patterns.
Thus, the new Hellboys are visually quite different from the first ones – as in the Hellboy movies, because in the third part the main character Ron Perlman is replaced by David Harbour, who also looks different…
For our customers: the animals have code 390082 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
There are many criteria, why to choose this or that fish for the aquarium. Those who like colorful fish should avoid Anabas. But who likes to observe biological peculiarities is well advised with the climbing perch. General information about Anabas can be found here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/fischarchiv/anabas_de/.
We have now once again imported climbing perch from Bengal. The animals are only 5-7 cm long and already sexually differentiated. Very nice animals – for Anabas standards anyway!
For our customers: the animals have code 364203 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
One of the most beautiful freshwater fishes of all is Channa micropeltes. This snakehead lives in groups and its favorite pastime is eating. It is therefore constantly on the lookout for food and swims lively in a shoal through the aquarium.
Although every word up to this point is true, it is still only half the truth. Because with over 130 cm maximum final size Channa micropeltes is also one of the largest snakeheads at all. And from about 15-20 cm length it loses the beautiful, bright juvenile coloration and changes from a schooling fish to an aggressive loner. Now it is black-brown marbled on the back. However, his favorite pastime remains eating and who makes the mistake to put Channa micropeltes because of his beautiful juvenile coloration in a community aquarium with small peaceful fish, soon has only one fish in the aquarium: a fat Channa micropeltes.
So if you are interested in these animals, you must have a really big aquarium. Then snakehead and human can enjoy each other for decades.
For our customers: the animals have code 409202 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
The first documented domesticated form of the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) was a Spadetail. That was in 1849. At that time certainly fighting fishes were bred for a long time, but they resembled more or less the wild fishes and were selected only for their fighting characteristics. The appearance of these animals was a minor matter. Only much later, when fighting fish were bred for export as ornamental fish to Europe and the USA, were veil-finned animals also bred. This was shortly after the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.
Nowadays the spadetail has largely disappeared. We have now received very interesting and rare spadetails with yellow ground color and bright yellow gill cover stripes (in the wild species these are red) from Thailand, the mother country of fighting fish breeding. Short-finned fighting fish are generally called pla kat.
During the photo session we had to look carefully the animals did not hurt each other. Because unlike most Betta splendens, the animals of the Pla kat Yellow cheek Spadetail bite very early, when other forms still display harmlessly for a long time. Our trick: there were 10 adult females in the tank. So the males always dsiplayed only briefly (a few seconds) and were immediately distracted from each other again by the ladies. We can therefore assure you, dear readers, that all fighting fish involved in the photo session were brought back into their single rooms completely unharmed,
For our customers: the animals have code 390071 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The chocolate gourami (Sphaerichthys osphromenoides) still belongs to the legendary ornamental fish species. Although the species is common in the wild and other fish of the same habitat (e.g. harlequin barbs) do not cause significant problems in the aquarium, it is a gamble whether chocolate gouramis will do well there. Possibly this is related to the fact that there are several, very similar species and that they have different sensitivities – at least this is what some observations and field collections indicate.
Additionally, all chocolate gouramis are extremely susceptible to infectious diseases of all kinds and tolerate medications poorly – an unfavorable combination!
We currently have chocolate gouramis in stock from Jambi Province on Sumatra. Many specimens from this population stand out with an attractively marked anal fin. Another peculiarity of these fish is that there are often specimens with Piebald markings. This refers to animals in which pigmentless (i.e. white), irregular spots appear. At first sight this seems frightening, because bacterial infections and also other diseases look quite similar. However, treatment is not necessary, and may even be harmful. We observe this phenomenon with the animals of Jambi from time to time, first we noticed it in 2007. We bred these fish once as a test, the photo of the breeding female is from this time.
For our customers: the fish have code 455803 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The charming licorice gouramis are ideal inhabitants of nano tanks. They can not compare with other fish and so they settle even in nature extreme habitats. The water there is very poor in nutrients, very soft and acidic. These dwarfs among the anabantoids become astoundingly old and can easily reach an age of 5 or more years. So they compensate the low number of eggs they produce per spawning – usually less than 20. These tiny fish should be kept in one-species tanks. They can be fed exclusively with live brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia).
Parosphromenus gunawani comes from the island of Sumatra from the province of Jambi. It is a Parosphromenus species of the bintan type and was scientifically described only in 2012; previously it was known to specialized labyrinthfish enthusiasts as Parosphromenus sp. Danau Rasau. The fish attain a length of about 3 cm. In all licorice gouramis the sexes can be distinguished even in fright coloration. Both males and females look like Betta-females in that mood, but the caudal fin of the females is completely hyaline whereas in the caudal fin of the males always a iridescent shine can be observed that reflects the courtship-coloration.
For our customers: the fish have code 441133 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Parosphromenus: means “stands beside Osphromenus”; Osphromenus is another genus of anabantid. bintan: after the island of Bintan, the type locality; gunawani: the species is named in honour of Gunawan ‘Thomas’ Kasim, who, together with Horst Linke and others, collected the type specimens of this taxon.
The identity of Colisa labiosa, a gourami from Burma, is unclear; there is some evidence that the species so named in the hobby is actually not identical with C. labiosa in the sense of the first describer (Day, 1877), but it is much more likely that it is a scientifically not yet named species. But be that as it is: the “Aquarium Labiosa” is the ideal gourami for every well-kept and densely planted community aquarium: it is extremely colorful, calm, peaceful and not very susceptible to diseases.
From the “Aquarium-labiosa”, there is a stripless bred sport, with altogether the blue color portions are missing and which comes along therefore in a splendid yellow-orange. The sometimes used variety name “peach” is well chosen, because as with this fruit, the coloration is not evenly distributed over the whole body, but as with the wild form, different parts of the body have different intensity.
The males can be recognized by the pointedly extended dorsal fin (rounded at the end in the female). With approximately 6 cm of maximum-size, the „Aquarium-labiosa” of both color-forms (therefore wild type and orange) are fully grown. They are typical bubble nest builders with father-family, like all other gouramis of the genus also. In respect of feeding the animals are not very demanding, but you should consider that Colisa have a narrow throat and therefore cannot take up very large food chunks. They prefer to slurp finely grated dry food from the water surface.
Sexually mature males of the “Aquarium labiosa” have, just like the “real” Colisa labiosa, thickened lips – the species name “labiosa” means “lipped” and alludes to this anatomical peculiarity.
For our customers: the fish have code 411443 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The pikeheads (Luciocephalus) are highly specialized labyrinth fish. They live as predators in blackwaters of Southeast Asia. Only two species are known, the “common” pikehead, which occurs on the Malay Peninsula and in Indonesia, and the Peppermint Pikehead, which is known so far only from the Province Jambi on Sumatra.
Currently we are able to offer the latter once more. The beautiful fish become about 10-12 cm long. Due to their feeding habits (they feed exclusively on live food, preferably shrimps, for feeder fish often transmit dangerous diseases) and the high demands regarding water qualtiy, pikeheads should be kept by experienced keepers only.
For our customers: the fish have code 424914 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The pearl gourami (Trichogaster leerii, Trichopodus leerii) is one of the most popular aquarium fishes at all. It is probably not exaggerated if one assumes millions of individuals in aquariums all over the world. All these fish are bred ones. It is only little known that the pearl gourami belongs to the endangered species as a black water inhabitant in the wild, because the habitat is dwindling more and more. We have already succeeded in importing animals from southern Thailand (https://www.aquariumglaser.de/fischarchiv/trichogaster-leerii-wild/) and from Sumatra (Jambi), now also from Borneo.
We very much hope that interested enthusiasts will succeed in building up strains of this wonderful animal of known origin by the occasional import (a threat to the free-living stocks by such removals is excluded from a scientific point of view). This would be an active contribution to the protection of species. Already frequently, species or populations of small fishes could be saved from extinction by such hobbyist—based breedings. However, a possible return to nature may only be attempted with animals whose original origin is known.
For our customers: the fish have code 469513 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
There are no blue paradise fish in nature, they are a cultivated form with a blue back (vs. red-brown in the wild form). When exactly and in whom the first blue paradise fish appeared is not documented. It must have been in the late 1940s or early 1950s, because from then on they were mentioned in the aquaristic literature.
We currently have very beautiful, fully grown specimens of the blue form in stock, some of which truly deserve the name “paradise fish”. Since paradise fish are rather quarrelsome, one rarely sees adult males that do not show any fin damage, because the large fins – especially the caudal fin – are the target in ranking fights. Missing pieces of fins grow back, but for a while many paradise fish males look a little plucked, which of course reduces their aesthetic value.
Our current blues are a laudable exception. Obviously the breeder has not only attached importance to good looks, but also to peaceful behaviour; because behaviour is inherited in fish similar to colouring and certain behaviours can be intensified or restricted by appropriate breeding choices.
For our customers: the animals have code 425804 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Right now we have especially large and beautiful Betta coccina from Indonesia in stock. As the pictures show, this time the males have particularly extensive blue patches on their flanks; the females of Betta coccina generally do not have blue flank scales.
Betta coccina can be kept well in groups, but even these comparatively peaceful fighting fish have fire and during the ranking fights there is slight damage to fins and scales, but these heal quickly.
From Indonesia we have received extraordinarily beautiful and especially large Sphaerichthys vaillanti. According to our supplier they come from the vicinity of the Danau Senatrum National Park in the part of Borneo belonging to Indonesia called Kalimantan.
For more information about this magnificent animal see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/sphaerichtys-vaillanti/
The history of becoming a domesticated animal is hardly researched for many species and is full of secrets, as it is with Betta splendens. There is some evidence that its true domestication only occurred after the collapse of the Khmer Empire in the 15th century. Before that, Betta splendens had been used for fish fights, but with specimens from the ditch next door. First secured evidence of a true breeding form (a short-finned fighter type with a lancet-shaped, pointed tail fin) only exists from the early 19th century. The Veiltails even originated in Thailand between the world wars, first imports into the USA and Germany took place in the 1920s.
In 1978 all types of fins (Crowntail, Double Tail, Half Moon, Veiltail, Pla Kat etc.), as they are admired and bred all over the world today, were known for a long time already, they were just called differently and in the trade they were not represented, only by a handful of specialists. In the trade one found only „Veiltails“ in their various colours. Only at the turn of the millennium this changed, a Betta-Hype developed and for the first Crowntails, which suddenly appeared in the general ornamental fish market, fantastic prices were achieved.
The Betta-Hype is still going on. Nice! But – and this is also nice – the well-known Veiltails did not fall into oblivion. If you take an unbiased look at the “completely normal” Veiltail shown here, it is easy to see why…
For our customers: Veiltail bettas in all colours have code 390003 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The Pygmy gourami, Trichopsis pumila, is one of the prettiest labyrinth fish. With a maximum length of 4 cm (usually it stays one centimeter smaller) it is a real dwarf fish. The species occurs in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Although the species is an obligatory air breather, so would drown if you block its way to the water surface (which of course nobody would do), the Pygmy gourami lives more bottom-oriented. Often you can see the animals searching the ground for potential food in a 45° angle with their head down.
Also the foam nest is usually not built at the water surface but near the ground. The male likes to erect the usually walnut-sized foam structure on the underside of an aquatic plant, e.g. a Cryptocoryne.
The colouring varies enormously from one individual to another. A horzitontal band is always present, it can appear more or less as a dark stripe or be formed by a row of dots. The dots in turn can be round or oval. Above these central band there is a second band, usually formed by dots. The dots are brown-red, the scales are shiny emerald-green depending on the angle of the incoming light.
Unfortunately the sexes are very difficult to distinguish. The best way to do this is with the “see-through method”. In the back light the visceral sac of the males appears rounded at the rear end, that of the females appears triangular because of the ovaries rising to the back. Males can also be eavesdropped, because in T. pumila only the males can growl. With the other Trichopsis species the females, however, give strong answers.
For our customers: the animals have code 470803 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Via Singapore we have once again received Nandus nebulosus in beautiful, fully grown specimens. The species can, like all other leaf fish, change its colouring very fast and drastically, furthermore each specimen has an individually different marble pattern. Some of our new arrivals have a head profile which is much more pointed than expected from N. nebulosus and therefore look like the species N. proxilus described from Borneo and have – like these – only 14 dorsal fin spines (15-16 in N. nebulosus). But there are also typical N. nebulosus in our import.
Betta apollon was scientifically in 2006 and comes from forest streams in the hilly country west of Narathiwat in Thailand. The mouthbrooding species belongs to the immediate relationship of Betta pugnax. The fish was named after the Greek god Apollon, who stands for beauty and elegance among other things – an aptly chosen name for the only 4-5 cm (standard length without tail fin) long, peaceful species, which we can now offer in fully grown specimens.
For our customers: the animals have code 376503 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
The Croaking Gourami (Trichopsis vittata) is perhaps the most common small fish in South East Asia. It grows to 4 – 6.5 cm long. It can be found almost everywhere, except in strongly flowing waters and in the mountains. Freshly caught, the Croaking Gourami is usually very attractively coloured and shimmers in different shades of blue-green, red and violet, but this quickly fades away in the aquarium. Most likely this is due to the fact that in nature the fish usually live in very turbid water where the underwater visibility is only a few centimetres. In this “dirty broth” (the cloudiness usually comes from clay and is hygienically harmless) the fish need strong colours to be able to communicate with conspecifics. In crystal-clear aquarium water, however, the fish feel naked and defenceless and therefore switch the colouring to camouflage mode. Only during reproduction do the magnificent colours reappear.
Croaking Gourami are called that because they can produce easily audible creaking sounds. These sounds are produced when the fish strokes a bone over tendons that run across the air-filled swim bladder. Croaking Gouramis play the guitar, so to speak. The croak itself is powerplaying. The fish croak and the one who croaks the loudest wins. When mating, the males also show by croaking that they are very strong and great. But also the females croak in this species and are very emancipated.
Everywhere the Croaking Gouramis look a bit different. Probably it’s not just one species, but a lot of species that just look very similar to each other. But because there are so many of them, no one has ever dared to split them.
Our Croaking Gouramis come from Thailand and there from the Ratchaburi area. You should not mate them with Croaking Gouramis from other collecting sites, but always breed them pure, otherwise there is the danger of unintentionally breeding bastards that lose their reproductive ability after a few generations.
For our customers: the animals have code 471003 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
We have very nice and stable wild catches of the Orange Bushfish from the Congo in our stock. The bubblenest-building species grows to about 6-8 cm, currently the animals are 3-4 cm long.
The Orange Bushfish is a very interesting species. It becomes already half grown and sexually mature. With increasing age the fish becomes more highbacked. Males and females are best distinguished by the shape of their ventral fins. The ventral fins of the females are considerably shorter. Other fin development is also lower in females, but males of lower social rank can reduce dorsal and anal fin development, which makes them look similar to females and reduce their exposure to attacks by dominant males. However, the ventral fins always betray them.
The colour change ability is phenomenal. Neutrally mooded animals are reddish-brown with a greenish shimmer, dark vertical bandages run over the body. Sometimes the fish show a light longitudinal band along the entire body. With increasing excitement, the basic body colouring becomes brighter and brighter, the vertical bands appear intensively. The light red in the vertical fins is not affected by this colour change and can be seen well in every mood.
The fish are cared for in tanks with a rich structure at temperatures between 20 and 24°C. Only for breeding the temperature should be increased by 2-3°C, then the water should be soft and slightly acidic. Microctenopoma ansorgii is a bubblenest builder, the reproduction is similar to that of paradise fish.
It is important to know that these fish have a high feed requirement. They are not particularly demanding, but frost and live food is preferred.
For our customers: the animals have code 115501 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Within the African labyrinth fishes, the so-called bushfishes, one can roughly differentiate between two groups: those that do not care for their brood and those in which the males build a foam or bubble nest, into which they are spawned and which is guarded by the male until the young fish are independent. The latter group was separated from the other bushfish (Ctenopoma) as a second genus Microctenopoma. At present 12 species are scientifically known, but only four of them are occasionally kept in the aquarium, including Microctenopoma fasciolatum, which is actually widely distributed in the Congo basin. We have now once again received very nice wild catches from the area around Lac Mai Ndombe in Central Congo.
This beautiful bushfish grows about 8 cm long. Males and females differ mainly in the colouring of the fins: Males have spots in the caudal, dorsal, and anal fin which are missing in the females. In behaviour M. fasciolatum can best be compared with paradise fish (Macropodus). Like these they like to be quite rough with each other, which usually shows in fin damage. Also our new imports all have slight fin defects, but these heal quickly and without complications.
You should offer bushfish well planted, richly structured aquariums. It is best to keep them in the company of medium sized barbs or congo tetras. In the single species tank they are often shy and you will not see them often. The water temperature for maintenance should be not too high, preferably between 22 and 26°C, for breeding the temperature should be increased by 2-3°C. All usual fish food is eaten, preferably frozen and live food. Plants are neglected by bushfish.
For our customers: the animals have code 117002 (4-6 cm) and 117003 (6-8 cm) on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
With 73 species generally regarded as valid, the genus Betta has become rather confusing and without knowledge of the origin, even specialists find it difficult to identify the species. We have just received very beautiful mouth-breeding Bettas from Sumatra, including Betta raja.
Betta raja belongs to the closer relatives of Betta pugnax. The most reliable identification feature are the extremely long ventral fins of the males, which almost reach the caudal fin when put on. The pelvic fins are also the best distinguishing feature of the sexes, because those of the females are usually much shorter than those of the males. Additionally the males have a blue-green face mask and a wonderfully long caudal fin.
So far Betta raja, which by the way was only scientifically described in 2005, has been confirmed on Sumatra by the following sites: Lowland swamp forests of the Batang Hari Basin in Jambi, the northern part of Sumatra Selatan, the Indragiri Basin in Riau and the eastern part of Sumatra Barat in Sijunjung. Before the scientific description of the species, it was often confused with the species Betta schalleri, which was already described in 1994. Betta schalleri looks extremely similar, but only occurs on the relatively small island of Bangka off the coast of Sumatra.
With a body length of 6-7 cm (without fins) Betta raja belongs to the medium sized Betta species. They are peaceful, somewhat shy animals that are best kept in company with conspecifics and other calm and peaceful fish. They go down in rough company. Betta raja are undemanding in terms of water values, except for breeding. Then you should offer soft and slightly acidic water to the mouth breeders in the male sex. The care temperature should be 24-26°C, for breeding 2-3°C warmer.
For our customers: the animals have code 387564 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Channa melanoptera from Indonesia belongs with a maximum length of 65 cm to the large Channa species from the species group around Channa marulius. Like all species of this group, C. melanoptera undergoes a drastic colour change from youth to adult. Right now we have lovely young animals of about 4-5 cm length in stock.
When buying them, you should consider the attainable final size. Even if in nature usually “only” 30-40 cm length is reached, the fish in the aquarium can grow up to record sizes because of the considerably longer life time in the aquarium, the better food supply and the good medical care. Juveniles in baby pattern are schooling fish, later they are solitary. However, Channa melanoptera, even as a semi-strong and sexually mature fish, is much less quarrelsome towards conspecifics than is known from many considerably smaller species.
For our customers: the animals have code 409141 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The magnificent licorice gouramis (Parosphromenus) are among the most threatened fish species on earth. This is due to the extensive destruction of the environment in their habitats. Most of the currently 20 scientifically described species have only been discovered in the last 40 years thanks to aquarium science, as the licorice gouramis differ mainly in colour. A determination of most species is hardly possible without the breeding colouration of the males.
An exception in this respect is the P. paludicola from the Malay peninsula, which was described as the second species of the genus in 1952. This species is anatomically and ecologically so clearly separated from other licorice gouramis that it could almost be placed in a subgenus of its own. In contrast to all other Parosphromenus species, which are adapted to extremely acid black water with pH values between 3.5 and 4.5, this species also occurs in almost neutral water. Due to its comparatively low requirements, the species P. paludicola is also recommended for beginners in Paro care and breeding.
At the moment we have very nice wild catches of this species from the surroundings of Narathiwat in Thailand in stock. The trade with wild catches of such species does not endanger the wild stocks, as scientific studies clearly show. If at all the trade has only a positive influence on the natural populations, because the endangered habitats of the animals are possibly protected, if a certain income of the local human population can be obtained from it; otherwise the swamps are drained and oil palm plantations are created, which leads to the complete extinction of the original fauna and flora there.
Wild catches also provide insights into the variance of such species, an important prerequisite for species conservation programmes. Among the animals we currently imported are a few with a spot on the flank, which is so far unknown to P. paludicola; we are documenting this phenomenon here for the first time.
For our customers: the animals have code 441139 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
For the first time we received this splendid snakehead in the year 2011. It obviously represents a species unknown to science so far. I reminds one strongly to the far spread and variety rich species C. gachua, but the “Fireback” is much bigger, reaching 15 -20 cm (some sources give even 25 cm), it lacks the stripes in the pectoral fins, which are so characteristical for gachua and of course the “Fireback” has the broad, bright orange seams in the dorsal and the caudal fin that are responsible for its popular name. The geographical part of the popular name is misleading, the species originates from northern Thailand.
This species is – like all members of the C. gachua relationship – a mouthbrooder with biparental broodcare. Males and females can be distinguished best by a look from above. The males have a much broader head than the females.
With the exception of the breeding season these snakeheads are strictly solitary fish and keeping them together with other fish – it does not matter whether these fish are conspecifics or belong to a completely different group of fish – is always a high risk. Channa sp. Laos Fireback are large, predatory fish that need substantial food, like feeder fish, earthworms, mealworms, crickets and so on.
For our customers: the fish have code 409394 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Channa: ancient Greek, means “snapper”, probably referring to the airbreathing. gachua: after a native name for the fish in Bengal.
The number of known mouthbrooding fighting fish has virtually exploded in the last 30 years. From around 10 species known in the early 1980s, the number has risen to well over 70. It is hardly possible to keep track of all of them, especially as many variants are already known in the hobby, but not scientifically determined.
Betta apollon was named in 2006 and comes from forest streams in the hilly country west of Narathiwat in Thailand. It belongs to the immediate relationship of Betta pugnax. The species was named after the Greek god Apollon, who stands for beauty and elegance among other things – an aptly chosen name for the only 4-5 cm (standard length without tail fin) long, peaceful species, which we can now offer as a wild catch.
For our customers: the animals have code 376503 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
We can just offer wonderful, full-grown German offspring of the largest bubblenest building fighting fish: Betta simorum. The animals reach a standard length (without caudal fin) of over 7 cm with a very slender body, i.e. almost 9 cm with caudal fin. Betta simorum occurs in the black water swamps of the province Jambi on Sumatra, in Riau province, and in West Kalimantan (Borneo) near Pontiak. The species is very closely related to Betta bellica, which also occurs on Sumatra (although in the Medan area), but whose main distribution area is in Malaysia. Both species can hardly be kept apart optically.
Betta simorum needs soft and acidic, ideally slightly brownish water and temperatures of 26-28°C in order to develop optimally and show beautiful colours. Among each other these fighting fish, like most wild forms, are relatively peaceful. In a well-structured aquarium with a lot of dead wood, dead leaves on the bottom and rich vegetation the fish are a show. The Rasbors living in such biotopes, like the harlequin barb (Trigonostigma heteromorpha), Rasbora kalochroma etc., are particularly suitable for community tanks with B. simorum. Pearl gourami (Trichogaster leerii) are also very suitable.
For our customers: the animals have code 387813 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
The coloration of the honey gurami, Colisa chuna, is unique among the freshwater fish of the world and also among the labyrinth fish, to which the honey gurami belongs. All other Colisa species have a pattern of vertical stripes, only the honey gurami has no such pattern. In neutral mood the animals are beige with a dark longitudinal band. Males in breeding mood, on the other hand, become bright orange on the body, the throat deep black and the dorsal fin lemon yellow. With regard to these striking colours, the honey gurami can certainly be counted among the most beautiful freshwater fish of all.
The honey gurami originates from India and Bangladesh. However, it is not as widespread there as the other members of the genus, which is probably the reason why the species was imported for aquaristics only in 1962.
For our customers: the animals have code 411104 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Sometimes you don’t know what to admire more: the breeding skills of Betta freaks or their creativity in inventing new names. However, these candies are real beauties; each animal is individually patterned and spotted, so they are unique! Our dear friend Kamphol has sent us an exclusive collection of these beauties from Thailand.
For our customers: the animals have code 390070 on our stick list. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Currently we can offer beautiful offspring of one of the most beautiful Channa species: Channa aurantimaculata. The species originates from the north of India, where it can sometimes get quite cool. Therefore the summerly care of the up to 50 cm long animals (normally they become in the nature, however, only 20-25 cm long) in the garden pond especially prepared for it, above all escape-safe, is recommended. Please keep in mind that these animals in nature also migrate over land when it rains. They do the same here, if they are allowed to, so watch out!
The young animals are currently 5-7 cm long and not yet quite as spectacularly coloured as the adults, but also very, very pretty.
For our customers: the animals have code 409018 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Once again we managed to import a Macropodus form from Vietnam which cannot be clearly assigned. Unfortunately nothing can be found out about the original location. Some years ago we had been able to import similar animals, also from Vietnam, but they had a strong bronze shine on their body, which is missing in the current imports. The animals imported in 2015 can be seen here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/macropodus_spechti_en/
In contrast to “normal” Macropodus spechti, the current import animals are lighter in colour, have longer ventral fins and a rather yellow (instead of red) iris. Since the black paradise fish prefer running water, it could be a specially adapted form living in brooks. We are very curious to see what the offspring of these unusual black paradise fish will look like. They should definitely be kept, cared for and bred separate from other populations of Macropodus spechti, because it is by no means out of the question that they represent another species.
For our customers: the animals have code 425604 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
About 80 years ago, a German breeder found by chance an albinotic paradise fish among a brood of normal siblings. The breeder was successful in rearing the fish and this animal became the ancestor of all albinotic paradise fish known today. However, breeding albinotic paradise fish is not that easy and so they always were rare in the trade. Nevertheless obviously there were enough people who found them worth keeping and breeding, for otherwise the sport would not have survived such a long time.
Currently we have breeders who are able to supply us continously with high quality albinotic paradise fish, so we can offer the beautiful fish on a regular basis.
For our customers: the fish have code 426002 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leerii) is an absolute classic among the ornamental fish. The species is always available in the petshops all over the world and they are usually quite cheap. These traded fish are bred ones. Wild collected ones are hardly ever offered; the species is endangered in the wild, because the habitats become destroyed in a very great amount. Sadly the quality of the bred fish sometimes is not as good as it should be. This is due to the low price the breeders get for the animals. But currently we have obtained wonderful, fully coloured specimens from a local breeder.
For our customers: the fish have code 469504 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Actually, nobody knows exactly what Colisa fasciata is; because the specimen on which the first description is based was lost in the turmoil of the French Revolution and where it is supposed to come from (Tranquebar in the south of India) there are no gourami at all. That’s why everything that isn’t Colisa lalia, C. chuna or C. labiosa is currently called simply C. fasciata.
The beautiful wild catches, which we have just received from Bengal again, are characterized by their particularly narrow stripes. This special form normally grows to about 4-5 cm, very rarely to 6-7 cm, so its size is comparable to the breeding forms of the dwarf gourami (C. lalia).
The peaceful, sometimes somewhat shy animals should be cared for in well planted aquariums with other peaceful fish. They are most beautiful at 26-32°C, but one should consider that the water temperature in the natural habitats can drop to 16°C depending on the season. While these animals barely live one year in nature, they often reach 4-5 times of that lifespan in an aquarium.
For our customers: the animals have code 411203 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Once again Kamphol has provided us with very special breeding fighting fish, which currently enjoy particular popularity among the breeders of these fish jewels in Thailand. The “Spade Tail” is one of them.
Basically there are different possibilities in animal breeding to get to new forms. One way is to inbreed as closely as possible, whereby hidden (“recessive”) genetic traits come to bear and become visible. The second way leads via crossing with closely related species. The latter way is very common with swordtails and guppies, but also works with Bettas. Local wild bettas (B. imbellis, B. smaragdina and others) have probably always been crossed with the domestic animal forms of Betta splendens. The Spade Tail cannot deny Betta smaragdina in its pedigree…
For our customers: the animals have code 391016 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
These new Betta types were certainly also bred by crossing in wild species, in this case Betta stiktos seems to have been involved; “Alien Green” looks de facto like a B. stiktos. They are all very slender Bettas, they have much more of the heritage of the Betta smaragdina alike forms to which B. stiktos belongs than of Betta splendens. The behaviour is also more similar to that of wild bettas from the B. smaragdina group than that of the immediate B. splendens group. They are – at least from the photographer’s point of view – almost too peaceful, the fights short and little ritualized. However, we advise against keeping several males together, as this could end badly in the long run; after all, one wants to enjoy the sight of these beautiful animals from specimens with undamaged fins.
For our customers: “Alien Blue” has code 391020, “Alien Steel Blue” code 391022 and “Alien Green” code 391021 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
From the mountainous part in the north of Thailand, the legendary Golden Triangle between Thailand, Burma and Laos, we received two pairs of Channa melasoma. Originally this species, which inhabits clear forest streams, was described from Borneo. With approx. 30-40 cm of final-length (our animals are, including tail fin, approximately 20-25 cm long), C. melasoma belongs to the medium-size species of snakehead.
Although our four specimens proved to be quite peaceful and quiet contemporaries, one must never forget that snakeheads are generally individualists and one must always expect to come across an aggressive and unpredictable specimen.
In the couple photographed, for example, the female is completely relaxed and shows this by his bright color dress, while the male is constantly slightly annoyed and his dark excitation color hardly ever reduces. However, there are no colour differences between the sexes, both animals look completely the same in the corresponding mood. The male has slightly more developed fins and a broader head.
Channa melasoma belongs to the group of snakeheads that do not perform mouthbrooding. Both parents guard the spawn and the yellow, with two black longitudinal stripes drawn young fish.
For our customers: the animals have code 409199 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers. Only four animals available!
Once again we have received a beautiful fighting fish breeding form, this time even in pairs: the animals are called “Black Samurai” in a melodious way. They are very lively fish, true temperament bolts, which actually deserve the name “fighting fish”. Excited males make little difference between males and females, both are heavily turned on. For breeding attempts it is absolutely recommended to only use absolutely ripe females, otherwise there could be bloody honeymoons…
For our customers: the animals have code 390083 on our stocklist. Please note that we only deliver to wholesalers. Only available in small quantities!
The Spotted Gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus, is one of most widespread species of fish in Southeast Asia. Its range starts in the west at the burmese/thai border, it contents the Sunda islands and reaches in the East to China. Additionally the species has been introduced almost worldwide as a food fish in tropical climates.
Crossing of different natural populations leads very fast to cultivated forms. This effect is well known from other ornamental fish also, like Guppy or Angelfish. In these species the initially plan free crossing of specimens led to many cultivated forms, too.
The golden cultivated form of the Spotted Gourami is known for a long time already. It is part of the daily stock in any pet shop worldwide. But currently the breeders have tried to produce a better quality in this fish and this resulted in what we call „Golden Red Eye“, a sport that has brillant colours and a ruby-red eye.
For our customers: the animals have code 470022 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Why is an endangered, mouth-breeding fighting fish called like the mathematical circle number? Not so long ago, in 1986, the first of the these big fighting fishes was discovered in Malaysia by travelling labyrinth fish enthusiasts and described as Betta waseri in honour of Alfred Waser, a primordial rock of the labyrinth fish scene. These thoroughly peaceful fighting fish are strictly bound to peaty waters and with the draining of the peat swamps and the creation of endless oil palm monocultures, they, along with all other animal and plant species adapted and bound to this biotope, have come under severe distress.
Later, similar large fighting fish were also found in other places where these biotope conditions existed, and it was found that lip and chin drawing was the best way to distinguish between the species. They are very similar in all other respects. And so Betta pi from the south of Thailand came to its name, because the lip and chin drawing, which is to be seen in some (unfortunately not all) mood colorings, looks like the circle number and/or the ancient Greek letter, which is used as a sign for the circle number, the Pi (π).
Unfortunately, Betta pi is not very beautifully coloured. Why does a pacifist need war paint? But it would be nice if a few more aquarists would take care of the peaceful cigars, whose males with caudal fins can grow about 10 cm long (females stay a bit smaller), so that they don’t fall into oblivion. Therefore, the occasional import is very desirable. The natural stocks are not damaged thereby of course.
Betta pi is very suitable for quiet community tanks with black water fish of the same region, e.g. pearl gourami (Trichgaster leerii), harlequin barbs (Trigonostigma heteromorpha), etc.
For our customers: the animals have code 386904 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
The dwarf gourami is the perfect ornamental fish. It unites magnificent coloration, a peaceful mind and an interesting behaviour. It becomes only 3 cm (wild caughts) or 6 cm (artifical bred sports) long and due to its calm habit it can be kept even in smaller tanks. And if it comes to feeding: the dwarf gourami happily accepts any type of fish food, may it be dried, frozen or alive. The only condition: food particles must not be too big, because the dwarf gourami has a tight throad. Sometimes the dwarf gourami is named Trichogaster lalius, but this is an opinion we do not follow.
For our customers: the xxl show animals (bred ones) have code 411505, the wild collected ones 411523 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Again our proven supplier from Thailand sent us some special Betta delicatessen. The Pla Kat Hellboy is a velvet red, short-finned fighting fish, very often with blue scales (there are also plain red ones). The very special thing about it: the also deep red colored pectoral fins.
The Giant Halfmoon are real giants and have only been selected for this characteristic. The colouring of each individual animal is different. Their total length is 7-8 cm, with normal Bettas 4-5 cm. On some pictures you can see an adult Hellboy together with one of the Giants. You can also see that the body mass of the Giants is considerably larger than that of the Hellboy, which is only about 2 cm smaller. One can compare the Giants with cold-blooded horses: rather friendly giants. It takes quite a while until they begin to impress each other in the photo tank. Nevertheless, it is also true for the Giants that only one male may be cared for per aquarium, otherwise you risk at least damaged fins.
For our customers: the Pla Kat Hellboys have code 390082, the Giant Halfmoon 390556 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The fighting fish of the Betta foerschi relationship – there are several very similar species, which are considered by some specialists to be only local varieties of the same species, namely Betta foerschi – are not only particularly beautiful, but also particularly interesting. They are mouth breeders, but they are, so to speak, at an intermediate stage of development between bubble nest building Betta species and specialized mouth breeders. The spawning process is similar to that of the bubblenest builders, the mouth-brood-time is considerably shorter with 7-8 days than that of the specialized mouth-breeders, who brood about 10 days.
Betta foerschi is a typical black water fish, which needs very soft and sour water for breeding, bred ones therefore are only rarely found in the trade. We just have a few XXXL pairs with a total length of 7 cm on offer.
For our customers: the animals have code 381423 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
The first reports of a new dwarf badis appeared in June 2004. Nonn Panitvong, an enthusiastic Thai aquarist, had found the animals in Bangladesh. Panitvong did not announce a more precise location, but said he caught the animals in a pond near a rice field, together with Danio rerio, Oryzias sp., Channa sp., Colisa chuna and others.
In the German literature the new Dario was first introduced by Alexander Dorn, who was able to import and reproduce it from Thailand on private initiative (Dorn, 2006). In Thailand, the fish, which only reach a total length of about two centimetres, were offered in a pet shop as Dario sp. “Bangladesh”; this makes it quite likely that it was the strain originally collected by Sanitvong. Dorn, who also documented the fish in beautiful pictures, suggested the German common name “Kirschfleck-Dario” (= „Cherryspot-Dario“).
Afterwards it became quiet around the cute little fish for quite a while. Only in 2009 Indian exporters started to offer the species regularly under the name Dario sp. “Jaintia Hills” (Werth, 2009). Further, but hardly common trade names are Dario “Kishore Ganj” and Dario “Black Fin”. Although there were no large quantities, from then on a few hundred specimens per year were available for interested aquarists in Europe. As additional information one learned now that these animals are found in the Indian federal state Meghalaya, in quite large height. A large part of Meghalaya is formed by two mountain ranges, the Khasi- and the Jaintia Mountains; the mountain tribes living there already enjoyed autonomy status during British colonial times. Meghalaya borders Bangladesh to the north. Meghalaya fish have a special feature: they need to be kept a little cooler from time to time during the year. Some imports made real problems until we learned from the exporters that they were collected at only 14°C. Then some things became clear…
About 10 years after its discovery, the new Dario species was scientifically described by Ralf Britz and Sven O. Kullander. They have chosen the name Dario kajal for the little animals, because a really good recognition feature of the species are the black eye stripes.
The description was based on animals which had all been collected in the small river Seinphoh near Umolong (Meghalaya, Jaintia Hills). For us aquarists, the eye stripe, which does not appear in this form in any of the other Dario species described, can be sufficient as a distinguishing feature.
In the aquarium all Dario have to be treated in approximately the same way. The best way to take care of the weakly competitive fish is in species aquariums, which can be small, because the males hardly defend a territory. Usually Dario are seasonal permanent spawners, i.e. they spawn almost daily when water temperature and food supply match. Only in winter – all species except D. urops come from subtropical climates, where it can get very cold – reproductive behaviour is stopped. Certainly Dario also eat an egg or young fish sometimes, however, they don’t pursue them purposefully. So, accordingly fine feed presupposed, a few young always come up also in the regular tank. Unfortunately, one cannot nourish Dario apparently with Artemia nauplia as alone or main-food in the duration, as it is possible with the licorice gouramis (Parosphromenus). Thus, one needs a live food source. Dario do indeed eat frozen food, but in small species aquariums it is hardly possible to dose it correctly and it is very polluting for the water. Concerning the water values, Dario are undemanding. All water that is suitable as drinking water is also suitable for the care of the dwarf badis.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
Literature:
Britz, R. & S. O. Kullander (2013): Dario kajal, a new species of badid fish from Meghalaya, India (Teleostei: Badidae). Zootaxa 3731 (3): 331-337
Dorn, A. ( 2006): Eine vierte Dario-Art. Datz 59 (9): 21
Why should one keep grey fish? Some may ask themselves this question when looking at the pictures of this bushfish from the Congo. The answer is: the urge to explore! Unfortunately, many animal and plant species die out every day. Also many freshwater fish are strongly threatened by environmental changes – other factors such as catch or diseases play according to all available research results no appreciable role in this drama. The recording of species diversity, biodiversity, is the first and most important step in stopping the extinction of species, because you can only protect what you know.
The “Grey Ocellatum”, as the Labyrinth fish lovers call this species, is a good example of knowledge gained through aquaristics. This species was described in 1938 using a single specimen from the Congo under the name Anabas breviventralis. With regard to body proportions, fin ray numbers, scale formula, etc., many bushfish species cannot be reliably distinguished from each other. Therefore, one can do little with in alcohol preserved, old and discolored specimens in this regard. And so Ctenopoma breviventrale (the species name, breviventralis, is an adjective and must be adapted in sex to the genus name if the species is grouped into a new genus; Anabas is masculine, therefore breviventralis, Ctenopoma neutrum, therefore breviventrale) is today synonymous with C. kingsleyae, the Tailspot bushfish, to many scientists who have never seen the living animals. However, C. kingsleyae has never been imported alive from the Congo, and all animals sent from there as C. kingsleyae have always been “Grey Ocellatum”. The “Grey Ocellatum” differs from C. kingsleyae certainly and simply in that only C. kingsleyae has a conspicuously enlarged silver scales below the eye.
The “Grey Ocellatum” undoubtedly differs from the “real” Ctenopoma ocellatum which occurs together with it by the complete absence of vertical bands. Due to the follow-up study of the type specimen of Anabas breviventralis carried out by the author of these lines himself in the Natural History Museum of Paris, there are currently no serious doubts that the “Grey Ocellatum” from the Congo is actually the species Ctenopoma breviventrale.
The Grey Ocellatum belongs to the smaller bushfish species that do not care for their spawn. The largest specimen we have seen so far was less than 10 cm long. However, the fish matures earlier, with a length of about 5-6 cm, as you can easily see from the spiny field behind the eye, which the males develop when they reach sexual maturity. C. breviventrale is peaceful opposite conspecifics and fish, that do not serve as feed, plants are not bothered and the chemical water-composition is irrelevant for the care. The water temperature should be 24-28°C.
For our customers: the animals have code 115553 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers. Only a few specimens available!
Three-coloured fighting fish have been around for many decades, they are usually called “Butterfly Bettas”. At the moment we have some specimens of a not only beautiful, but also symbolic Betta breed in stock, which are dyed in the national colours of Thailand!
According to Wikipedia, the current flag of Thailand, a tricolour with five stripes, was introduced in 1917 by King Rama VI. The middle stripe is twice as wide as the outer stripes. Red stands for the nation, white for the religion and blue for the monarchy.
Thailand is the original home of the Betta breed. So it is only right that the first “National Betta” shows the Thai colours, don’t you think?
For our customers: the animals have code 390613 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
For sure Betta macrostoma is one of the most beautiful species of fighting fish – and the most sensitive! There is hardly another known species of fish that becomes that easily infested by bacteria of any kind. Many breeders of Betta macrostoma use UV filters the whole year through to avoid bacterial development in the water column. A tipp by the way: clay suspended in the tankwater also „catches“ most bacteria from the water coulmn.
We have these sensitve gems not always in stock. Only every now and then we order some from a breeder. Currently such a chance appears and some people can fulfil their christmas wish right now…
For our customers: the fish have code 384004 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Only few pairs availble!
The red spike-tail is a classic among the aquarium fish and is and is not missing in any manual of ornamental fish science before the Second World War. But its origin was always mysterious, the original description from the year 1909 was based on aquarium imports. Today it has become quiet around him and his close relatives from Sri Lanka, Malpulutta kretseri, since the initially often shy animals in the pet shop are obviously difficult to present attractively. That’s why red spike-tails are currently almost completely extinct in the hobby.
We are therefore very pleased to be able to offer this pretty, small (4-5 cm) and absolutely peaceful labyrinth fish, which likes to build its foam nest in caves or under plant leaves, from Kerala in South India as a wild catch.
For our customers: the animals have code 446602 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
This is the latest Betta creation from Southeast Asian breeders. A multicoloured short fin, where matte scales and emerald green shining body and fin parts contrast wonderfully with each other.
For the first time we have received a hand-picked selection of this new breed from Betta splendens „Emerald Candy“.
For our customers: the fish have code 390077 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The blue perch is a classic among aquarium fish and has been in the hobby for over 100 years. The maximum length of the peaceful animal is 5 cm. Males in courtship display are almost black with sometimes blue shimmering fins, in neutral colouring the animals are reddish brown with vertical black bandages (which can also vanish completely); any colouring between these two extremes is possible depending on the mood, which is why this species is also called chameleon fish.
Badis badis are undemanding as far as water values are concerned. They can be maintained well at room temperature, i.e. without additional heating. The temperature may lie in the range between 18 and 30°C, the fish are very adaptable in this respect. However, they live much longer at lower and fluctuating temperatures.
Plants are not damaged by blue perch and other fish are usually ignored. Only very small ons could be considered as food.
All species of Badis avoid dry food, but are easy to feed with frozen or live food.
For our customers: the animals have code 368003 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The magnificent licorice guramis (Parosphromenus) have experienced a species explosion in recent years. Until 1979 only three species were known, today there are 20 scientifically described species and some more undescribed ones are already known in the hobby. Unfortunately, many are threatened with extinction because they live in peat swamps and these habitats are drained extensively in order to cultivate oil palms there. So there is a great risk that the recently discovered biodiversity will disappear again. The collecting for aquarium keeping has no influence whatsoever on the wild stocks.
Parosphromenus linkei comes from the Indonesian part of Borneo, from the province of Kalimantan Tengah. It belongs to the quite well recognizable species. Many specimens have one or more shiny green spots on their flanks, but there are also animals that lack this characteristic. The species becomes approximately 2-3 cm long. In the aquarium, fine live-food in form of Artemia-Nauplii, soft and acidic water, dim light and dead laves are the prerequisite for a successful care and breeding. There are, like all licorice guramis, cave-breeders, who can reach an astonishingly high age in the aquarium for so small fish. Already over 10 years old specimens became known, that still reproduced. In the nature, however, they usually only become one year old and do not experience a second brood-period.
For our customers: the animals have code 441077 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
From Indonesia we received beautiful, very large and strong chocolate Guramis (Sphaerichthys osphromenoides). Unfortunately the exact place of origin is not known, but we suspect that they come from the Indonesian part of Central Borneo, Kalimantan. Particularly noticeable in the animals is their high red portion in the coloration, which is however somewhat different with each specimen.
For our customers: the animals have code 455804 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Black knights – that’s what Thai breeders call this beautiful, short-finned fighting fish, which we can offer at the moment. The animals are colored so intensively black that you can’t see any detail on normal exposed photos, they just look like a black surface. But if you overexpose strongly, you can see that the black color is actually a deep, dark brown that swallows practically all light.
For our customers: the fish have code 390081 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Along with the yellow-lipped variety of Channa ornatipinnis this undescribed dwarf snakehead was collected. Currently the fish are about 12-15 cm long and seem to be fully grown; however, this cannot be said without some questionmarks. The whole habit and the coloration of the fish reminds one strongly in Channa andrao from North Bengal, but C. andrao has no ventral fins, which are present in the new species.
For our customers: the animals have code 409293 on our stocklist. Please note thta we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
When in 2007 the comparatibly small (about 20-25 cm) and very colourful species Channa ornatipinnis was described from the Rakhine State in Burma the fans of snakeheads were really enthusiastic. Soon after the first specimens appeared in the ornamental fish market. Since then the fish were offered regulary, but only from time to time.
But: the imported specimens differed in a detail from the fish from the original description: the color of the lips! These are blue in the imported specimens, but yellow in specimens from commercial imports.
Now we obtained, more than 10 yers after, the „original yellow lips“ from a new source. Sadly the collectors do not want to tell us were the fish exactly come from. They are real beauties!
For our customers: the animals have code 409194 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Among the most beautiful anabantoids or labyrinth fish from Africa is Ctenopoma acutirostre, the Leopard bushfish. It can become 15-20 cm long. Its natural habitat is the Congo. It is collected there for the ornamental fish trade in the Stanley Pool region. Here the fish live under the swimming meadows of the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). At dawn they start hunting. Like a dead fish they slowly thrive through the water column. The special leopard pattern suggests a rotting carrion. Small fish are attracted by the obvious easy food and find themselves eaten as soon as they try to taste it.
Luckily enough it is not necessary to feed live fish. C. acutirostre can easily be adopted to frozen food (bloodworm etc.). They also can be kept in community tanks given the fact that possible tankmates are at least as half as long the Leopard bushfish. So they cannot be swallowed anymore and become not attacked. Leopard bushfish are totally peaceful as well against conspecifics as against other fish. But one has to choose calm species as tankmates, for the Leopard bushfish does not like hectic atmosphere at all!
For our customers: the depicted wild collected fish have code 115003 opn our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Sphaerichthys osphromenoides is the most famous representative of the in southeast Asia indigenous chocolate gouramis. Like other chocolate gouramis Sphaerichthys osphromenoides is a delicate and at least while settling down a sensitive fish.
It’s natural biotope are shore areas of small, still and slow-moving black water on the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra. As a typical black water fish it needs a acidic, soft water. Because the natural habitat of extreme black water fish is very pour of bacteria the adaptability to the high bacteria density in the aquarium is very low.
Flakes are mostly not accepted and a feeding with live or frosted brine shrimp, mosquito larvae or fruit flies is indispensable. For the breeding the water-quality again needs to be inceased , but should succeed with a little luck. Interesting is the several weeks lasting mouth-broodcare. The chocolate gourami is no fish for beginners and it should only be fall into the hands of experienced hobbyist.
For our customers: the fish have code 455803 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
This comparatively small species of snakehead originates from the north of India (Assam, North-Bengal). The species is not described scientifically yet. Initially it was erranously reported to originate from Kerala (which is in the south of India). The species is a mouthbrooder and attains a maximum size of 15-20 cm. Due to the origin in subtropical regions the species should be kept at times in cool water. In the wild, the water temperature differs (depending on the season) between about 12°C and 30°C.
For our customers: the fish habve code 409374 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Finally we can offer again the most beautiful species of Chocolate Gourami: Sphaerichtys vaillanti. The species originates from the Kapuas basin in the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. S. vaillanti is not only the most beautiful, but also the hardiest species of all Chocolate Gouramis. However, it is nevertheless by no means an easy to keep fish. One will have only success with this fish when the natural habitat – very soft, acidic blackwater and lots of dead leafes on the bottom – is imitated and preferably life food is given. Most hobbyists underestimate the intraspecific aggession shown in all species of Chocolate Gouramis. Most problems with diseases in Sphaerichthys result from distress based on mobbing.
The males in Sphaerichthys vaillanti are much duller in respect of coloration than the tigered females. The males have also the job to care for the spawn – they are mouthbrooders. In neutral mood the males look much alike the Crossband Chocolate Gourami (Sphaerichtys selatanensis), but S. vaillanti can always be recognized by the sharp head.
For our customers: the fish have code 455843 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
According to our very well informed sources the application to ban the trade and keeping of all species of snakehead (Channa) in the EU has been refused. Obviously just in time the contradiction could be submitted that the ban of a complete genus is not according to the law, but that in any case for every species within a genus a separate risk assessment is necessary.
We are very glad that in this case obviously the judges listened to reason. In times one has to face a increasing populism and blind actionism worldwide this is a sign of hope. Maybe our engagement to hinder the ban of snakeheads has also helped to bring the case to such a positive end. Anyway: hobbyists in the EU now can still enjoy keeping and breeding these fascinating creatures!
The wild forms of the Betta splendens-group are very difficult to determinate, even for specialists and in some cases a safe determination will fail at all. Currently these species are placed in the group: Betta imbellis, B. mahachaiensis, B. siamorientalis, B. smaragdina, B. splendens, and B. stiktos. Inside this group one can differentiate two subgroups, namely the Betta smaragdina-subgroup, containing B. mahachaiensis, B. smaragdina, and B. stiktos, and the Betta splendens-subgroup that contains the remaining species.
The only way to distinguish the species of the Betta splendens-subgroup is via the coloration of the head of males in aggressive mood. In Betta imbellis a blue stripe appears at the edge of the operculum, another blue stripe appears in front of it behind the eye. In Betta splendens and B. siamorientalis the whole head becomes dark or black and at the egde of the operceulum a red or yellowish stripe appears. All other details in coloration and morphometrics overlap broadly in the three species and are hardly useful for determination purposes. However, DNA analyses support strongly the existence of the three species.
We recently obtained wild specimens of Betta splendens from Thailand. The animals were collected near Kanchanaburi. They are beautiful fish with lot of temper and a lot of red coloration. Please don´t be fooled by the lancet shape of the photographed male. This is an individual thing and may appear in old males of all species. All other males in our shipment have „normal“, round caudal fins.
For our customers: the fish have code 390013 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
We received from Thailand the only rarely offered Nandus nebulosus. There are two, pretty similar species of Nandus occuring in Thailand: thre deep-bodied N. oxyrhynchus from the basins of the large rivers Mekong and Mae Klong and the somewhat more slender, short nosed species N. nebulosus from the south of the country. However, regions are known where both species occur sympatrically. The greatest part of the natural range of N. nebulosus is the Malaian Peninsula and Indonesia.
In the wild, N. nebulosus is very often found in blackwater habitats. This type of water is very poor in respect of food and so the tiny size of N. nebulosus is a benefit. Uusally the species becomes 4-6 cm long, the largest specimen collected so far was 8 cm long.
Nandus nebulosus looks like an innocent child due to the short snout and the large eyes; the congeneric species look much more „predatory“. But one should not make the mistake to get N. nebulosus wrong: this fish easily swallows fish of half of its own body size. Besides this all Nandus species are very peaceful fish.
Nandids belonging to the genus Nandus do not take care for the brood, while most other members of the family do.
For our customers: the fish have code 438112 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Until the end of the 20th century it was believed that the giant gouramies would be represented only by one single species. But then a number of additional species was recognized, among them Osphronemus exodon from the Mekong river. Juveniles look very much alike common giant gouramies (O. goramy), only educated people note the higher number of stripes on the flanks and the somewhat different shaped caudal spot. But adult animals cannot be taken for mistake: they have teeth on their lips! It is unknown what these teeth are good for.
Juvenile giant gouramis of all species are pretty aggressive against each other. Only after the puberty – at a size of 15-20 cm – this aggressiveness becomes less. In very large tanks one can try nevertheless to keep a number of juveniles together, but even under these conditions some fin damage will be rather normal. Who does not like this is recommended to keep juveniles singulary until they have a size of about 20 cm and then accompany them with conspecifics in a very large tank. Adult giant goramies are quite peaceful against their own kind. Other fish, by the way, are usually ignored by giant gouramies in all live stages. O. exodon becomes about 60 cm long.
Osphronemus exodon is a real rarity; after quite a lomg time we were able now to import again some juvenile, 5-6 cm long specimens.
For our customers: the animals have code 440793 on our stocklist. Please note the we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The pikehead, Luciocephalus pulcher, is a highly specialized anabantoid, a relative of the chocolate gouramies. Like the latter the pikehead is a mouthbrooder. Luciocephalus is the only true predator among the various anabantoids; in its natural habitat it feeds preferably on shrimps. The calm, beautiful animal (Latin pulcher = beautiful) would for sure be a favorite aquarium fish despite it is always hungry, but there is a big problem: Luciocephalus is among the most sensitive fish at all. This is why we are very glad that our most current importation of the fish is absolutely problem-free. We obtained the adult, about 11-13 cm long pikeheads via Singapore. Sadly we don´t know the collecting site, for our pikeheads are not only extraordinary healthy but also extraordinary coloured.
Usually the pikehead has a broad, horizantal brown band along the flanks. Only when the fish are under distress or during mating this band vanishes and irregular spots are visible. Our new importations shows this spotted pattern now since they arrived 10 days ago. We have no satisfying explanation for the phenomenon, maybe currently is the breeding season for pikeheads?
For our customers: the fish have code 424904 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Finally we were able to import a number of specimens of this exttemely beautiful, small species of snakehead from Burma. The fish attain a maximum length of about 12-15 cm and are a close relative of Channa gachua. However, the body of „Red Rim“ is much more depressed. In respect of coloration one feature makes „Red Rim“ unique: a great number of small black dots, which are lacking in almost all other members of the Channa-gachua-complex.
One year ago we obtained the first specimen of this new species. That animal had no red rim along the caudal fin, but our current imports have. This obviously is rather an individual character, a phenomenon known in other species of the Channa-gachua-complex, too. Hobbyists specialized in snakeheads know that dwarf also under the name of Channa sp. „Red Fin“.
This is a subtropical species and should not be kept the whole year through at high water temperatures. It s also very likely that „Red Rim“ usually lives in flowing water. When the fish are kept indoors they do not need an additional heater. During the warm season they can be kept even in outdoor tanks, but one has to make sure that the snakeheads by no means can get out of the tank. „Red Rim“ prefers to feed on insects (crickets etc.), but they also feed readily all usual types of frozen or live fishfood as long as it is not too tiny. Most probably „Red Rim“ is a mouthbrooder like Channa gachua.
Currently is the import season for one of the most beautiful species of snakehead, the rainbow snakehead (Channa bleheri) from the state of Assam in India. The species is not only very colorful, but also stay comparatively small (at least in comaprison with some other snakeheads), namely 15-20 cm. Moreover this species is – again in comparison with other snakeheads – rather peaceful.
Neverheless this species is recommended only for experienced hobbyists, for C. bleheri is a subtropical species and lives in higher altitudes. Here it can become pretty cool at times. Experience has shown that the fish need cool periods from time to time to stay healthy over years and for breeding.
In respect of feeding C. bleheri is not very demanding. Insects and their larvae are best choice, the fish also like earthworms. One should be careful if life feeder fish are offered, for they often carry diseases and can infect the snakeheads.
Rainbow snakeheads are biparental brood carers. They egss are lighter than water and swim on the water surface wre the male concentrates them in a kind of raft. Both parents take care for the fry.
For our customers: the fish have code 409064 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Schaller´s Croaking Gourami is sadly only very occassionally available in the trade. The very pretty fish originates from central Thailand; it attains a length of about 4 cm. So it becomes larger than the Croaking Dwarf Gourami (Trichopsis pumila, 2,5-3 cm), but stays smaller than the common Croaking Gourami (T. vittata, up to 6 cm).
T. schalleri are very undemanding fish that are ideal inhabitants for community tanks with small, peaceful fish from Southeastern Asia, like Rasboras. In contrast to many other labyrinth fishes the males prefer to build the bubble nest under broad leaves, in caves or so instead on the water surface.
For our customers: the fish have code 470903 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
We obtained some specimens of this only very rarely offered snakehead from Burma. The species is a very close relative of Channa gachua. In fact, it has been considered to be a mere synonym of C. gachua for a very long time. But Ng, Ng & Britz could show in 1999 that C. harcourtbutleri is a valid species. However, both species look very similar. C. harcourtbutleri has a narrower head and (sadly this is mood-dependend not always visible) a dark marbled throat (uniform in C. gachua). Moreover, in juveniles of C. harcourtbutleri an ocellus in the dorsal fin – typical for juveniles of C. gachua – is missing. There are further minor differences in the pattern, but due to the extreme mood-dependend change of coloration in snakeheads these differences are of no use for identification purposes. One should also keep in mind that it is more than likely that many populations and described species currently places in C. gachua will proove to be species on their own in the future, so it is very difficult to speak of a typical pattern and coloration in C. gachua.
Channa harcourtbutleri occurs in Burma in higher elevations; here it can become pretty cool. So it is better to keep that species not the whole year through at high, tropical temperatures. Regarding the water the fish is very undemanding, but very soft and acidid water should be avoided. The common length of C. harcourtbutleri is between 8 and 15 cm, the largest specimen known so far was 18.5 cm long (all measurements given in standard length, without the caudal fin). The photographed specimens have a standard length of about 11 cm (male) and 9 cm (female) and are obviously sexual ripe.
We have no knowledge of a detailed breeding report, but it is very likely that there are no majaor differences to that of C. gachua, which is a biparental mouthbrooding species.
For our customers: the fish have code 409114 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
For the first time we obtained wild collected pearl gourami from Thailand. This is worth mentioning for several reasons. First, it is very ambigously discussed in the scientific literature wether the species occurs in Thailand at all; twice: the wild populations of the pearl gourami are declining terryfing fast, for the species is strictly adopted to blackwater (collecting the fish for or the trade has no impact on natural populations); and finally we have even good informations where the fish were collected. They originate from Narathiwat province near the city of Su-Magi Kolok. At this place usually the glass catfish (Kryptopterus vitreolus) is collected.
Initially the new arrivals looked very similar to their bred cousins. But a closer look showed an interesting difference: in the wild females the back has almost not pearl-spots! Currently the fish are something larger than half-grown (6-8 cm).
For our customers: the fish have code 469513 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Fighting fish are absolutely popular currently. The splendid colours, the easy breeding, the interesting behaviour and the unproblematic keeping are the reasons. Against other fish than conspecifics Betta splendens are usually completely peaceful; the only general exception are fancy guppys, as these are often erronously taken for male fighting fish and attacked.
Until now the development of a long dorsal fin (this is a mutation) was bound to another mutation, the splittail. In splittails the tail fin is parted in two. So far splittails are bred only on veiltail varieties. It is necessary to know that the gene for „veiltail“ is dominant against the shorttail gene. So the breeder has to have a great deal of knowledge of genetics to breed shorttailed splittails. Shorttailed fish are generally named as pla kat. The Fancy Dragon Pla Kat that appeared now for the first time in the market has the long dorsal fin of the splittail, but a different shape of the caudal fin. The latter is rather a halfmoon, most probably because splittails are not very popular in central Europe. However, there are folds in the caudal fin, maybe a heritage of the splittail ancestor.
Each individual fish of the Fancy Dragon Pla Kat looks different. But in respect of the instinctive fighting behaviour they are typical fighting fish. The fight starts with a sinking of the bottom of the mouth and spreading of the gills and opercula; after that the fish start lateral displaying with maximum spread fins. The ventral fins are used like flags in that state of the fight. Only after a good while the fish start to a fight to damage the competitor. This begins with „empty“ bites against the fins. At that stage of the fight we separate the photomodels to avoid any hurts. If we would not do so the fish would start to bite in the fins (the Thai idiom pla kat means „biting fish“) which can look really destoyed after some time. However, the fight usually does not lead to the death of one of the competitors and the fins regenerate completely. Nevertheless it cannot be recommended to keep more than one male per tank.
It is a well known fact that the Betta splendens kept in the aquarium hobby as ornamental fish do not represent the species as it appears in the wild, but a domesticated fish. Initially this sport has been bred for combats, similar like sports of cocks and dogs. Only in the 1920ies, when supplying ornamental fish for the aquarium hobby became more and more an important economic factor for people in Southeast Asia, breeders started to select veiltailed sports and aberrant colour varieties. These fish are useless for combats.
The tradition of fish fights is still alive in many parts of Asia. Due to the high sums of money people bet here – and which lead to the ruin of many bet-junkies – these combats are under legal control, but in many areas they are also cultural property under special protection.
Here in central Europe is no interest in watching animals fighting and to bet on the winner, we are focussed on the empathy with the animal we keep. Nevertheless it is very interesting for a real enthusiast to get the possibility for studying these real fighters among the Bettas. These fish are called Pla Kat Luk Maw in Thai, which means about „biting fish of the earthen pot“. „Earthen pot“ refers to the traditional pottery vessels used for breeding the fish. One of the most astonishing facts is that almost any red is missing in the coloration of the fish. Even the skin of the gill-membranes, which are spread when the fish is in aggressive mood, are pitchblack, as the whole fish appears in highest excitation. Pla Kat Luk Maw are usually bred in blue, but sometimes also turquoise animals appear.
For our customers: the fish have code 391019 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in limited numbers only!
Many species of snakehead look very attractive as juveniles. Channa bankanensis is no exception from that rule. The reason for the sometimes extraordinary change in coloration is the behaviour. Juvenile Channa are usually schooling fish. Depending on the species they swim in close schools up to a length of 3 cm or even 15 cm. The contrasting juvenile coloration has two basic reasons: first, it helps conspecifics to identify other fish as members of the same species, and second it confuseses predators for the silhouette of the single specimen is only hard to detect in a school.
Later on snakeheads become more and more solitary fish and the coloration becomes dull. Now camouflage is asked, for larger snakeheads are usually predators that feed on small other fish.
Channa bankanensis belongs to the medium sized species that attain a maximum length of 25-30 cm. The species is a typical blackwater inhabitant that lives in the wild in waters with a very acidic character: pH around 3! Luckily the do not demand this in aquaria. Channa banakanensis is distributed in Indonesia and Malaysia.
We currently have very pretty 4-6 cm long juveniles in stock.
For our customers: the animals have code 409021 on our stocklsit. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholeale trade.
This small (5-6 cm) mouthbrooding species from Thailand is a very nice addition to the good assortment of wild collected Betta we currently have in stock. Betta simplex is a very close relative to the species Betta picta from Java, Betta falx from Sumatra, and Betta taeniata from Borneo. All the mentioned species share the same ancestor. The males have a broad green to blue (reddish in B. falx) seam in the anal and the caudal fin. Our B. simplex are not fully grown yet, but already sexually ripe. The males do show already what beauties they will become when fully adult. In contrast to many other mouthbrooding Betta species, B. simplex is not adopted to soft, acidic water, for the natural habitat (near the town of Krabi in the south of Thiland) is characterised by lime stone hills.
For our customers: the fish have code 387752 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Sometimes we receive wild collected specimens of that very rare species of Betta. The mouthbrooding species is known so far only from a very small area in Thailand (Bori Pat). Here the fish inhabit brooks with soft and slightly acidic water. The water temperature there is around 25°C. Maximum length reported is about 8 cm, male become generally larger than the females. Females have almost no shining scales on the body.
For our customers: the fish have code 381343 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The Golden Chocolate Gourami may be the least attractive of all Chocolate Gouramis in respect of coloration, but it is nevertheless a very interesting species. The fish is the rarest of all Chocolate Gouramis as well in the hobby as in the wild. So we are very glad in case we are able to offer it.
The species is a mouthbrooder, the male cares for the eggs. Females develope a dark spot behind the head during displaying and can be also recognized by the vertical stripes over the yellowish belly. Males, on the other hand, can show a hoizontal stripe on the body.
In contrast to the other species of chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys acrostoma seems to be rather peaceful against conspecifics; at least they can be often observed swimming around in small groups. This species attains a maximum length of about 5 cm.
For our customers: the fish have code 455703 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Finally we can offer once more one of the beautiful Bettas belonging to the relationship of the „small red ones“: Betta coccina. The Vinered fighter, also called the Blue spot fighter, comes from Sumatra, Jambi province. Like all these „small red ones“ it occurs in forests. Here the fish live among the dead leaves of the trees. The collectors often report that no free water is visble, but only wet litter. However, in rainy seasons Betta coccina can be also found in more „normal“ types of water bodies. The water there is always soft and acidic, most often of deep brown colour.
The small fish are comparatively peaceful against conspecifics; usually one can keep and breed them in small groups. The males like to build their small foam nests in dark, hidden places. The black plastic tins that are used for analogue photo films are much sought for that purpose by breeders, but become rare at times of digital photography…
Sadly the fish gives only a rough idea how beautiful it can look when it is placed in the light photo tank with clear and clean water. So – as a great exception – we decided in this special case to use a picture from the German wikipedia, which is licenced under Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABetta_coccina_%22Jambi-Sumatra%22.JPG; By Parostoteles (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. This picture shows a male in breeding condition.
The remaining pictures show, as usual, animals of our current stock.
For our customers: the fish have code 379903 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Currently is the season for species of Channa from India. Every now and then we can offer the gorgeous Channa pardalis, which is also known in the hobby under the name of „True Blue“ (see http://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/channa_sp_true_blue_en/). There is a second, very similar Channa, traded under the name of Channa sp. Meghalaya. There is a rumour among the Channa freaks that this should represent a second, valid species of Channa, already under scientific description. The main differences between the True Blue and Meghalaya are said to be the lack of black spots in the face of the Meghalaya and the presence of a bright orange zone in front of the eye of Meghalaya.
Currently we have both Channa in stock, a good opportunity to take a closer look on them. So I picked up the largest (14-15 cm) pair of C. sp. Meghalaya (at least the male is for sure a male) and the smallest individual and photographed them. The female fits perfectly to the diffeences described above: no black spots in the face and a bright orange zone in front of the eye. The male fits not as good. The black spots are also lacking, but there is not the slightest sign of an orange zone in front of the eye. The halfgrown young adult has so many black spots in the face that I thought a C. pardalis would have been placed erroneously in the tank of the C. sp. Meghalaya – but then I spotted the bright orange zone in front of the eye…
So – as a conclusion: there are no constant differences in respect of head coloration between Channa pardalis (True Blue) and C. sp. Meghalaya. One should keep and breed them separatly, but there are in no way clear specific differences.
For our customers: Channa sp. Meghalaya have code 409283 on our stocklist, Channa pardalis (True Blue) code 409383. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Both Channa are available in limited numbers only!
Finally we can offer again the most beautiful species of Chocolate Gourami: Sphaerichtys vaillanti. The species originates from the Kapuas basin in the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. S. vaillanti is not only the most beautiful, but also the hardiest species of all Chocolate Gouramis. However, it is nevertheless by no means an easy to keep fish. One will have only success with this fish when the natural habitat – very soft, acidic blackwater and lots of dead leafes on the bottom – is imitated and preferably life food is given. Most hobbyists underestimate the intraspecific aggession shown in all species of Chocolate Gouramis. Most problems with diseases in Sphaerichthys result from distress based on mobbing.
The males in Sphaerichthys vaillanti are much duller in respect of coloration than the tigered females. The males have also the job to care for the spawn – they are mouthbrooders. In neutral mood the males look much alike the Crossband Chocolate Gourami (Spaerichtys selatanensis), but S. vaillanti can always be recognized by the sharp head.
For our customers: the fish have code 455843 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade
It was only in 1998 that this comparatively small species of snakehead was described as a separate species on its own. Before this the fish were thought to represent a geographical variety of the very far spread species Channa punctata. Channa panaw has a pretty far distribution in Burma, where it inhabits the area around the large rivers Sittang and Irrawaddy.
Channa panaw attains a maximum length of less than 20 cm and is one of the smaller species of snakehead. Despite the fish is not very colourful (although the golden shine on the body is quite attractive) it is one of the species that can be recommended for aquaria as it is comparatively peaceful. The photographed pair lived four days in the small phototank together without doing the slightest harm to each other. This is unthinkable for most other snakeheads, they would seriously hurt or even kill each other under these conditions. The females seem to be a bit bigger in Channa panaw, less colourful and the white seam in the anal fin is missing. However, the species has been kept in aquaria by far to seldom to give proofed informations regarding the external sexual differences.
For our customers: the fish have code 409215 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
We received the very rare red finned giant gourami in two sizes, 5-7 cm (code 440923 on our stocklist) and 12-15 cm (code 440925). The species attains a similar size as the common giant gourami, eg 60 cm. O. laticlavius originates from Borneo. Fertile males develop a very prominent head structure and deep red fins that form a beautiful contrast to the black body. The pictures of the adult fish show how breathtaking beautiful this large fish can be – sadly we cannot offer that size.
Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
For our customers: the
fish have code 390079 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively
supply the wholesale trade. Available in very limited numbers only!
The
Paradise fish was the first exotic species (leaving the goldfish aside)
of ornamental fish that reached Europe. This was back in 1869. Wild
collected specimens are hardly ever available. We now could import wild
caughts of that fantastic aquarium fish from China via Hongkong.
The
black throat with white spots that is shown by displaying males is very
remarkable. The fish are comparatively small (about 6 cm), but very
attractive, despite the fact that the fins are by far not as large as it
is normal in our aquarium strains.
However,
it must be kept in mind that the fish currently come from the winter
pause in their home country. Most probably these “large fins” (this is
what the word “Macropodus” means translated) will become much larger in
body and will develop much larger fins during the summer months.
The
chronicler – avowed victim of Paradise fish since early days of
childhood – could not withstand and picked up a pair. What he saw when
the fish started spawning was unbelievable and never reported in that
intensity in the almost 150 years that M. opercularis is kept and bred
in aquaria: the female developed a breeding coloration! It became light
cream all over the body and two dark stripes over the front back;
between the dark stripes was a bight light blaze. Sensational!
For our customers: the animals have code 426043 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
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